Say Cheese!

[73saint]

Cold smoked my first ever batch of cheese this weekend. Had some cooler temps, and I have been dying to try my Lang in unison w/ my Amaze-n smoker tube & maze. I started with Gouda, two types of Swiss, Havarti, Provolone, Habanero Jack, Tomato Basil Cheddar (Cabot) & white, extra sharp Cheddar (Cabot). I used a combo of Apple pellets, as well as Pitmasters choice sawdust. Started the smoke at 4:45 am, took the cheese off at 8:45. I wanted a good deep smoke so I went for the max time. Temps stayed plenty cool, and even though it's currently aging in the fridge (2 weeks is what I'm thinking), I sampled a wee bit of the Gouda and it tastes amazing, Cannot wait to enhance some recipes w smoked cheesy goodness!

As usual 99.9% of the knowledge I gained to take on this task came from this forum, so thanks to everyone for input, posts, recipes, etc. This is a great site!

 

[west1979]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to try the cold smoke.

 

[SmokinGame]

Nice looking batch. Never tried the tomato basil cheddar. Sounds good.

 

[Hank R]

Looks great. I have never had any smoked cheese, which do you like the best? I will have to read a lot more about cheese smoking soon.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Dang looks good! Habanero Jack sounds great. I did my first ever cheese smoke yesterday cant wait to try it. Sitting in my beer fridge with a loose amount of saran wrap over it going to vac seal it when I get home from work. Only problem is all my beer tastes like smoked cheese now!

 

[ksblazer]

Looks great to me

I'm really getting into smoking cheese. Did up 11lb's last month. Did a variety as I wanted to see how they would turn out.

Did some Mozzarella, Swiss, pepper jack, medium cheddar, Monterey jack. Tried them all accept for the Mozzarella and they turned out good. Especially the Swiss, Cheddar and Pepper Jack. Used cherry/hickory combo pellets.

So Saturday I bought just a tad over 3lb of pepper jack and just under 3.5lb's of muenster. Smoked them up with just cherry and they are vacuum sealed now and resting for the rest of the month in the fridge.

 

[73saint]

Looks great. I have never had any smoked cheese, which do you like the best? I will have to read a lot more about cheese smoking soon.

I prefer smoked gouda, but I will tell you for sure after I sample this batch.

 

[73saint]

Looks great to me

I'm really getting into smoking cheese. Did up 11lb's last month. Did a variety as I wanted to see how they would turn out.

Did some Mozzarella, Swiss, pepper jack, medium cheddar, Monterey jack. Tried them all accept for the Mozzarella and they turned out good. Especially the Swiss, Cheddar and Pepper Jack. Used cherry/hickory combo pellets.

So Saturday I bought just a tad over 3lb of pepper jack and just under 3.5lb's of muenster. Smoked them up with just cherry and they are vacuum sealed now and resting for the rest of the month in the fridge.

So how long are you letting your age?

 

[pops6927]

*Hint* - Leave out 1 piece in a sealed ziploc vs. Vac Sealing so you can sample it every couple days, tasting it mellowing as it ages and witness the mellowing process. Take notes in your smoking log book (

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?ams/smoked-meat-logs-from-smoking-meat-com.9684/)

 

[73saint]

*Hint* - Leave out 1 piece in a sealed ziploc vs. Vac Sealing so you can sample it every couple days, tasting it mellowing as it ages and witness the mellowing process. Take notes in your smoking log book (

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?ams/smoked-meat-logs-from-smoking-meat-com.9684/)

Dang Pops that's a great idea, hadn't even considered it...

 

[73saint]

So, did I mess up by not flipping my cheese half way through the smoke? I notice one side definitely didn't get as much color as the side that was up.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks real good!
Al

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

I just did a big batch too and I didn't flip mine either. I don't know this but my guess is it shouldn't matter about the flip, it should absorb the smoke all around. Smoked Gouda is amazing but I couldn't find any before I did my batch. Hard not to crack into it before 2 weeks!

 

[weev]

Everything looks great! I need to do some more im almost out

 

[gmc2003]

I don't normally flip the cheese mid-cook either. Your's looks great nice color. Bet is gonna taste great.

Point for sure

Chris

 

[ksblazer]

So how long are you letting your age?

From the research I did on this forum. I waited 2 weeks and the Monterrey Jack tasted good. I have tried a few more over the last couple of weeks and as expected it tasted even better.


Side note: I did try a crumble that fell off while resting on the counter. It was smaller than a BB and did not taste good at all. Kind of like burnt tire on hickory is the best way I can describe it.

Had to replace some of the cheese I've ate and wanted more before it starts to get too warm. So I did up 3lb's more of pepper jack and 3.4lb's of muenster Saturday.

The cheese drawer in the refrigerator is now full.

Also have two 2lb blocks of Tillamook 2yr old extra sharp cheddar ready to go next, when I clear some more room in the cheese drawer.

 

[73saint]

That's funny Blazer, I did the same thing. Had so much fun the first go-round, Tuesday night, I smoked another batch of some primo cheddar I got from Restaurant Depot. My fridge is full....

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

That cheese looks damn good! Took on some really nice color!

I might have to do some more this weekend too. The 21 blocks I did this past weekend mock me every time I open the fridge to get a beer.

 

[Humo18]

Cold smoked my first ever batch of cheese this weekend. Had some cooler temps, and I have been dying to try my Lang in unison w/ my Amaze-n smoker tube & maze. I started with Gouda, two types of Swiss, Havarti, Provolone, Habanero Jack, Tomato Basil Cheddar (Cabot) & white, extra sharp Cheddar (Cabot). I used a combo of Apple pellets, as well as Pitmasters choice sawdust. Started the smoke at 4:45 am, took the cheese off at 8:45. I wanted a good deep smoke so I went for the max time. Temps stayed plenty cool, and even though it's currently aging in the fridge (2 weeks is what I'm thinking), I sampled a wee bit of the Gouda and it tastes amazing, Cannot wait to enhance some recipes w smoked cheesy goodness!

As usual 99.9% of the knowledge I gained to take on this task came from this forum, so thanks to everyone for input, posts, recipes, etc. This is a great site!
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Very nice spread and looks are great. I'm not sure how I would handle the wait (aging), it would drive me nuts!!
Is four hours the maximum time for smoking cheese? As soon as I get my smoker and the outside temps drop, I plan on smoking cheese and any advise my the experts in this forum will be appreciated.