COLD SMOKING cheese thread

Oregon smoker · Posted: Nov 08 2007 Post subject: COLD SMOKING cheese thread

there has been example's thrown around on how to do this. i have a good idea of how to do it. but its the holiday season so post up here links to threads and or recipes. a list of whats needed, min.-max temps, rubs/salt crusts that can be used. just one place to reference it all.
jason

ProBBQ · Posted: Nov 08 2007 Post subject:

I tried a Smokepistol and also a Grill kicker for cheese, both worked well.
www.smokepistol.com
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Bedlam BBQ · Posted: Nov 08 2007 Post subject:

I tried my first attempt this past weekend. Smoked some mild cheddar with apple wood. I was running the smoker at 130*, which was just a bit too hot -- the cheese was starting to melt a little after 1-1/2 hours in the smoker. It had great flavor and I think would taste great shreaded and put on a hot piece of apple pie.
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Old Dave · Posted: Nov 08 2007 Post subject: Smoking Cheese

Smoking cheese is very easy to do if you don't try to turn it into rocket science. It can be done on about any cooker or grill with great results. I have smoked cheese on a Weber kettle, a WSM, my ceramic cookers, and also my Backwoods cookers. I have put up information on this site on smoking cheese on several cookers and you can find one of them at this address. http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5095&highlight=cheese

Give it a try and I am sure you will love the results.
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USDA Monkey · Posted: Nov 08 2007 Post subject:

I've always loved smoked cheese but I never made it until a few weeks ago. The results were fair. I too got the cooking chamber too hot. This weekend I'm giving it another shot and I'm better prepared. I've made a small steal smoke generator that will hopefully keep the temps down.

I plan on giving some smoked cheese away as gifts for the holidays. Any ideas for presentaion? I do not have a food saver but I think I'm getting one for x-mas but that will be too late for the cheese.

I use cherry wood and highly recommend it.
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Bedlam BBQ · Posted: Nov 09 2007 Post subject:

broncosmoker · BBQ Pro Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 717

Try to keep the temps down around 90-110. A heavy smoke is ok at the beginning. I use some garlic spices and onion spices on white cheeses. You can do Brie with just mesquite and no spices and it comes out great. An easy rub of a LITTLE cinamon, nutmeg and brown sugar is great on a gouda. Those are some of my preferences. I will look up some other combos tomorrow when I get home.

JimH · Posted: Nov 09 2007 Post subject:

you only need a few pieces of charcoal, the idea is to produce smoke not heat. Try to keep your pit as cold as you can, keep the needle pegged at it's lowest point.

In a couple of weeks I'll have a digital camera so I can post pictures.
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Reflect · BBQ Fan Joined: 16 Nov 2005 Posts: 220

I smoke cheese regularly, my wife loves it.

I try to stay around 1/2 to one hour. I find that letting it sit for a night when done brings the flavor out more.

I normally use two lumps of charcoal and one chunk of wood.

I read on another forum people using two disposable pans. The first pan gets loaded up with ice. The second pan inserts into the top of the first. You then put the cheese on the top pan. I have not tried this but the poster swore by the method.

Take care,

Brian

Harry Nutczak · Posted: Nov 09 2007 Post subject:

packaging cheese without a vacuum sealer?

lets go old school here. (And the best way I know to preserve cheese)

Dip it in melted food grade parafin wax a few times until you get a sufficient coating. then just wrap it in butcher paper or plain old waxed paper for shipping.
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Oregon smoker · Posted: Nov 09 2007 Post subject:

ok so do you leave the small fire at one end of the cooking chamber with the cheese at the other? or put the smoke source in the firebox with cheese as far away as possible?
also alien a picture of his setup, and some had a setup using a soldering iron in a can.
jason

Stan41 · Posted: Nov 09 2007 Post subject: Mesquite Smoked Cheese

I smoked my first cheese this afternoon. Easy. I have a BBQ with an offset firebox. I placed just a very few chips in a frying pan, set an electric hot plate in the fire chamber with the frying pan on it. Turned the hotplate on so it would start the chips to smouldering. After they started smoking I turned the hotplate off to avoid unnecessary heat. If the chips started to go out I would turn the hot plate on again. The cheese was placed on a rack in the cooking compartment as far away from the chips as possible. Let it smoke for about an hour and the cheese was delicious. It doesn't take much smoke for cheese to absorb the taste. I smoked sharp cheddar and didn't let the temperature get over 110 degrees.
Stan

bbqfarmer · Joined: 08 Jan 2007 Posts: 4

I never smoked cheese until I saw in on www.smokepistol.com and I did their smoked cheese with the grillkicker in a cardboard box http://www.smokepistol.com/smokedcheese.html. It was easy and worked great. You can do a whole bunch of different types at the same time but Goulda and Pepperjack are the best. You have to cold smoke the cheese or it will melt.

TasunkaWitko · BBQ Fan Joined: 21 May 2008 Posts: 211

smoking cheese works very well with the little chief electric smokehouse and their "cold box" thechnique. click here for the .pdf showing how this works:

http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum/uploads/TasunkaWitko/2008-05-26_222757_Cold_Smoke_Technique.pdf

i also find that a pan of ice between the heat and the cheese and putting the cheese at the highest point helps a lot.

reptileink · Posted: Dec 18 2011 Post subject:

My last cheese experiment I had some help from mother nature with the cold.

Here we have Sharp, Extra Sharp, Empire Pepper Jack, and Muenster(sp)
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/CustomCreator2008/cheese.jpg

How they looked coming off:
http://i526.photobucket.com/albums/cc346/CustomCreator2008/smcheese.jpg

I put all the levels in the ProQ including an empty water pan, and put the cheese on the tippity top. 5 briquettes with one small piece of cherry. Smoker sat around 80* most of the cook, but did hit 100 at one point. I just took the top off for a few minutes to get the temp back down. Sat about 1.5 hours, then I pulled them. I hear what some say about not eating them for a few days.

I will be doing more in a week or so, and also trying Brie. Any tips about smoking brie???
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BUGSnBBQ · Posted: Dec 18 2011 Post subject:

I did my first smoked cheese a last month. Did Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Gouda, and Mozzarella. Used the WSM and Cherry wood.

Ran at 85-90 degrees.

For about 2 hours.

Wrapped and let sit in the fridge for a week.

Came out amazing! I'm going to do some more this afternoon for Christmas (Snacks, Mac and Cheese, Gifts).
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SmokeHound · Posted: Dec 18 2011 Post subject:

Jeff T · Posted: Dec 18 2011 Post subject:

Smoking cheese is a very easy thing to do. Seems that not matter the style of smoker i use, weather its the WSM, or an old brinkman always turns out great.
I like to use my mini WSM smoky joe. The home made mini wsm works great for smoking cheese.
Start by lighting up three chunks of bricketts. When them are ashed over i add one small 2inch by 2inch chunk of wood, be it apple or hickory. After 20-30 minutes i check to see if i still have smoke & charcoal, if not i light another three pieces of charcoal, add another 2x2 piece of wood or finish up the first chunk of wood.
I like my cheeses in smoke for at least 45-60 minutes. Then vac pac & in the fridge to mellow for a week.

RollinontheRvr · Posted: Dec 18 2011 Post subject:

I have to agree with everyone else. It's easy to be cheesey...LOL!!! I found that the harder cheeses are the tougher ones to get smoke to penetrate so you have to leave them in the smoke longer that means lower temps. I did some Swiss and pepper jack for a buddy of mine. Even his little kids liked the pepper jack. My favorite is Gouda, it doesn't last long around here. I did mine in my Chargriller Pro with the smoke and fire in the side fire box and the cheese at the far end of the cook chamber. I kept my temps at about +/-100° for about an hour. You got to watch the heat though, like the others have said your cheese will run away if you don't. Next batch is on the UDS and the next batch after that is on the MUDS after I get around to finishing it. Shocked

Hey Jason...should be easy to cold up here right now with the temps we are getting. Damned if it didn't seem to get colder this afternoon while I was at work.
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