Well i pulled my cheddar out after a little over 30 days and still has a really ashy taste to it. So i figured why not pull the other stuff out i did munster, colby, hot pepper and Monterrey jack and all are ashy tasting?? I am so frustrated with it i don't know what to do. I smoke all of them for 2 hours and used Apple pellets on them in my Traeger with the AmazeN smoker tube. What am i doing wrong?? The wife says no more cheese smoking until i get answers on how to fix the issue.
Few things crossed my find.
1) can having the cheese to close to the smoking tube have anything to do with it?
2) can using pellets instead of a puck smoker have something to do with it?
3) i am only cold smoking it just sticking it in the traeger and putting the tube in it and letting it burn for a few then adding the cheese. So the only heat it is getting is from the tube and i smoke when it is 20 outside so heat isn't an issue
PLEASE help me master this!!!!
Got me interested. Waiting for the traeger / amazen experts...
I really can't answer most of your questions. I CAN tell you that I put my cheese in the top of my 6 rack Bradley and use 2 hrs of smoke provided by the SG and either alder or apple pucks. I watch the tower temp with a maverick probe and if it hits 90 I put a 1/2 gallon milk jug full of ice in the V tray. After 2 hrs of smoke I bring the cheese in and let it rest on the kitchen counter on inverted racks for an hour or so, wipe it down with paper towels if any oil has formed on the surface. Then it gets vacuum sealed, dated and put in the fridge for at least 4 weeks. Mine always comes out good. Hope this helps.
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I posted something last week about the science of smoke. Kind of makes me wonder if that is the reason for my outcome here. The only thing I did different from what you posted was I didn't let it bloom after I smoked it. I smoked it pulled it and then vacuum sealed it with in an hour or so of smoking it!
Keep the advice coming kind of the frustrated train right now >:(
I would think smoke is smoke. Question would be is how did you seal/wrap the cheese when you put it in the fridge? Should be air tight, I do vac pack. The first time I did cheese, 30 days wasn't enough, smoked 2 hours. Now I let it go 2 months and it's great. I suggest to seal it back up and give it more time, it will get there...
I use my Weston 2300 and seal it up tight as a glove!! I put it back in the fridge just wanting to make sure that is the only issue LOL
I agree with RedJada, let it ride for another month and see.
OK if i have to let it sleep for two months then i need to get on the smoking train like there is no tomorrow LOL!
Quote from: wkahler on January 28, 2014, 04:13:03 PM
OK if i have to let it sleep for two months then i need to get on the smoking train like there is no tomorrow LOL!
No kidding. My first batch is on week 3. Hate to think I have to wait 5 more. I like heavy smoke on everything so I doubt I'll have that problem though. Anybody think you get heavier smoke with the tube vs SG?
Quote from: STLstyle on January 28, 2014, 05:01:34 PM
Quote from: wkahler on January 28, 2014, 04:13:03 PM
OK if i have to let it sleep for two months then i need to get on the smoking train like there is no tomorrow LOL!
No kidding. My first batch is on week 3. Hate to think I have to wait 5 more. I like heavy smoke on everything so I doubt I'll have that problem though. Anybody think you get heavier smoke with the tube vs SG?
No, just the opposite. The SG will put out a more pure concentrated smoke than pellets when using Bradley bisquettes. I have owned 3 pellet burners and still own one.
Quote from: STLstyle on January 28, 2014, 05:01:34 PM
Quote from: wkahler on January 28, 2014, 04:13:03 PM
OK if i have to let it sleep for two months then i need to get on the smoking train like there is no tomorrow LOL!
No kidding. My first batch is on week 3. Hate to think I have to wait 5 more. I like heavy smoke on everything so I doubt I'll have that problem though. Anybody think you get heavier smoke with the tube vs SG?
I just got an A-Maze-N tube and tried it on some cheese. Sorry Larry but I think there was more smoke than the SG with pucks. I smoked some swiss singles for 2 hrs and they came out looking like American!! Haven't tried it yet, just 10 days in to its rest. I'll try it at a month and LYK. I expect it to be strong.
ive done the SG and the AMAZN tube and both had similar smoke intensities to them. I think not wiping them down and not letting them bloom could be part of the issue. and i usually start using mine at the 3 week mark.
Depending if its hard or a softer cheese will have a effect on how much smoke favor it took on. I always give my cheese 8 weeks before biting into one.
I find it ok after 4 weeks but I agree it just gets better given more time.
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I too leave it for 8 weeks. I've had some that were ok at 6 weeks but none that I liked at 4 weeks. So I just make sure to keep enough in stock so I don't need to eat anything that's not less than 8 weeks old. All vac sealed after a short rest and then into the fridge until needed.
The couple of times I have tried my tube smoker I got much more concentrated smoke than I get from the pucks, I think I will probably only do 1 hour with the tube smoker on cheese. I have never seen such a thick dense smoke as I did from the tube of course it also burned up a 12 inch tube in just over 2 1/2 hours so I may have done something wrong.
I did another round of cheese with my A-MAZE-N pellet tube the other day. I'd say the smoke density was somewhat greater than when I used bisquettes. 3 hours of cherry, currently vacuum sealed for 30 days. Left it on the counter to bloom for 2 hours before sealing.
My previous smoked cheese went for 2:15 with hickory pellets. We started eating it after 30 days and it tasted pretty good. Just experimenting with a different flavor this time.
Looks like we are going to leave it for a few more weeks then try it out! Until then i will wait before smoking any more just to see how this comes out! Thanks for the help and if anyone else has anymore ideas feel free to pass them along!
I use both and I agree with Larry, I get a more concentrated smoke with my Bradley. When I use the Tube I put it under my drip tray in the Bradley and the smoke rises out the vent. It may be that the way the smoke exits your Traeger it does permiate over it longer. I'm going to try it in my Traeger but only apply an hours worth. I also believe the longer it sits both blomming and in the fridge it's better. just my 2¢.
Sounds like a split decision. Gonna have to buy one of those dang tubes to decide for myself...
Quote from: BAM1 on January 29, 2014, 03:38:46 PM
I use both and I agree with Larry, I get a more concentrated smoke with my Bradley. When I use the Tube I put it under my drip tray in the Bradley and the smoke rises out the vent. It may be that the way the smoke exits your Traeger it does permiate over it longer. I'm going to try it in my Traeger but only apply an hours worth. I also believe the longer it sits both blomming and in the fridge it's better. just my 2¢.
You may have hit on my problem, I opened a small gap between the SG and the cabinet like the instructions said, but I left the V-tray out since I was only cold smoking cheese. That may have created to much draft and burned up my pellets faster than they are supposed to. The smoke was so dense that it burned the back of my throat and nose when I opened the cabinet to check on things.
I think what i might try is 1 hour of smoke or like 1.5 hours of smoke then let it run the 30 days and see what happens!
Saber
Another thing I've noted with the Amazen Pellet Tube and the tray for that matter, it does make a difference which direction it faces. As an example, on the Bradley your draft is coming in from the left hand side. If you place the tube in the bottom and have the lit end on the left, you will have a faster burn. If you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn. This is true in my big smoker as well because I have air circulation in it. To put it simply, I usually make the pellets burn against the draft air which works best for me.
Mike
Quote from: Mr Walleye on January 30, 2014, 04:31:23 AMIf you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn.
That would explain why I seem to get more hours out of my pellets than what some others on here have reported. I orient the tube so the open end faces away from the SG.
Quote from: Mr Walleye on January 30, 2014, 04:31:23 AM
Saber
Another thing I've noted with the Amazen Pellet Tube and the tray for that matter, it does make a difference which direction it faces. As an example, on the Bradley your draft is coming in from the left hand side. If you place the tube in the bottom and have the lit end on the left, you will have a faster burn. If you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn. This is true in my big smoker as well because I have air circulation in it. To put it simply, I usually make the pellets burn against the draft air which works best for me.
Mike
That's a good point, I had mine with the lit end on the right but not for any reason other than I'm right handed and that was the direction I had it facing to light it. I will stick with that method in the future and try it with less of a gap and the V-tray installed as a damper to see how that works, I need an excuse to smoke some salt anyway.
I used to have an old vertical propane smoker that i gave to a buddy that is trying cheese also. I told him we are going to do some cheese in it and put the cheese on the racks and try it kind of like a Bradley but not LOL!
I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.
Finally another person stressed out about there failure!!!!
Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PM
I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.
Quote from: wkahler on January 30, 2014, 04:35:24 PM
Finally another person stressed out about there failure!!!!
Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PM
I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.
Ya and it was probably about 40 bucks worth of cheese!
Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PMI used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.
All I can say is try 'er again, maybe with a different flavor. Experiment with less than $10 worth of cheese and see how it turns out.
I had my Bradley for several years before I tried cold smoking anything. Then I bought an A-MAZE-N pellet tube and tried it on some cheese last month. 2:15 with hickory on one batch and 3 hours with cherry the next. I left both batches vacuum sealed for a month before eating any of it. My wife says it's the best cheese she's ever had.