Worst smoked cheese ever

[Newglide]

(3) Making dust from pellets... | Smoking Meat Forums - The Best Smoking Meat Forum On Earth!

Thanks Dave

 

[Newglide]

I've successfully smoked cheese in my kettle using a pellet tube.
I don't have my journal with me, or I would give the conditions.

How big are your cheese pieces?
Maybe slice off the outer 1/4" and let it age some more.

The pieces are 1lb blocks cut in half, I could try to cut off some of the outside but the smoke seemed to go pretty deep.

 

[Steve H]

View attachment 527385
Similar to this, it has holes on the bottom and the sides than this one. I had my vents wide open

Yeah, I thought that was what you were talking about. You might want to look at A-Maze-N trays or tubes. I never had a problem with them.

 

[forktender]

If you can see the smoke while smoking cheese it's too much smoke, in my opinion. Thin blue smoke is for meat and fish, for cheese I don't want to see hardly any smoke at all. Buy a maze and only fill it about 1/4' deep with a light fruit wood, maybe add a touch of pecan or hickory to it if you like smokey cheese.

 

[thirdeye]

If you can see the smoke while smoking cheese it's too much smoke, in my opinion. Thin blue smoke is for meat and fish, for cheese I don't want to see hardly any smoke at all. Buy a maze and only fill it about 1/4' deep with a light fruit wood, maybe add a touch of pecan or hickory to it if you like smokey cheese.

... and plenty of airflow. I use one piece to sample smokiness along the way.

 

[indaswamp]

... and plenty of airflow

Yep. since the temp. differential is not high when cold smoking, the natural draft is slow. So I usually crack the bottom door for maximum flow of fresh air into the smokehouse. Better draft.....better smoke....

 

[forktender]

The best smoked cheese I ever ate was done by a chef friend.
He smoked it using a wire rack and an old cardboard box and a few wads of tinfoil, that he used as a smoke maze. He said the key to the smoke was the small amount of sawdust, and cutting one of the flaps off the bottom of the box, which ended up being the top of the "smoker", if you will. LOL

As long as the outside temp's are no warmer than 70* in the shade, you can smoke cheese, most of them at least, maybe not the super soft cheese like brie or cream cheese.

(edited by me)
I've smoked plenty of cheese when the outside temp was 75*, maybe even a touch warmed, but not by a whole lot.

He said, the key is having to look really hard for the smoke, better yet just hardly smelling the smoke. You can eat his smoked cheese right off the wire racks without waiting for it to mellow. His opinion, which is now mine as well, if your cheese needs to mellow you screwed up either in airflow or too much fuel or you used the wrong type of wood for your taste.

 

[Newglide]

I gave it another try. Same setup just cut the amount of pellets and time in half. This batch was similar just with half the dirty smoke flavor.
So I tried something different. I took a hot charcoal briquette and a hot lump. I couldn't get the lump to stay lit so that's why I added a briquette. Then added some apple and peach chips. Smoke was much better. Like forktender said the smoke was light and thin. What I. Used to seeing when I smoke normally. I only let it smoke for almost an hour. When I took them off I noticed it was much different. Not as harsh of a smoke smell actually a good smoke smell and no oily residue on the cheese. I let them sit in the fridge overnight and was able to eat it the next day. It must have been good, my kids came over on Sunday for dinner and cleaned me out of cheese. Next is to work on airflow. I got a computer fan that I'll rig something up for the top vent to help pull air. what indaswamp said makes sense. Not as much heat to create the airflow.
Sorry for the long post. I think a few attempts and I'll get it dialed in.

 

[tallbm]

I gave it another try. Same setup just cut the amount of pellets and time in half. This batch was similar just with half the dirty smoke flavor.
So I tried something different. I took a hot charcoal briquette and a hot lump. I couldn't get the lump to stay lit so that's why I added a briquette. Then added some apple and peach chips. Smoke was much better. Like forktender said the smoke was light and thin. What I. Used to seeing when I smoke normally. I only let it smoke for almost an hour. When I took them off I noticed it was much different. Not as harsh of a smoke smell actually a good smoke smell and no oily residue on the cheese. I let them sit in the fridge overnight and was able to eat it the next day. It must have been good, my kids came over on Sunday for dinner and cleaned me out of cheese. Next is to work on airflow. I got a computer fan that I'll rig something up for the top vent to help pull air. what indaswamp said makes sense. Not as much heat to create the airflow.
Sorry for the long post. I think a few attempts and I'll get it dialed in.

I think once you get this fan and airflow situation fixed you will be consistently producing good smoked cheese. I really feel a lot of your bad flavor and spell issues are due to stale smoke.

Supporting info of improved cheese results from less smoke and less time helps me think you were/are suffering from stale smoke.
Fix the airflow and I bet you start to nail it! :D

 

[Newglide]

I really feel a lot of your bad flavor and spell issues are due to stale smoke.

I agree completely.

Thanks everybody for all the tips and tricks.

 

[forktender]

I gave it another try. Same setup just cut the amount of pellets and time in half. This batch was similar just with half the dirty smoke flavor.
So I tried something different. I took a hot charcoal briquette and a hot lump. I couldn't get the lump to stay lit so that's why I added a briquette. Then added some apple and peach chips. Smoke was much better. Like forktender said the smoke was light and thin. What I. Used to seeing when I smoke normally. I only let it smoke for almost an hour. When I took them off I noticed it was much different. Not as harsh of a smoke smell actually a good smoke smell and no oily residue on the cheese. I let them sit in the fridge overnight and was able to eat it the next day. It must have been good, my kids came over on Sunday for dinner and cleaned me out of cheese. Next is to work on airflow. I got a computer fan that I'll rig something up for the top vent to help pull air. what indaswamp said makes sense. Not as much heat to create the airflow.
Sorry for the long post. I think a few attempts and I'll get it dialed in.

Ditch the pellets or make dust out of them and ditch the charcoal and lump and the idea of adding a fan, and use sawdust and a smoke maze.

I've smoked tons of cheese on a 22'' weber grill, it's not the grill or the venting on the grill, it's your fuel. Like I said add a layer of dust about 1/4'' deep and light it using the directions.Nuke the dust in the microwave for a 30 seconds to minute before adding them to the maze. Light the maze and let it burn for 10 minutes before adding the cheese, so it has time to settle in. It's that simple, you are way over thinking things.

 

[Newglide]

Ditch the pellets or make dust out of them and ditch the charcoal and lump and the idea of adding a fan, and use sawdust and a smoke maze.

I've smoked tons of cheese on a 22'' weber grill, it's not the grill or the venting on the grill, it's your fuel. Like I said add a layer of dust about 1/4'' deep and light it using the directions.Nuke the dust in the microwave for a 30 seconds to minute before adding them to the maze. Light the maze and let it burn for 10 minutes before adding the cheese, so it has time to settle in. It's that simple, you are way over thinking things.

Thanks, I haven't given up on that idea yet. I do tend to over think things, my thought is I would like to use what I already have rather than spend money.

 

[Coondawg]

I have an article on SMOKED CHEESE, it's kind of long, but it includes tips I've learned over 45 years or so. I believe it will get you back in the ball park.

Very good article, thirdeye! I learned a lot. Thanks.