How cold is too cold

[RossP]

So I put 6 lbs of cheese in the smoker over an hour ago. It is only -5C here with the wind blowing. The smoker is exposed to the wind and I am using my cold smoke attachment. The problem is the temp gauge on the door has not moved at all. I have 2 hours of apple loaded. The question is is it too cold for the smoke, should I redo the smoke later and when it warms up? Thanks

[Slamdunk]

Ross, do you have a Maverick or other thermometer? Perhaps you could connect the heating element, put it on low and record temps that way. If it gets up above say 80 degrees, just crank the door open a bit to let the heat out.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

At that temp you may be bordering on freezing the cheese.  I have no idea how cold is too cold for smoking cheese, but I doubt you want to start freezing the cheese (i.e., forming ice crystals).

From my recent experience the SG alone will raise the temp in the cabinet about 60 °F.  If I did the calc right that's about a 33 C rise which would put you at ~ 28 C or 83 F, which would be fine for cheese.  I think you need to move from the cold smoke configuration to the SG alone and no heating element and you'll be in great shape.

[Slamdunk]

Ross what did you do for the cheese and how did it turn out?

[RossP]

Finished smoking the cheese last night , the cabinet temp was up to a whooping 52 F. I think it is alright.
The cheese after it came out of the smoke and it was definitely new smoked cheese taste. All the cheese is now
vacuum packed and getting happy in the fridge. Only time will tell how well the cheese took the smoke. I will
give it a try in 5-6 weeks. I will post at that time how it turned out. What I can say is with the temp and the wind we
did have all my bisquettes were only half burned. Now I have to check my smoke unit to make sure it is heating
correctly.

Ross

[pensrock]

If its cold out I run my heat using my PID set to 85-90 degrees. Works great.  :)

[RossP]

If its cold out I run my heat using my PID set to 85-90 degrees. Works great.  :)

Yeh looks like I really need a PID. Now just to SWMBO to agree....
Maybe if I ruin some dinners she will see the errors of her ways ::)

Ross

[ArnieM]

That was a pretty 'cool' temp Ross.  I like to do my cheese around 80 F. 

A PID is really nice.  I dehydrated some peppers, no smoke.  Just set the PID for 135, SG off, and walked away.

[broken]

I just did 45 lbs of mozzarella,med cheddar,aged white cheddar and Gouda ( total combined)  4 weeks ago and the box never got above 62F,tried the mozza on some cutlets last Sunday and it was great as usual. Of course you have to share and reviews so far are GREAT! on the rest of of the cheese.
I personally do not like cheese to get above 80F,have had some insight to take it higher,but when ya have a proven method why mess around,I guess it's a matter of preference
 

[RAF128]

You probably didn't need your cold smoke adapter.  THe SG would have worked and excessive heat wouldn't be a problem.

[RossP]

You probably didn't need your cold smoke adapter.  THe SG would have worked and excessive heat wouldn't be a problem.

I considered that but for some reason I used the Cold Smoke Adapter, next time the temp is that low which is not that often here I will not use the Cold Smoke Adapter.  Last time I smoked cheese I put a pan of ice in the smoker and the temp never got over 65F and the cheese turned out great. I am hoping for the best this time around.

Ross

[oarfish]

I did the smoking cheese with the adapter early spring when the box temp. did stay in the 50F range. The mozzarella and the mild cheddar was in smoke for about 15 hrs. since I like heavy flavor. I believe that it did not get full flavor due to the low temp. I was eating the vacuum packed cheese even months later since it was a 30lb batch. Was good but not smoky enough.  If I could do it again I would not use the cold smoking adapter to keep the box in the 70-80 F range. There have to be a rule for too cold smoking cheese minimum temperature requirement.

[RossP]

Tried the cheese last night with a glass or two of
local Ale and it turned out good. The Aged cheddar
has a nice light smoke flavor, were the medium and
mild have taken on more of the smoke. So I guess
a real cold temp is alright as long as the cheese does
not start to freeze.

Ross

[ArnieM]

I'm glad to hear the ale turned out good  ;D

In my experience, the softer the cheese, the more smoke it will sop up.

[LumpyDVC]

Awesome to hear it worked out good. The how cold is too cold? question
was going to be my next question. lol

It's -13c here right now. I'll attach my SG direct and see what temp it maintains.

I'm looking forward to smoking some cheese.