OK, I bought a bunch of cheese to smoke for Christmas. My plan is to remove from the fridge and sit on the counter for about 2 hrs, remove wraping and smoke for 2 hrs (6 pucks) with a mix of mesquite and apple, remove from smoker and let it rest on the counter for an hr or 2, then vacuum seal it and toss it in the back of the fridge untill Christmas time. I do not have a cold smoker for my Bradley 6 rack, but if I just use the SG, I think I should be OK, outside temps for tomorrow night are expected to be around 37*F. Anybody see any issues with my plan. Here is a pic of the cheese, I will cut the big block into about 5 pieces. Ignore the shrimp, they are a snack for when I am smoking tomorrow ;D
(http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/Bears319/100_2090.jpg)
The Cheese looks great.
I really don't know about using mesquite for cheese.
Apple should be enough.
Just my thoughts.
Just to be be safe on the temp not rising too much, put a load of ice cubes on the bottom rack and you can always "crack" the tower door open a little if it gets to warm. I have used a pencil to crack the door open. Don't worry, there will be plenty of smoke for your cheese.
I wouldn't use mesquite either. Have used apple, maple and cherry.
Agree with CRG, no messy wood.
apple is just fine, also i do not think that i would let the cheese come to room temp before you smoke it.
at 37 degrees i would take it out of the fridge open it up and set it in the smoker.(this will help keep the cheese from sweating) give it the amount of smoke you like,
then set it on the counter for about 30 minutes and vac seal.
there are many different tastes here when it comes to cheese.
Some like it really smokey, and some like it lightly smoked.....also there are the middle runners.
I do believe that the one common ground here is that the smoke just Kiss the cheese, meaning that the vent is full open
and i will sometimes use a puck standing on edge to keep the door cracked a little to let the smoker "breathe" and keep the heat
from the generator down.
Dang it Larry! you retired folk are just plain too fast :D :D
The experts pretty mcuh have you covered. I think with an outside temp of 37 you might see 60-65 in the tower, and that should be fine. Recently I used an equal mix of apple and alder on cheese - worked out real well to our taste. Personally, I am not of fan of mesquite.
I bow to everyones experience smoking cheese ;D, I will just run apple. This is my first crack at smoking cheese, so I think I would like middle of the road smokey flavor. I will be posting pics as per normal. Thanks folks.
Also you may get better smoke flavor on the cracker barrel if you slice it in half lengthwise. Keep the vent wide open, and after the generator has been preheated, prior to loading the cheese, leave the door open a minute or so to let any built up heat to escape.
I agree with all that has been said, except I find it difficult to ignore the shrimp. :)
I mainly use apple on cheese but do use oak and hickory at times. When I do big blocks of cheese, I cut them into 1/2 to 1 pound chunks. Vent wide open, its ok if the temp in the tower gets to 90 degrees, if its going higher than that, open the door till the temp drops some then leave it cracked open like Larry said. I smoke cheese at 85-90 degrees all the time, except when I do Velvetta. ;D
A few years ago I tried to smoke my first cheese in my OBS with the SG only. Started out OK but then the sun hit it and the outside temp rose. I had been watching it closely but had to leave for 10 minutes. When I got back I had and ooey gooey mess in side. With the out side temp at 37 it shouldn't be quite the same as mine but keep a close eye on it. If you want to keep a bag of ice on the bottom rack, that will help but watch it too. I did that once and the bag leaked and I had water all over the bottom of my smoker. I now have a cold smoke adapter attached to my 6 rack and that solves the problem.
My wife said she'd like to go to the bulk cheese warehouse today. That's giving my ideas ;). Personally I like hickory for my cheese.
Just a thought... I never made it through chemistry, but is putting dry ice at the bottom an option. Not sure how long it would last, but there wouldn't be a moisture problem. Not sure what kind of off-gassing occurs.
Quote from: SoCalBuilder on October 30, 2010, 06:48:29 AM
Just a thought... I never made it through chemistry, but is putting dry ice at the bottom an option. Not sure how long it would last, but there wouldn't be a moisture problem. Not sure what kind of off-gassing occurs.
You know, I thought about that as well... I'm thinking the CO2 might snuff out the pucks. (or at least reduce the amount of smoke they put out)
DOH... CO2... I knew I shouldn't have kept sneaking out of that class :o Oh Well ;D
Quote from: _Bear_ on October 29, 2010, 07:11:23 PM
I bow to everyones experience smoking cheese ;D, I will just run apple. This is my first crack at smoking cheese, so I think I would like middle of the road smokey flavor. I will be posting pics as per normal. Thanks folks.
Great choice,- I like apple myself.
If you have trouble keeping the temps down for cheese and cold smoking you might consider a cold smoke attachment, either Bradley's or build one (some use a carboard box). With the Bradley version the temp rise on my six rack is 7-8 ° from outside air temp at about 50 °F. Doubt you can a whole lot better than that short of turning your smoker into a refrigerator.
Well, after reading some of these posts I decided I'd better get some cheese so went to the Bulk cheese warehouse. Got some 5 yr old white cheddar and some cheddar with horseradish. Tomorrow is a hunting day so I'll get to it Monday or Tuesday.
They both will be great, I have done both kinds many times. :)
Quote from: RAF128 on October 30, 2010, 07:31:26 PM
Bulk cheese warehouse
And where would this Dairy Mecca be???
I just did 10lbs of copper Sharp and a 1 lb of pepper cheese last night temps here in NEPA were in the high 30's @ night, smoker never went over 77 degrees. Smoked with Apple of course for 2 hours then let them sit for about 20 mins to 30 mins then Vac sealed them up i ended up with 26 peices of smoked cheese that will be ready for consumption for the Holidays which i will be giving to friends and family to share. This is the third time i smoked cheese and it has been good to me so far.
I opened some after almost 2 weeks (couldn't wait). 3½ blocks of cheddar quartered. Yum. Shredded some over scrambled eggs this morning, then some slices later. I'll be doing this again. Alternated cherry and apple for 2 hours with a Bradley cold smoker. I also placed a Ziploc full of ice over the top of the smoke tube to help keep it cool.
I decided I wanted the Bradley cold smoking rig, so I orderd one and postponed smoking the cheese untill Tuesday when it gets here. I belive if I am going to do something I may as well over do it LOL.
Won't be here untill Thursday, think I wll cold smoke some nuts at the same time. Next I am going to cold smoke some salmon.
If you do drive up I'll get you to pick up some cigars for me ;). My source got promoted and he doesn't fly to Chicago anymore on a regular basis.
Quote from: RAF128 on November 02, 2010, 07:52:08 AM
If you do drive up I'll get you to pick up some cigars for me ;). My source got promoted and he doesn't fly to Chicago anymore on a regular basis.
Let me know, and I can get you a supply next time I'm in Chicago.. We usually get up there once a year or so.
OK, here we go. Ambiant temp is 43*F, 3 pucks of Apple and 3 of Hickory mixed. Box temp is 55*. Lets see how it does. I need a better knife for cutting the cheese (no pun intended :D) Excuse the filthy deck, I need to do some more cleaning ;D
(http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/Bears319/100_2092.jpg)
(http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/Bears319/100_2094.jpg)
Nice load!
Saw a tip once for cutting cheese... Get a length of clean fishing line and wrap dowel rods/spatulas/whatever around both ends of it real nice and tight. Makes a perfect device for cutting cheese.
2 hrs, box temp never got above 64*f. Now into the fridge untill Christmas. I need to find some of that matting. Going to smoke a cross rib roast sometime this week, then I am going to try my hand at cold smoking some salmon.
(http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/Bears319/100_2095.jpg)
Nice job- good looking cheese
Thanks. All packaged up waiting for Christmas ::)
(http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/ac321/Bears319/100_2097.jpg)
Nice looking cheese.
Do we ALL vac seal on the stove? I do.. LOL
Quote from: FLBentRider on November 09, 2010, 03:29:08 AM
Nice looking cheese.
Do we ALL vac seal on the stove? I do.. LOL
Ditto!
I am using my smoker for the first time right now doing 5 different cheeses with cold smoker attachment . Seems to be working nicely 60 out and temp inside staying around 75. Can't tell you guys enough how much I have learned from your posts thank you all very much. Steping up to franks this weekend can't wait to to get started. ;D
CentPa, Where in PA are you? I'm guessing your close to me in the DuBois area. Welcome to the forum.
I am in Milton /Lewisburg area thanks for the welcome . Really looking forward to making [ attempting I should say] Franks and sausage this weekend.
Have fun and remember, even the mistakes taste good.
I smoked 4 pounds of Cheddar yesterday. The tower stayed around 84 degrees. It's sealed and in the refrigerator. I don't think I can wait 4 weeks to crack it open and sample.
Well, I had to repackage some of my cheese today ;D. I ran out of bags when I was origanally packing after the smoke so I had to double and triple up, so I thought I would repackage them as singles today today. It also gave me a chance to try it 8). The cheddar was still very smokey, but definatly mellowing from when first done 12 days ago, the gouda and monteray jack were very nice. Now they will stay packaged up for another 25 or 30 days befor I test it out again, I expect the cheddar should be very nice by then.