Suggestions for provolone????

[teeznuts]

What is the best smoke for provolone? I found a local store with 6-8 lb logs of un-smoked provolone. I will be smoking for Christmas gatherings and I'm not sure what pellets to use in the AMNPS. Any suggestions?

 

[oldthymer]

I suggest the bourbon barrel.  I believe it is the best for any cheese.  Otherwise I'd go with cherry, apple, or pecan.  Wine barrel is also a very nice smoke for cheese but not as good as bourbon barrel. 

 

[shortend]

The last batch of cheeses I smoked were with Apple for some and Maple for some. Both were excellent. Todd suggested that I try Peach, which he likes in particular. I tried it on some cheese and screwed it up by way over smoking it and it came out way too strong. I think I let it go for like 6 hrs. Don't know what the heck I was thinking, because I should have known better. That's just too long for cheese. I will give it another go with the Peach on the next cheese batch. I know it will be good with 2-3 hrs. I never thought of the Bourbon Barrel that OldTymer suggested, but I'll bet that's outstanding too. I'm going to smoke some with that next time, too.

The fruit woods are always a good choice for cheese, as would be the Wine Barrel and of course the Bourbon Barrel.

Good luck on your cheese smoke. Just don't make the mistake of over smoking it like I did. Be sure to let it mellow out for at least 2-3 weeks, as it will be a bit strong and off putting if you eat it too soon after smoking. It needs some time to mellow out. I like to vacpak it and let it work for at least a month. It turns out really nice, if you can stand to let it go that long.

ShortEnd

 

[teeznuts]

Thanks guys. I usually use apple or cherry or a combo of both on my cheese smokes and smoke for 3-3 1/2 hours. I have never smoked provolone though and was hoping someone here might have done so before.

 

[SmokinAl]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I like hickory.

 

[teeznuts]

I haven't tried hickory on cheese yet, that I can recall, but I believe the "hickory farms" chain smokes their cheese in hickory so maybe I should try it.

 

[scarbelly]

I really like a mix of apple and pecan and I smoke a lot of cheese. I have tried both bourbon and wine barrel and I like them as a mix with the apple.  I light both ends of the AMNS with dust for cheese and go for about 3 hours. The pellets seem to get too hot in my smoker.

 

[tjohnson]

Pecan is just a little stronger than Oak, and not as strong as Hickory

I like Apple for smoking cheese

TJ

 

[vision]

I suggest the bourbon barrel.  I believe it is the best for any cheese.  Otherwise I'd go with cherry, apple, or pecan.  Wine barrel is also a very nice smoke for cheese but not as good as bourbon barrel. 

Wine barrel is very good. So is plum. I'm still aging some bourbon barrel.