BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

   My first attempt at smoking cheese. In a test run yesterday I couldn't keep the temp low enough, even with a bag of ice on the drip tray. This morning the outside temp was 50f, so I pre-heater the sg with the tower door open.
   When the cheese went in at 7:00 am the internal temp was 50f. I placed two frozen water bottles on the drip tray to help keep the temp down.

(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/mjcrawford1/Smoker%20Stuff/Cheese%20etc/P1020897480x640_zpsd617986a.jpg) (http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/mjcrawford1/media/Smoker%20Stuff/Cheese%20etc/P1020897480x640_zpsd617986a.jpg.html)

Old cheddar, medium cheddar, mozzarella and gouda.

(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/mjcrawford1/Smoker%20Stuff/Cheese%20etc/P1020895640x480_zps9305c744.jpg) (http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/mjcrawford1/media/Smoker%20Stuff/Cheese%20etc/P1020895640x480_zps9305c744.jpg.html)

20 minutes into the smoke and the temp is up to 72f already. May have to look intop building a cold-smoke attachment.

Crack the door open slightly. About the width of a pencil

Thanks 10. I tried the pencil trick, but in spite of the outside temp still just over 50, as well as opening the door a few times to let the tower cool, and propping it open 1/4 inch the temp is still up over 100f.  No sign of the cheese melting though, so I will continue doing what I'm doing. I will give it a little extra time in the smoker to compensate for losing the smoke every time I open the door. Should I be flipping the cheese over, or just let it be?
   With a name like 10point, I thought you might appreciate a pic of some of my whitetails. (please let me know if this is not appropriate for this forum)

(http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/mjcrawford1/Misc/P1020901640x480_zpsff46d968.jpg) (http://s1275.photobucket.com/user/mjcrawford1/media/Misc/P1020901640x480_zpsff46d968.jpg.html)

That's how I got the name. Hoping to make it tenpoint6 one of these days here real soon.

You do have the main heating element shut off completely right. Try making a large foil boat full of ice sitting on the bottom rack. Tell the wife the ice was getting stale so you emptied it to start over

Still not able to keep the heat down, and the cheese is starting to soften, so I guess I will have to pull it a little early. It's had about an hour and 45 min in the smoke (with me opening the door every 15 or 20 min to cool it) so I hope it is smoky enough. Definitely have to rig up a remote cold smoke generator.

Don't worry. The smoke flavor will be there.  When ready, take the cheese out and let it rest where air can get over and under it.  Blot off any "sweat".  Then either wrap tightly in plastic wrap or better yet, vac seal it.  Hide it in the back of the frig for at least 2 weeks before you taste it.  Resist the urge to taste it now.  You will most likely be disappointed.

Quote from: KyNola on August 08, 2013, 08:36:43 AM
Don't worry. The smoke flavor will be there.  When ready, take the cheese out and let it rest where air can get over and under it.  Blot off any "sweat".  Then either wrap tightly in plastic wrap or better yet, vac seal it.  Hide it in the back of the frig for at least 2 weeks before you taste it.  Resist the urge to taste it now.  You will most likely be disappointed.

I disagree please cut a small slice off one of the cheddars. The resulting ashtray taste in your mouth should keep you from wanting to try your cheese for at least 21 days

Bigred, when I was cold smoking some salmon a couple of weeks back, I used one of those "blue ice" style chemical ice packs (wrapped in foil) on the bottom tray of my 6-rack.  Worked pretty well.  Cooled down the cabinet without adding additional moisture.  Not sure how long it stayed frozen, but it was well over two hours and possibly as long as four hours.  Had two ice packs ready to go, but found that one 8" x 8" pack kept the temp below 80F even as the outside temp climbed into the 90F range.

I also put the fish in the top rack position of the smoker.  Contrary to the conventional heat rises principle, some tests conducted by a forum member showed that the closer you are to the heating element, the higher the temperature is.  And the closer to the back of the cabinet (over the heating element), the higher the temperature is.  It might be worth trying using the top rack position, loading your cheese toward the front of the rack, and doubling up your rack space by inverting a second rack on top of the first rack.  This would allow you to get a full rack of cheese into the coolest part of the smoker.

Funny, though it was a cool morning here, and I had 2 bottles of ice in the tower I never was successful in keeping the heat down. I pre-heated the sg with the tower door wide open so the temp read 48f when the cheese and ice went in. As per 10point's suggestion I tried cracking the door open but the temp still climbed to 110. I even used three different thermometers to rule out a faulty reading. Is it possible that although I had the tower element off it was getting enough voltage to make a difference?
   In any case, the cheese is vac-sealed and in the fridge. I hope I can hold out for the recommended 2 to 3 weeks before trying it!

Quote from: Bigredcat on August 08, 2013, 10:51:52 AM
Funny, though it was a cool morning here, and I had 2 bottles of ice in the tower I never was successful in keeping the heat down. I preheated the sg with the tower door wide open so the temp read 48f when the cheese and ice went in. As per 10point's suggestion I tried cracking the door open but the temp still climbed to 110. I even used three different thermometers to rule out a faulty reading. Is it possible that although I had the tower element off it was getting enough voltage to make a difference?
   In any case, the cheese is vac-sealed and in the fridge. I hope I can hold out for the recommended 2 to 3 weeks before trying it!

Yeah, I don't understand why your smoker is running so hot.  Posts from other forum members lead me to expect that the puck burner would cause your cabinet temp to be about 10 degrees above ambient.  So I'm going to throw out some thoughts that might be down right silly.  Was your vent wide open, to allow the heat to escape and cool air to be drawn into the smoker?  Did you put hot water in your puck bowl?  Was the sun beating down on the front of your smoker?  I know you've got it in a smoker house, but I see shadows from the water bottles in your picture.  The Bradley literature implies that you can experience quite a bit of heat gain from exposure to the sun.  Did you check the heating element to see if it was warm?  I suppose it is possible that some kind of malfunction might have been providing power to the heating element, even though is was set for off. 

Remember ur temp sensor is lower too. Wrapped some ice in foil and put it on a tray under the cheese as well as ice in the drip pan. Temp stayed well under 100.

Thanks for the heads up on initial taste, it most definitely tasted like an ashtray. Have the rest sittin in a vac seal bag.

Sorry for the delay in responding guys, I was away for the weekend. Thanks for all the good comments. In response:

QuoteWas your vent wide open, to allow the heat to escape and cool air to be drawn into the smoker?  Did you put hot water in your puck bowl?  Was the sun beating down on the front of your smoker?  I know you've got it in a smoker house, but I see shadows from the water bottles in your picture.  The Bradley literature implies that you can experience quite a bit of heat gain from exposure to the sun.  Did you check the heating element to see if it was warm?

The vent was wide open, the water bowl was empty (I was afraid of condensation on the cheese), and although it was a clear day, the smoker doesn't get direct sunlight until a couple of hours after I had pulled the cheese out. I did not actually feel the tower element to see if it was contributing any heat so that will be my next project. The hardest part of this whole experiment is waiting the two or three weeks to try the cheese!

If your water bowl was dry you are still burning the expelled pucks which is generating more heat.  Always us water in the bowl when you are smoking.  You need to put them pucks out when they get discharged.

Never thought of that angle Sailor, but it makes perfect sense. I will give it another try with cold water in the bowl.

I use ice water in the bowl, and 2 1-gallon milk jugs w/ ice to keep smoker cool. No problem so far, and I have smoked about 6 batches of cheese.

Quote from: pokermeister on August 19, 2013, 06:04:58 PM
I use ice water in the bowl, and 2 1-gallon milk jugs w/ ice to keep smoker cool. No problem so far, and I have smoked about 6 batches of cheese.

Does this work for you in the Vegas summer or just fall and winter? I'm in Texas and have been waiting till fall to try smoking cheese because I wasn't sure if the ice trick would work.

Wouldn't it be better/easier to just buy and attach  the cold smoker attackment for the Bradley?  Keeps the SG a yard away from the tower, lessening its heat contribution to the tower. I've seem them on Amazon for less than the Bradley site.  Just a thought I've had for after I become "more better" with the Bradley, for making Lox.  Other than the cost $80 +/- is there a downside to the cold smoker atachment?

Quote from: pondee on August 20, 2013, 04:56:37 AM
Wouldn't it be better/easier to just buy and attach  the cold smoker attackment for the Bradley?  Keeps the SG a yard away from the tower, lessening its heat contribution to the tower. I've seem them on Amazon for less than the Bradley site.  Just a thought I've had for after I become "more better" with the Bradley, for making Lox.  Other than the cost $80 +/- is there a downside to the cold smoker atachment?

I've thought about it but space and money are at a premium right now and I'm looking at dehydrator's so I can make jerky easier and the wife is on board with that so I have to strike while the iron is hot on that one. So it's easier to just wait for cooler weather if I have to.

So I was about to run out of my Cheery Smoked Monterry Jack Cheese and needed to reload again so decided to smoke another batch of the following: Mild Cheddar, Provalone & Muenster.

Smoke: Apple
Smoke Duration: 1hr
Temp: Keep it under 100

What was the outside temp and humidity like when you did this? Also looks good I want to do some Jarlesburg (spelling?) for my dad it's one of his favorite hard cheeses.

I would say it was around 80 degrees in my area around
7pm.  My DBS highest reading was 99. I would open the door
every 20min when it would push a new puck on the heating plate.
This way it would cool down the Cabinet.  When the smoking was
done I still had ice in my foil pan.

Thanks that's good to know, I could probably try it in the evenings or early morning before the big heat hits.

Good luck.. Everything taste better with some smoked cheese!

Quote from: rveal23 on August 20, 2013, 09:44:41 AM
So I was about to run out of my Cheery Smoked Monterry Jack Cheese and needed to reload again so decided to smoke another batch of the following: Mild Cheddar, Provalone & Muenster.

I did several cheeses about a week or two ago, and Muenster was one of them.  Because I can never resist, I taste a small slice of each one - and they all had rich smoky flavor except the Muenster, which was rather bland and did not exhibit hardly any smoke.  Have you tried yours yet?

PZ, I didn't try any of the cheese. I remember the last time I tried them, before I let them sit in the fridge for a while made me feel as though I was eating an ashtray. I'll let u know in a week how it goes. That is the main one I really want to taste!

I'll be interested in your results.  I cut the blocks into approximately the same size as you did (I started with a 5 lb block that a friend in food service gave me), and also left on the red rind.  Smoke penetrated the clean edges nicely, but did not appear to penetrate the red rind in my batch.

I have used my smoker for cheese all year, and my smoker sits in a shaded area. Have not gotten above 80 with the jugs of ice.

Quote from: pokermeister on August 21, 2013, 11:31:11 PM
I have used my smoker for cheese all year, and my smoker sits in a shaded area. Have not gotten above 80 with the jugs of ice.

Thanks, I'll start freezing me a couple of half gallon milk jugs and get some cheeses to smoke.

Quote from: pz on August 21, 2013, 09:57:17 PM
I'll be interested in your results.  I cut the blocks into approximately the same size as you did (I started with a 5 lb block that a friend in food service gave me), and also left on the red rind.  Smoke penetrated the clean edges nicely, but did not appear to penetrate the red rind in my batch.

The red rind is not actually a natural cheese rind like you will find on a quality Parmesan reggiano.  The red rind is actually a food safe red wax that the cheese is dipped into.  That explains why the smoke didn't penetrate it.

Quote from: KyNola on August 22, 2013, 07:28:43 AM

Quote from: pz on August 21, 2013, 09:57:17 PM
I'll be interested in your results.  I cut the blocks into approximately the same size as you did (I started with a 5 lb block that a friend in food service gave me), and also left on the red rind.  Smoke penetrated the clean edges nicely, but did not appear to penetrate the red rind in my batch.

The red rind is not actually a natural cheese rind like you will find on a quality Parmesan reggiano.  The red rind is actually a food safe red wax that the cheese is dipped into.  That explains why the smoke didn't penetrate it.

Interesting, I thought it was just dipped into vegetable coloring, from what I have read.  Either way, once I open up my Muenster, I will let you know the results

Why would you leave the red cheese wax on it?


Muenster
The orange color around the cheese is a vegetable coloring. It usually has a very mild flavor and smooth, soft texture. In some cases, when properly aged, it can develop a strong flavor with a pungent aroma.

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on August 22, 2013, 10:12:42 AM
Why would you leave the red cheese wax on it?


Muenster
The orange color around the cheese is a vegetable coloring. It usually has a very mild flavor and smooth, soft texture. In some cases, when properly aged, it can develop a strong flavor with a pungent aroma.

Glad to know I wasn't the only one that has read it

More info on the red cheese wax.

http://cheeseandyogurtmaking.com/cheese-wax-red-wax-for-cheese-makers.html?___store=default&___store=default&gclid=CKui7-3UkbkCFWZk7AodnwkAxQ

Quote from: NePaSmoKer on August 22, 2013, 10:12:42 AM
Muenster
The orange color around the cheese is a vegetable coloring. It usually has a very mild flavor and smooth, soft texture. In some cases, when properly aged, it can develop a strong flavor with a pungent aroma.

That's how I understand it - the red color is due to paprika (at least by some sources).

My apologies gentlemen.  I mistakenly thought you were referring to the red wax that sometimes encases cheese like cheddar and gouda.  Somehow I lost sight of the fact that you were specifically referring to Muenster.

Again, my apologies.

Thanks Pokermeister. I only used a couple of small pop bottles of ice. Next trial will include cold ice water in the bowl and more ice in the tower.

Quote from: KyNola on August 23, 2013, 07:01:12 AM
My apologies gentlemen.  I mistakenly thought you were referring to the red wax that sometimes encases cheese like cheddar and gouda.  Somehow I lost sight of the fact that you were specifically referring to Muenster.

Again, my apologies.

Likely my fault, actually.  I should not have referred to the coating as "rind"  ;)