Smoked cheese

[4T]

Did a trial run of some cheddar for the fist time today. Costco had some for under $2 a pound.  Put it on for an hour and pulled it out of smoker.  Do any of you have any tricks or experiencesomething to share regarding cheese?  I vacuum sealed and put in fridge for a week or so before tasting.  Can't wait.

[Timberstalker]

PM 92XJ. He's always smoking cheese.

[Fishstiq]

I go 2 weeks minimum before tasting.  Also I vaccine seal in 1/2 lb chunks, seems more usable to me.  Smoked pepper jack is the bomb! 

[brew]

the longer you let it go in the vac pac the better...i've aged it for months as after only a couple weeks the cheese still tastes a little "ashy" to me.  i've done sharp, colby and colby jack...haven't done any expensive type cheese's yet.  I cant't do back to back runs in my smoker as the internal temp will get too hot even though i start the first batch out with an ice bowl in the bottom to try and keep it cool.  i would rather cut my cheese a little smaller so there is more surface area to have the smoke hit.

[92xj]

Here's an old thread with some I have done.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,146547.msg1943052.html#msg1943052

Also,
I believe there is some in here done on my new smoker.
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,190114.msg2529622.html#msg2529622

quick instructions...
Keep smoker below 80 degrees
Keep cheese spaced out on racks
Put smoke to cheese for 3-6 hours
After smoking, let rest for an hour or two
Vacuum seal and label type of wood and length of smoke to repeat or change when tasting
put in fridge and do not touch for at least a month, 2 months is better
Eat on everything.

[4T]

Thanks everyone.  Like I said, I'm pretty stoked about it.  I took a brick of cheese and cut of slabs about a inch and a half thick and plugged in my cold smoke generator on. Smoked for an hour and then looked to see what it looked like. Definitely color change and a couple slabs were starting to Crack, so I pulled them off and let stand for another hour. Cheese was cool to the touch so I sealed and put in fridge. Going to be hard to wait a month to try, but some things are worth waiting  for, right.

[Bigshooter]

I don't eat cheese but smoke a lot of it for friends and family.  I like to take a brick and quarter it then smoke it at around 80 degrees for 1hr.  Then seal and put in the fridge for at least a week.  I am told at 2 weeks it's even better.  The most important thing is not getting the smoker to hot or you will have melted cheese.

[Bonecrusher 06]

I smoked some for the first time a few months back, I watched a couple YouTube videos and decided to try it , when it was done I wrapped each lil brick into Saran Wrap and put in crisper in the fridge and forgot about it for 4weeks like the ol timer in the video said to do and it turned out Awesome, I did try a piece after it cooled down from its original smoke and it was not worth eating!!!! I believe in the 4week wait it was worth it!!!!!

[Tenkara]

I smoke mine with my a-maze-n pellet smoker for 3 to 3.5 hours, vacuum pack and let sit for at least two weeks,  turns out great every time.

[blindluck]

I smoke about 1 1/2 hours pull it dry off any sweat put in gallon zip lock not zipped put in refrigerator a day or two then vacuumed pack. Place in a room that you can keep 65 degrees or less. I wouldn't eat it for several months minimum. I'm just now eating some I smoked in December 2014 year and a half ago. It is the best.

[blindluck]

I'm now smoking cheese a year in advance and giving it as Xmas gifts the next year along with deer summer sausage and snack stix. Everyone seems to love it.

[wildweeds]

I did my very first batch on thursday, used the Maple/hickory/cherry blend pellets I got on a group buy here from Lamrith. I did a 5 pound loaf of cheddar cut into 6 equal parts. The wait is on!

[Elkrunner]

PM 92XJ. He's always smoking cheese.

Yeah he is a pretty cheesy guy...lol

[Fishstiq]

Vacuum seal and label type of wood and length of smoke to repeat or change when tasting

Why have I not done this?!?!   

[92xj]

Vacuum seal and label type of wood and length of smoke to repeat or change when tasting

Why have I not done this?!?!   

This is how I used to label every cheese until I figured out exactly what I like and now just stick to that for all the cheese that i do.