This is my 2nd run at cold smoking cheese. Figured I'd make some for Christmas presents and to eat at Thanksgiving. The last time I used pellets in the A-Maz-N 5x7 tray and some of you guys suggested switching to dust over the pellets. I'm here to tell you thanks! When I used pellets the initial taste was a little strong and you could see a lot of color on the cheese. With the dust this cheese tastes great right out of the smoker. Even better this morning after sitting in the fridge overnight.
5lbs of pepper jack and 3 lbs of manchego. I smoked for 3 hours 45 minutes with A-Maz-N Pitmaster's Choice dust (hickory, cherry, maple blend) in my MES 40. Ambient temp was about 41 degrees F I did not plug the probes in for the smoker temp but it was cool for sure (no more than 60F). Rested overnight uncovered in the fridge. I had started both ends of the tray but one side went out right away and I got it going again about an hour into the smoke after I noticed. I haven't done the mailbox mod yet but I put a couple trays in the path of the smoke so it wasn't flowing directly onto the cheese to reduce creosote deposits. YUM!
5lbs of pepper jack and 3 lbs of manchego. I smoked for 3 hours 45 minutes with A-Maz-N Pitmaster's Choice dust (hickory, cherry, maple blend) in my MES 40. Ambient temp was about 41 degrees F I did not plug the probes in for the smoker temp but it was cool for sure (no more than 60F). Rested overnight uncovered in the fridge. I had started both ends of the tray but one side went out right away and I got it going again about an hour into the smoke after I noticed. I haven't done the mailbox mod yet but I put a couple trays in the path of the smoke so it wasn't flowing directly onto the cheese to reduce creosote deposits. YUM!