Smoked cheese today

[irvin78787884]

Ok everyone here is my smoked cheese I did today. 1st time trying this. I did pepper cooper, extra sharp cheddar, horseradish, Kolby jack, and provalone. I did end up cutting the cooper and provalone down more from what’s in the first pic. Holy Smoker ran good all day at the low temps with a small fire. Only had to adjust things here and there with the amount of wood chunks or air intakes slightly. I didn’t use a smoke tube as I didn’t have one and my local places wasn’t in stock so I did this with what I had. Also my wonder with the smoke tube is it seems the smoke is a white billowing type smoke which u always hear that’s considered dirty smoke in the bbq meat world. I understand tons of people use them and that’s fine and that comment will bring up a discussion which is fine and I want to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions on all of this post. Anyways most recipes say with a smoke tube 2-4hrs depending on types of cheese. My smoking experience today was 4hrs for the softer cheese and 6hrs for the harder stuff. Now with that being said is it cause of the thought of the dirty vs clean smoke? Does it matter with cheese? Is my thought process way off? I also tested the cheese multiple times and I was looking for a balance of smoke vs being able to taste the cheese flavor. I have had smoked cheese in the past many times and it’s so smoked u can’t taste the cheese flavor. IMO why do different flavors of cheese it it all basically tastes like smoke and no cheese flavor? In the end this was a lot of fun despite it being 29-34 degrees outside while I was doing it. Where I am at now is I wrapped each block very loosely in plastic wrap. Plan is for it to sit like this for 24hrs then I will vac pack it and let it sit for 2weeks. I guess in the end I will see how it turns out then. Thanks for the ones who commented in my original post about this. Keep on smoking and we will see it in 2 weeks.

 

[millerbuilds]

Ok everyone here is my smoked cheese I did today. 1st time trying this. I did pepper cooper, extra sharp cheddar, horseradish, Kolby jack, and provalone. I did end up cutting the cooper and provalone down more from what’s in the first pic. Holy Smoker ran good all day at the low temps with a small fire. Only had to adjust things here and there with the amount of wood chunks or air intakes slightly. I didn’t use a smoke tube as I didn’t have one and my local places wasn’t in stock so I did this with what I had. Also my wonder with the smoke tube is it seems the smoke is a white billowing type smoke which u always hear that’s considered dirty smoke in the bbq meat world. I understand tons of people use them and that’s fine and that comment will bring up a discussion which is fine and I want to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions on all of this post. Anyways most recipes say with a smoke tube 2-4hrs depending on types of cheese. My smoking experience today was 4hrs for the softer cheese and 6hrs for the harder stuff. Now with that being said is it cause of the thought of the dirty vs clean smoke? Does it matter with cheese? Is my thought process way off? I also tested the cheese multiple times and I was looking for a balance of smoke vs being able to taste the cheese flavor. I have had smoked cheese in the past many times and it’s so smoked u can’t taste the cheese flavor. IMO why do different flavors of cheese it it all basically tastes like smoke and no cheese flavor? In the end this was a lot of fun despite it being 29-34 degrees outside while I was doing it. Where I am at now is I wrapped each block very loosely in plastic wrap. Plan is for it to sit like this for 24hrs then I will vac pack it and let it sit for 2weeks. I guess in the end I will see how it turns out then. Thanks for the ones who commented in my original post about this. Keep on smoking and we will see it in 2 weeks.

Here is what I have learned in smoking cheese.
- The smoke needs to be flowing and not stagnant, low flow of smoke has given me "dirty looking cheese"
- I smoke dense cheese for 4 hours, soft cheese for as low as 90 minutes
- I put the cheese from the smoker into a zip lock with the seal left partially open for ~6 hours
- I then tightly wrap with cling wrap, for a week (you can also squeeze most of the air out of the zip lock)
- After a week, I wax the cheese or vacuum pack it. I wait at least another week or longer (years) before eating
- I like a blend of fruit wood pellets and post oak or pecan

Your smoked cheese looks great and thanks for sharing, looking forward to how it turns out.

- Jason

 

[irvin78787884]

Here is what I have learned in smoking cheese.
- The smoke needs to be flowing and not stagnant, low flow of smoke has given me "dirty looking cheese"
- I smoke dense cheese for 4 hours, soft cheese for as low as 90 minutes
- I put the cheese from the smoker into a zip lock with the seal left partially open for ~6 hours
- I then tightly wrap with cling wrap, for a week (you can also squeeze most of the air out of the zip lock)
- After a week, I wax the cheese or vacuum pack it. I wait at least another week or longer (years) before eating
- I like a blend of fruit wood pellets and post oak or pecan

Your smoked cheese looks great and thanks for sharing, looking forward to how it turns out.

- Jason

Sounds great thanks for the info and thanks for the compliment. I certainly didn’t have low flowing smoke to get stagnant. I understand how that could make bad cheese tho. Can’t wait for 2 weeks to be up to see how it turned out. It smelled great lastnight when I loosely wrapped in plastic wrap.

 

[irvin78787884]

Here is what I have learned in smoking cheese.
- The smoke needs to be flowing and not stagnant, low flow of smoke has given me "dirty looking cheese"
- I smoke dense cheese for 4 hours, soft cheese for as low as 90 minutes
- I put the cheese from the smoker into a zip lock with the seal left partially open for ~6 hours
- I then tightly wrap with cling wrap, for a week (you can also squeeze most of the air out of the zip lock)
- After a week, I wax the cheese or vacuum pack it. I wait at least another week or longer (years) before eating
- I like a blend of fruit wood pellets and post oak or pecan

Your smoked cheese looks great and thanks for sharing, looking forward to how it turns out.

- Jason

Also I would like to try waxing the cheese to let it age but I don’t have a basement for aging. I seen people turn refrigerators into something to age cheese in. Might look into that someday idk.

 

[millerbuilds]

Sounds great thanks for the info and thanks for the compliment. I certainly didn’t have low flowing smoke to get stagnant. I understand how that could make bad cheese tho. Can’t wait for 2 weeks to be up to see how it turned out. It smelled great lastnight when I loosely wrapped in plastic wrap.

Anytime and the wait is a killer!

- Jason

 

[millerbuilds]

Also I would like to try waxing the cheese to let it age but I don’t have a basement for aging. I seen people turn refrigerators into something to age cheese in. Might look into that someday idk.

Look into the waxing process, pretty easy and the best method to age cheese.

- Jason

 

[irvin78787884]

Look into the waxing process, pretty easy and the best method to age cheese.

- Jason

I certainly will be

 

[elsos]

Ok everyone here is my smoked cheese I did today. 1st time trying this. I did pepper cooper, extra sharp cheddar, horseradish, Kolby jack, and provalone. I did end up cutting the cooper and provalone down more from what’s in the first pic. Holy Smoker ran good all day at the low temps with a small fire. Only had to adjust things here and there with the amount of wood chunks or air intakes slightly. I didn’t use a smoke tube as I didn’t have one and my local places wasn’t in stock so I did this with what I had. Also my wonder with the smoke tube is it seems the smoke is a white billowing type smoke which u always hear that’s considered dirty smoke in the bbq meat world. I understand tons of people use them and that’s fine and that comment will bring up a discussion which is fine and I want to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions on all of this post. Anyways most recipes say with a smoke tube 2-4hrs depending on types of cheese. My smoking experience today was 4hrs for the softer cheese and 6hrs for the harder stuff. Now with that being said is it cause of the thought of the dirty vs clean smoke? Does it matter with cheese? Is my thought process way off? I also tested the cheese multiple times and I was looking for a balance of smoke vs being able to taste the cheese flavor. I have had smoked cheese in the past many times and it’s so smoked u can’t taste the cheese flavor. IMO why do different flavors of cheese it it all basically tastes like smoke and no cheese flavor? In the end this was a lot of fun despite it being 29-34 degrees outside while I was doing it. Where I am at now is I wrapped each block very loosely in plastic wrap. Plan is for it to sit like this for 24hrs then I will vac pack it and let it sit for 2weeks. I guess in the end I will see how it turns out then. Thanks for the ones who commented in my original post about this. Keep on smoking and we will see it in 2 weeks.

That's fantastic!
I did four pounds today, Colby and pepperjack, smokin tube with apple pellets.
This weekend it'll probably be a little more tame. Right now I'm afraid it's slightly ashtray level.

 

[bmudd14474]

Great job.

 

[irvin78787884]

That's fantastic!
I did four pounds today, Colby and pepperjack, smokin tube with apple pellets.
This weekend it'll probably be a little more tame. Right now I'm afraid it's slightly ashtray level.

Awesome yes let it mellow. 2 weeks is what I found most people do. Mine turned out great and I mellowed 2 weeks. I need to do pepper jack next time.

 

[irvin78787884]

Great job.

Thanks

 

[irvin78787884]

So last Saturday was the end of the 2 week mellow time. With the holidays I am a little delayed with the update. lol IMO, my GF, and my daughter’s options also. The cheese turned out perfectly not over smoked and u could still taste the cheese. The horse radish cheese could have used a touch more smoke just cause the horse radish flavor is so strong. Other than that I call it a successful first cheese run. I gave out the cheese to the family yesterday so I am awaiting their thoughts. I didn’t get any pics but if I remember I will get some of the next block I open.