Decided to smoke some cheese that will be ready for the NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.
This Q-view is a combination of two different smoke sessions; December 8th and December 15th.
These were leftover from when I tried to make smoked mac and cheese (moderately successful). Will Q-view that when I get a good one.
Sliced and sectioned for optimum smoke absorption. I did this one in my 810-5330-S Brinkman Veritcal Gas Smoker with the AMNPS. (One note, I learned that the AMNPS needs to breath and this smoker is pretty snug, so be sure to crack the lower door so adequate air can flow.)
Threw in some kosher salt as well to give as holiday gift jars to relatives. I used bourbon barrel pellets in my AMNPS because I didn't have any milder wood in pellet form. TJohnson has remedied that with his great Christmas deal for SMF members. I've placed my order and I have apple and alder pellets on the way. The salt turned out great. Found little 4oz mason jars for that.
Got to use my new vacuum packer and it worked great. I love that the bags can be reused as needed. Most of this cheese from December 8th has been eaten already at Christmas parties and such. It was rested for about two weeks and reviews from relatives were mostly positive, but I felt it was a bit too strong/smoky. I need to do some more cheese with apple pellets once I receive them to see if it was the bourbon wood that made it strong tasting, or if it was too much time in the smoke (about 4 hours).
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This was my second run a week later.
Racked and ready! As of today I haven't touched any of this cheese but I am very excited to try the pepper jack.
More salt (my extended family is very large).
Used my Landman 3895GWLA Smoky Mountain Vertical Gas Smoker with AMNPS this time around. The extra space allowed for more salt and the vents at the bottom really helped the AMNPS chug out some good smoke. I used straight oak pellets for this one.
A quick shot of a mod I did on my door. IMHO the little magnets they use in production are pitiful. (The wind was blowing my door open before). I use a fire grade sealant too, worked great in driving down smoke loss through the door.
Stirring the salt. It turned out great.
It was a little pungent the first few days but has mellowed out very nicely after a few weeks.
All done! The colby jack really sweated, but all in all, it turned out great looking. I plan on making some meat, cheese, and cracker trays for the coming NFL playoffs and super bowl. I hope it's a hit! Thanks for looking!
This Q-view is a combination of two different smoke sessions; December 8th and December 15th.
These were leftover from when I tried to make smoked mac and cheese (moderately successful). Will Q-view that when I get a good one.
Sliced and sectioned for optimum smoke absorption. I did this one in my 810-5330-S Brinkman Veritcal Gas Smoker with the AMNPS. (One note, I learned that the AMNPS needs to breath and this smoker is pretty snug, so be sure to crack the lower door so adequate air can flow.)
Threw in some kosher salt as well to give as holiday gift jars to relatives. I used bourbon barrel pellets in my AMNPS because I didn't have any milder wood in pellet form. TJohnson has remedied that with his great Christmas deal for SMF members. I've placed my order and I have apple and alder pellets on the way. The salt turned out great. Found little 4oz mason jars for that.
Got to use my new vacuum packer and it worked great. I love that the bags can be reused as needed. Most of this cheese from December 8th has been eaten already at Christmas parties and such. It was rested for about two weeks and reviews from relatives were mostly positive, but I felt it was a bit too strong/smoky. I need to do some more cheese with apple pellets once I receive them to see if it was the bourbon wood that made it strong tasting, or if it was too much time in the smoke (about 4 hours).
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
This was my second run a week later.
Racked and ready! As of today I haven't touched any of this cheese but I am very excited to try the pepper jack.
More salt (my extended family is very large).
Used my Landman 3895GWLA Smoky Mountain Vertical Gas Smoker with AMNPS this time around. The extra space allowed for more salt and the vents at the bottom really helped the AMNPS chug out some good smoke. I used straight oak pellets for this one.
A quick shot of a mod I did on my door. IMHO the little magnets they use in production are pitiful. (The wind was blowing my door open before). I use a fire grade sealant too, worked great in driving down smoke loss through the door.
Stirring the salt. It turned out great.
It was a little pungent the first few days but has mellowed out very nicely after a few weeks.
All done! The colby jack really sweated, but all in all, it turned out great looking. I plan on making some meat, cheese, and cracker trays for the coming NFL playoffs and super bowl. I hope it's a hit! Thanks for looking!