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.

[Stinkyrat]

If you want a pretty easy way to get smoke and low temps give this a try! I've had pretty good sucess with cold smoking and it can be used on any grill/smoker/charcoal BBQ:

https://www.amazon.com/A-MAZE-N-AMNPS5X8-Pellet-Smoker/dp/B007ROPJ1M

Stinkyrat

Edit to add: I use wood chunks when I'm normally doing my smoke work but you'd be suprised by the smoke that little A-maze-in box can put off!

[luvmystang67]

I did some with apple and some with alder and strongly preferred the alder.

I prefer alder smoke in general though, so I may not be the best person to ask.

The alder smoked tillamook sharp is AMAZING.

Smoking lighter cheeses (medium or mild cheddars, monterey jack, colby) was not nearly as good, but that may just be personal preference.

[206]

If you want a pretty easy way to get smoke and low temps give this a try! I've had pretty good sucess with cold smoking and it can be used on any grill/smoker/charcoal BBQ:

https://www.amazon.com/A-MAZE-N-AMNPS5X8-Pellet-Smoker/dp/B007ROPJ1M

Stinkyrat

Edit to add: I use wood chunks when I'm normally doing my smoke work but you'd be suprised by the smoke that little A-maze-in box can put off!

I have one.  Perfect smoke for when you need really low cooking temps.

[4T]

I tried some cheddar and pepper jack that I smoked for an hour and let rest for 2 weeks.  Very good. My family liked it. This weekend I will try some that I did for 2 hours and it will be 3 weeks rested. I'm pretty excited about trying different methods. Just to see what we all like.  This cheese was smoked with apple.  I should write all this down so I can keep track of what I've done and not done. 

[blindluck]

Try some that you put away for a year or so in your refer. You Wont believe it.

[blindluck]

30 lbs Apple smoked

[h20hunter]

What I want to do is smoke a bit of cheese and age a baby barrel of whiskey from woodinville whiskey comp. Store them both, break em out a year later and nosh away with some game pep sticks or summer sausage.

[luvmystang67]

Sounds like a lot use apple.  Apple seems so harsh to me.  I think I'd prefer apple for red meats.  Alder is so much more mild and has less of a weird aftertaste.  Great for fish and I like it on the cheese.  My cheese with apple was just too strong and overpowered the cheese.

Do other people not get this effect?

Do you guys notice a big difference in wood types like this or am I just nuts?

[h20hunter]

Agreed. I'm using pecan for just about everything right now.

[blindluck]

Apple to me is awesome, but that is after at least 6 months of storage in the refrigerator vacuum-packed, Everyone seems to love and request I bring my apple smoked cheese to the party. sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

I'll mix apple and hickory or apple and cherry. Apple is always the goto for all smoke.

[4T]

When you guys are smoking for 3 hrs or better, are you putting a light smoke to it? Cuz with my smoke cheif it puts out way more smoke than my regular propane  smoker and can't imagine  putting that much smoke too the cheese for that long. Just curious.

[92xj]

Anyone with too much smoke on cheese is either not letting it rest long enough or producing the wrong smoke.  Most people will argue about their rest times and i have no desire to argue with you on that, bottom line, let it rest for as long as you can take it. But the more realistic reason will be a too cold of fire and you are producing the wrong smoke for cold smoking. Need a warm fire, a lot of oxygen and thin blue smoke which is not bitter like a colder fire less oxygen thicker looking smoke.  Tune your smokers and how you cool your smoke to produce a thin blue smoke, no need to play with your wood.

I smoke all applewood and always will. 99.9% of people will not know the difference in taste between similar woods.

You can produce great tasting anything smoked food and horrible bitter overpowering smoked food using the exact same wood and even during the same cook cycle, all depends on your fire.

[NRA4LIFE]

Well said. I never smoke cheese anymore for more than about 1.5 hours.  That's the amount of smoke I like.  Apple is my go to wood for cheese.  I don't smoke anything with alder anymore, far too bitter for me.

[4T]

Tried my 2 hrs smoke stuff this weekend. Been resting for 3 weeks.  So far my favorite. Stuck the rest in the bottom of the fridge  for a couple months. Thanks for all the input everyone.  This has been fun and tasty.  In laws have already made some requests for future.