The weather is fantastic for cold smoking lately, and I've been itching to get a fridge full of smoked goodies to get me through winter. Today I started on that project!
I went out to GFS and bought a few 2LB blocks of cheddar, PJ, and Swiss, and a whole roll of Provolone that I will slice for sandwiches. The total cost for all of it, 12 pounds of cheese total, was around 40 bucks, or about 3.33 per pound. Not too shabby and a hell of a lot cheaper than deli prices.
Here we have the cheese sitting on the counter coming to room temp:
Now onto the grate and into the smoker with the AMNPS chugging right along:
After about two hours I pulled them, but wasn't quite satisfied yet so I threw it back into the smoker for about another hour, 3 total. Once they came off I vacuum sealed them, and here's the final product. I'll see these delicious little morsels in about two weeks!
As far as difficulty goes, I think cold smoking cheese is about the easiest thing you can do with a smoker as long as the temps outside are alright. If you're on the fence about trying this, it's cheap and VERY easy to get into. I think an AMNPS kit is something like 25 bucks. Give it a shot if you haven't already!
I went out to GFS and bought a few 2LB blocks of cheddar, PJ, and Swiss, and a whole roll of Provolone that I will slice for sandwiches. The total cost for all of it, 12 pounds of cheese total, was around 40 bucks, or about 3.33 per pound. Not too shabby and a hell of a lot cheaper than deli prices.
Here we have the cheese sitting on the counter coming to room temp:
Now onto the grate and into the smoker with the AMNPS chugging right along:
After about two hours I pulled them, but wasn't quite satisfied yet so I threw it back into the smoker for about another hour, 3 total. Once they came off I vacuum sealed them, and here's the final product. I'll see these delicious little morsels in about two weeks!
As far as difficulty goes, I think cold smoking cheese is about the easiest thing you can do with a smoker as long as the temps outside are alright. If you're on the fence about trying this, it's cheap and VERY easy to get into. I think an AMNPS kit is something like 25 bucks. Give it a shot if you haven't already!
