Beatin' the weather

EZ Smoker · May 24, 2010, 12:12:42 AM

Thursday we got some rain, and the temperature cooled down to 68 that night. For cold smokin' in East Texas in late May, 68 is as good as you could hope for. And when I got to the grocery store they were having a buy one get one free sale on edam. And they had small pieces of a nice jarlsberg for not too much money. Cooler weather and a cheese sale on the same night... clearly this was more than mere coincidence, so I jumped on it. Although my only cheese smoking experience in the past didn't go so well, I knew this was the time to try again. So I put the free edam in the smoker (keeping the paid-for one to go with my pepperoni stick and Corona for a snack while I was a-smokin'), along with a small piece of jarlsberg, and I loaded my OBS with ice (a drip pan full of ice to catch the pucks, the V-tray upside down with a bunch of ice in it, and a nice big bowl of ice close to the cheese, which I placed on the top rack). I opened the vent all the way, put in 2 hr, 40 min worth of apple, and set her to smokin'. Much to my surprise, the ice worked great. I had to add ice on two more occasions, but the cabinet temp stayed in the 70's until I ran out of ice, with about 10 minutes left in my smoke. I let it finish, and the high temp for the entire smoke was 81 (as measured by my Maverick, with the probe hanging just an inch or so above the cheese).

Then I brought it in and let it sit on the counter for 45 minutes, then vac packed it, wrote the date on the vac bag, and put it in the fridge. So... when can I eat it? two weeks? three weeks? I can be patient if it will help the flavor.

pensrock · May 24, 2010, 02:17:35 AM

2 weeks min.

NePaSmoKer · May 24, 2010, 04:55:51 PM

Ditto on what pens said or even longer if you can hold out. I gave into the urge once ;D

For the smokeout i have some cheese thats been vac sealed for 6 months.

iceman · May 26, 2010, 10:43:58 AM

I let the sharp cheddar sit for almost 4 weeks then tried it. Darn good by then but I think even longer would have been better.

EZ Smoker · June 24, 2010, 10:14:28 PM

Just to follow up...

I took out the edam and the jarlsberg after 3 weeks to give it a try, and the jarlsberg was good, but didn't taste quite like it should have. It almost seemed like the smoke flavor wasn't fitting the cheese quite right. After another week I tried it again, and it was better, but still not quite right. After the 5th week, I tried it again, and it was good. It felt like the smoke flavor was finally melding with the cheese flavor to create a single good flavor.

As for the edam, it was bad after 3 weeks, bad after 4 weeks, and bad after 5 weeks.

Thanks for the help,

Scott

classicrockgriller · June 25, 2010, 12:01:49 AM

Quote from: EZ Smoker on June 24, 2010, 10:14:28 PM
Just to follow up...

I took out the edam and the jarlsberg after 3 weeks to give it a try, and the jarlsberg was good, but didn't taste quite like it should have. It almost seemed like the smoke flavor wasn't fitting the cheese quite right. After another week I tried it again, and it was better, but still not quite right. After the 5th week, I tried it again, and it was good. It felt like the smoke flavor was finally melding with the cheese flavor to create a single good flavor.

As for the edam, it was bad after 3 weeks, bad after 4 weeks, and bad after 5 weeks.

Thanks for the help,

Scott

I love Edam cheese. I haven't tried smokin it.

Thanks for the heads up.

DTAggie · June 25, 2010, 07:49:09 AM

I am finding that about 7 or 8 weeks is perfect on rest.

Quarlow · June 25, 2010, 08:08:09 AM

Quote from: EZ Smoker on May 24, 2010, 12:12:42 AM
(a drip pan full of ice to catch the pucks, the V-tray upside down with a bunch of ice in it, and a nice big bowl of ice close to the cheese, which I placed on the top rack).

This caught my eye. Are you saying you normally have the V-tray with the V pointing up? Cause if your are then you have the tray in the wrong way. You want the pointy part pointing down at all times to channel the drippings down into the water bowl. If you have your tray with the point up you will run the greases out to the burner and catch it on fire. Or am I just reading this wrong, if so just tell me to shut up. It won't be the first time, my wife is always telling me to shut up. ;D ;D
And the one time I did cheese it did not come out very smoky so the next time I will follow the other guys lead and leave it for 4 to 8 weeks maybe longer.

KevinG · June 25, 2010, 08:47:07 AM

Wow Q, nice catch - looks like the meds kicked in. ;D

Quarlow · June 25, 2010, 08:51:45 AM

:D :D :D

EZ Smoker · June 25, 2010, 11:55:51 AM

Actually, Quarlow, you're right. I discovered a little more than a week ago that I had it in wrong. The Bradley manual says to put it in facing down... I thought that was facing down. They meant pointing down. I remember wondering about that when I installed it, but didn't have anyone to ask because I wasn't on the forum then.

Thanks.

RossP · June 25, 2010, 02:02:45 PM

Super Q to the rescue once again. Nice catch Q, you are the man.

Quarlow · June 27, 2010, 07:58:14 PM

Quote from: EZ Smoker on June 25, 2010, 11:55:51 AM
Actually, Quarlow, you're right. I discovered a little more than a week ago that I had it in wrong. The Bradley manual says to put it in facing down... I thought that was facing down. They meant pointing down. I remember wondering about that when I installed it, but didn't have anyone to ask because I wasn't on the forum then.

Thanks.

EZ you stick with us and you'll be a pro in no time. ::) ::) :D :D

Beatin' the weather

NePaSmoKer