Tillamook Cheese questions

[Keymaster]

I picked up some cheese today and plan on smoking it in the morning (right before the Seahawks beat the Bears ;D ) I only have Hickory and Alder pucks so I want to go with Alder. My question is would that be ok to use Alder? I'm thinking I will cut the bricks of cheese in half length ways and quarter the halves so I will end up with eight 1-1/2" X 3-1/2" cubes out of each block of cheese, any thoughts? I am going to use lots of ice to keep the cabinets temp down below 80°. This is my first cheese smoke and the wife said "oh good we can have that for snacks during the game" and I had to let her know we had to wait atleast two weeks to sample it  ;D

[smoker pete]

Two weeks probably will not do the trick.  I would plan on a bit longer.  Never used Alder but others have used hickory and commented on needing to wait a little longer.  I would wait 4 weeks but then that's me.

Otherwise it sounds like you have a good plan there. 

[Up In Smoke]

Alder is a great choice for cheese, and the way you plan to cut is fine.
i would go 1.5 with alder, if using hickory i would cut it back to 1.0 hours.
give it 21 days or more before tasting.
This is all personal preference, you will be able to adjust to your taste as you go.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Keymaster]

Thanks for the advice guys, Smokes on at 1hour and 40 minutes of Alder  ;D

[Jukebox]

AH!  I just smoked some cheese this morning.  Two 4" x 4" blocks - one mozza and one med cheddar.  I used hickory for an hour and then turned off the smoker and just let it hang.  At least I thought I had turned the smoker off.  I caught it just before it was about to turn into melted cheese all over the inside of my new smoker.  So you have to vacuum pack the cheese and let it cure for a week or two before eating it?

[Slamdunk]

JukeBox, 2 weeks minimum.

[Keymaster]

All done, cheese got 1 hour and forty minutes of Alder smoke. Now comes the long wait to test it, It did smell like an ashtray like everyone says  ;D

[muebe]

I am going to cold smoke the same Tillamook cheese you did tonight after my tenderloin is done...

[Keymaster]

I am going to cold smoke the same Tillamook cheese you did tonight after my tenderloin is done...

Cool, make sure and post pictures :) I was expecting a little more color change but I know it absorbed the smoke cause it smelled the whole house up packaging it  ;D

[Tenpoint5]

Wait until you open it in 10 - 14 days!! It won't be around long enough to smell up anything!!

[dman4505]

Keymaster sure hope the cheese has more success than your Seahawks did against my Bears.
The pics looked great, I'm going to try smoking some cheese one of these days.

Don

[TestRocket]

So what was your highest measured temperature using ice to keep the cabinet temperature down? I still want to smoke some cheese but keep holding off because I don't have a cold smoke adaptor, but from your PICS your cheese looks like it came our perfect! Congrats!

ps Resist the urge and wait 21 days or more, it seem the right think to do!

[Keymaster]

Yah Don, the butterfingers Seahawks sucked  ;D Testrocket It was probably about 45° F outside yesterday and the cabinet reached 80° F a couple times but I had the door cracked open 1/2" the second half of the smoke and really didnt lose much smoke out the crack, it still came out the vent mostly. I think its the wife that wont be able to wait two weeks, I want to wait a month  ;D

[FLBentRider]

Let her taste it then.  :o

[smoker pete]

Let her taste it then.  :o

Like FLBR said ... I guarantee she'll then wait at least a month  ;D ;D

Meanwhile, in a couple of weeks you might want to look into smoking more cheese cause once you wait you won't be able to get enough.  This way you'll always have a batch aging while you're munchin ...