Smoked Cheese

cluckk · Joined: 21 Oct 2007 Posts: 5

Today I tried something new that I have wanted to try for a long time.

Whenever we went through the dairy section of stores I saw blocks of cheeses that had been smoked. I decided to try it for myself and while smoking some other things I put a block of Gouda in a foil pan on the coolest end of my smoker. It turned out great.

The wood used was Apple and I found that a low heat is essential. Mine did get away at one point and the cheese melted some.

Has anyone else tried this? I'm thinking of trying some other cheeses and woods.

JimH · Posted: Oct 29 2007 Post subject:

Yes, I have been doing it for a while. It's best to do it by itself, with just enough charcoal or lump to get the wood to smolder. I wait for a cold night, get four to six fully lit brickettes and a couple chuncks of pecan in my offset then put the cheese on foil in the cooking area. I smoke it as long as I can without it getting warm. If I have to I'll do it in more than one session. I smoke pepperjack (crowd favorite), cheddar, swiss and mozzarella. Don't use high-end cheese, just the stuff from the dairy section of the market. Sorry no pictures, but it's on my list of things to Santa.
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The Demolition Man - Demolition Man BBQ

boughn22 · Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Colorado

We've been smoking cheese for years. We use a Luhr Jensen Little Chief electric. I built a box double the height of the chief, with a few holes to let the smoke escape and put racks at the top taking the cheese out of the heat but it still gets the smoke and you can smoke trout below for a nice snack. You can use the box for deviled eggs too, try using mesquite to smoke some peeled hard boiled eggs in the box at the top and use mesquite mustard to finish the eggs.
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Life is too short to drink cheap beer.

texanx5 · Posted: Nov 25 2007 Post subject:

What temp are you running at? I'm thinking of trying but not sure I can get my smoker below about 100 deg. F.
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DDG

old Smokey
WSM a.k.a. Weber Smokey Mountain
Stumps Smoker (custom mobile unit with a Stretch and sw42x6 offset)

JimH · Posted: Nov 26 2007 Post subject:

Look at this post, I was playing with my new camera: http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12493
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The Demolition Man - Demolition Man BBQ

boughn22 · Joined: 20 Nov 2007 Posts: 3 Location: Colorado

I have to apologize, but that's darn good question. I built the box to fit the Little Chief inside. Since the cheese sits at the top and out of the heat we never really thought to check the temp. The idea was just to get the smoke flavor, no real heat required. Sorry, I'm not much help.
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Life is too short to drink cheap beer.

Jeff T · Posted: Nov 28 2007 Post subject:

I smoked a bunch of chedder, monteray jack, colby, mozzarella and pepper jack over the long weekend. Turned out great. Used one pound hunks. On the WSM.... top & bottom vents all open full, three bricketts one chunk of hickory for an hour and a half or till wood was mostly burnt up. Keep the heat under 90 degrees, all ya really need is just enuff coals to keep the wood smoldering. One other tip is to leave the cheese out on the counter till it drys or crusts up a bit an hour or so. Can`t buy smoked cheese that good. Wink

71cuda · Joined: 26 Jan 2008 Posts: 5