SMOKING VELVEETA

[larry maddock]

:roll: hello hello,
i put a 2lb block of velveeta in a pyrex baking sheet.
and set on top grill of my smoker.

at this time i find that my honeys grown kid has drank all the alcohol in the house.---terrible start.
this means i could not ignite the wood chips per steve gaskins instuctions
on how to get a fire or smoulder going.

it was about 30 degrees and wind was about 18 mile a hr.

so i turned my electic smoker to the high position to get chips smoking.

then i put on low setting and put the velveeta back on top rack.

i had never used the low position so i was hoping for they best.

after 1 hr i took it out.

my inside thermometer showed it to be 135 degrees.

the result was a melted goo.
and smoked on top only.

it was about 5/8 to 3/4 inch thick.

it tastes a little smokey and therefore i will use it.

maybe a taco stuffer??


im thinking the original plan to use only smoldering wood chips ,and no heat source will improve the smoke into 3 sides of block.

 

[Dutch]

Valiant effort there Larry. Lots of times you just don't know what's going to happen unless you try. Smoking cheeses require a COLD smoke- around 90-95 degrees. With Velveeta being softer than most soft cheese, I'm not sure if you still have a melting problem or not.

 

[ggnutsc]

Larry,
I've had some limited sucess with smoking cheese.
The best luck has been with monteray jack. It seems to resist melting better. Even at the lowest temps that I can get in my LPG smoker I've experienced the same thing as you did with the Velveeta. Consider smoking some pepper-jack, it doesn't get gooey and has become a favorite amongt my family and friends.

No matter what cheese I'm smoking, I use a fine mesh rack made for jerky and that seems to help give it more support and prevent the droops. I also cut the cheese down to smaller pieces rather than leaving it as a whole brick so I can limit the exposure time and still get some smoke in it.

The last time I smoked, I tried something different... I got my wood smoking real well with the propane fire and then shut off the fire completely. Then I lit a can of sterno alcohol/gel fuel and set it on the burner under the smoke box and let it go. The reduced heat seemed to help quite a bit where the melting of the cheese was concerned, but wqas enough to keep the smoke going.

This approach may not work with an electric smoker but did OK with my GOSM .

 

[bob-bqn]

ggnutsc here's another trick you might try. Instead of using propane, just light 4 or 5 charcoal briquettes and put them in the bottom of the wood box and place some smoke wood on top of them. With cheese you're not trying to cook it so you really don't need any heat, per say, just smoke and enough draft to keep it from going stale.

 

[dennis]

Lar,

I've smoked a lot of cheese, and I know the gooey mess technique well.
These days I seem to be able to control it better, not get carried away with the heat. I usually freeze the cheese before smoking, I don't think it is harmful to the taste, and it holds up better. When I remove it from my smoke stove after two hours or so, it is completely thawed. Like meat, I like to rub olive oil all sides of the cheese, then shake herbs and spices into the oil, pat it down a bit. I generally use a cheap processed cheese that is available here, kind of like velveeta. The smoke and spices really picks up the flavor, turn it into some gourmet taste, and the processed stuff is a lower fat content I'm told. Sometimes I substitiute honey for the olive oil. It gives a milder taste. Either the honey keeps some of the smoke away, or the sweetness balances it out, not sure which. Either way, very delicious! I don't smoke directly over the heat, so even if the cheese drips down into the foil placed below, I can soften it up again in an oven toaster and mold it together again (not a pretty thing to watch though). A portable propane torch can give a little color on the outside if once you have the mess together again there are outside parts that haven't been browned by smoke. When people ask how I mange to get the spices into the middle of the cheese, I just tell them, "advanced technique"! It sounds better than gooey mess I think.

Don't let the gooey discourage ya.

Dennis

 

[dacdots]

I actually smoked a block of cheddar once and it came out good but have also ended up with the gooey mess.I guess cold smoking is the answer but is hard to controll.I saw on a site where a guy had a seperate smoke source where the smoke went through a 3/8 piece of tubing ran through a pan of ice water.One of these days I will fab a similar set up and try it out.Good luck,David

 

[dennis]

i think what ggnutsc said, about using a fine mesh below the cheese instead of more widely spaced bars, it's an important point. When I went to using mesh I had much better results. If you have too much heat though, whatever you do the cheese is going to melt on you. It really doesn't take a lot of smoke to give you a good taste with cheese. I like cheese because even if I'm broke, I can usually swing the cost of a block of the processed stuff and still feed my smoke habit, not have to be off in the corner somewhere shaking.....ha!
Let us hear if you get a good result.

Dennis

 

[snowman]

Just got done smoking some cheese. Colby Jack, Pepper Jack, Swiss and Extra Sharp Cheddar. All went well.. I have a side by side Brinkmann and all that I did was used my electric charcoal starter and put the smoking chips right on top of it. Plugged it in and let it start smoking... I monitored the temp closely and went it started to climb I opened the lid for a few seconds and let it cool. Turned out great..

Mike

 

[Dutch]

Mike, thanks for the tip about using the electric charcoal starter and wood chips for smoking cheese.

That what this forum is all about-tips and tricks and learning from each other!

 

[snowman]

I am going to make more tonight or tomorrow night but I think I am going to try and use wood chunks to see if they will smoke without catching on fire....
I will let you know how it turns out...

Mike

 

[jlloyd99]

Along the same lines as the electric charcoal starter. A hotplate with a tin pan of chips or sawdust would also be a good way to produce smoke with little heat. Still haven't tried cheese but we're hoping to someday soon.

 

[joed617]

Maybe I'm a cheese snob but I didn't think "Velvetta" was cheese. I thought it was more in line with "Cheese Wiz" or something like that. Must be the Italain in my cheezy blood.

Joe

 

[snowman]

It is cheeseish :D It has its place in life..... I don't know if I would try smoking it but it makes great grilled cheese samiches...

Mike

 

[Dutch]

Velveta~That's what I use to fish for trout with when I ain't tossing a fly at 'em. :D

 

[joed617]

Hmmm Velvetta and Spam a Cheeseish, meatish samiche. Sounds so umm delictableish.

 

[joed617]

Ohh nevermind .. I think I beat this to death

 

[Dutch]

Aw, come on Joe, don't feel that way!! Maybe this will make you smile-Monty Python's Spam Song :D

Trust me on this-You won't hear a song like that about Velveeta!! :P

 

[joed617]

Your right Dutch, Velvetta wouldn't exactly roll of the tongue .. Thanks for the laugh

 

[cajunsmoker]

Don't know about smoking it, but mix a pound of velveeta, a can of hot RoTel chili's and tomatoes and melt it down and it makes a hell of a cheese dip :twisted:

 

[joed617]

Rodger, My wife is a health nut.. and one of those "All natural food types" you know what I mean.. so I can't get velvett a in the house .. She wants me to live a long life so she can torture me longer .. ya know ..long and slow .. lol

Joe