Vacuum sealing smoked sliced cheese

[Nutmeg43]

So, I picked up some packages of sliced cheese on sale this week - it was a helluva lot cheaper than the blocks I normally buy for smoking, and the slices are the perfect size for putting on things.

With some of the cheese, I was planning to insert squares of parchment paper in between the slices, stacking the cheese roughly 2"-3" high, smoking the stacks and then vacuum sealing them as normal. These will be used for sandwiches and burgers.

With the rest of the cheese, I was planning to put some cracked black pepper between the slices, but with no parchment paper separating them, stacking the cheese (2"-3" high), smoking and then vacuum sealing. This is what I want to ask about - since there will be no parchment paper between the slices, will the vacuum sealing cause the sliced cheese to re-form into a uniform block again? What I'm hoping to do is create a block of cheese with the cracked black pepper dispersed throughout. There is actually a cheese like this sold in my area, but there's no way I'm paying the price they're asking for it, so I'm trying to make a (much, much cheaper) version of it.

What do you folks think? Has anyone ever done this before? Advice? Suggestions? Experiences? Warnings?

Thanks for your help!

 

[crankybuzzard]

With the parchment paper inbetween slices, it may work ok, but I would do a light smoke and see how it goes the first time.

As for reforming a block, your temperatures should not be warm enough for the cheese to melt or get soft.

 

[Winterrider]

Don't think you will get much smoke with parchment on them except on exposed edges. JMO

 

[okiwen]

Don't think you will get much smoke with parchment on them except on exposed edges. JMO

I agree. It is the exposed surface that benefits from the cold smoke.

 

[dsk]

How about laying the slices out on a few racks and smoking them only for 10 minutes or so, rotating them through until you have done them all. That way the entire surface gets smoked, rather than relying on the smoke to migrate through over weeks or months. Also, you can taste the first ones and adjust the smoke level as desired. Better, even, to have someone not hanging around the smoker check the level as you have likely become temporarily desensitized.

 

[Nutmeg43]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and replies - I am grateful for all your input.

Reading through everything though, I must admit to being a bit confused. When I normally smoke blocks of cheese - uncut, whole blocks weighing roughly 250 grams or half a pound - the exposed exterior area is affected by the cold smoke, right?

So, with all due respect, how is smoking that same block of cheese - same size and weight, only sliced - any different? The parchment paper will be cut to the same size as the cheese, so there will be no paper covering up anything other than the cheese's interior. The exterior area will still be wide open and exposed, ready for the smoke to work its magic. There will be no parchment paper covering the top, sides, or the bottom surfaces. Am I missing something here?

My questions didn't actually have anything to do with the sliced cheese with the parchment paper at all, but with vacuum sealing the sliced cheese after adding cracked peppercorns between the slices. And just so we're clear, the cheese will always be cold and will never get warm enough to melt. I want to know if the pressure of vacuum sealing will compress the sliced cheese enough to create a uniform block of cheese (ie. no more individual slices).

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well enough in my original post - please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding.

In any case, I would like to thank each of you for taking the time to reply to me. It's wonderful to have this forum and have access to expert help and advice.

 

[okiwen]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and replies - I am grateful for all your input.

Reading through everything though, I must admit to being a bit confused. When I normally smoke blocks of cheese - uncut, whole blocks weighing roughly 250 grams or half a pound - the exposed exterior area is affected by the cold smoke, right?

So, with all due respect, how is smoking that same block of cheese - same size and weight, only sliced - any different? The parchment paper will be cut to the same size as the cheese, so there will be no paper covering up anything other than the cheese's interior. The exterior area will still be wide open and exposed, ready for the smoke to work its magic. There will be no parchment paper covering the top, sides, or the bottom surfaces. Am I missing something here?

My questions didn't actually have anything to do with the sliced cheese with the parchment paper at all, but with vacuum sealing the sliced cheese after adding cracked peppercorns between the slices. And just so we're clear, the cheese will always be cold and will never get warm enough to melt. I want to know if the pressure of vacuum sealing will compress the sliced cheese enough to create a uniform block of cheese (ie. no more individual slices).

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well enough in my original post - please accept my apologies for any misunderstanding.

In any case, I would like to thank each of you for taking the time to reply to me. It's wonderful to have this forum and have access to expert help and advice.

I think that likely would depend completely upon your sealer. A home-style countertop may not pull enough vacuum to impress the peppercorns into any cheese at all, cold or warm. The more commercial units possible could push the peppercorn into warm cheese.