Not happy with how cheese has turned out...

La Quinta · December 25, 2011, 12:14:16 AM

REPO...Swiss? Really? Wow...not my favorite...I like the yellow cheeses...matter of taste I suppose...

REPO · December 25, 2011, 03:56:13 PM

Quote from: La Quinta on December 25, 2011, 12:14:16 AM
REPO...Swiss? Really? Wow...not my favorite...I like the yellow cheeses...matter of taste I suppose...

Yup! I have always liked Swiss cheese, and the smoke just makes it that much better. The orange cheeses just never seemed to mellow out for me like the white cheeses do. Even after 6 months it was still a bit ash tray like. Maybe I should have taken the orange out sooner than the rest. Either way.
, I like the white cheeses better on most things anyway.

Even my wife agrees. If I open a package of the Swiss or Monteray Jack, it is gone within the day.

La Quinta · December 26, 2011, 11:46:47 PM

Ok...I do like the white cheeses...but not swiss...just a matter of taste...

viper125 · December 27, 2011, 07:46:46 AM

Well I don't know. My cheese was great after 2 weeks. I sliced a bunch for Christmas after 15 days and everyone loved it. I think people give it to much smoke. At least newbies. I only smoked mine 2 hours with Hickory as I love Hickory and seems most people do. I kept it under 90 for 2 hours of smoking and put in the bottom drawer of refrigerator. If it freezes or gets to cold it will ruin texture and taste. Some of the best cheese we could buy around her growing up. Came from a old man and women that ran a small store. Their cheese set on the counter all day year round. They would set in a cooler at night set so not to chill cheese to much. Always insisted you try a slice before buying. I normally set my cheese in basement where its 55-60.

chiroken · December 30, 2011, 09:47:52 AM

OK, here's an update & a quick refresh: the 5 cheeses were - jalepeno monteray jack, creamy havarti, medium cheddar, mild gouda, & friulano (never heard of the last one but it came in a cool looking round so I got it too ;) ) Several have commented that perhaps it was too much smoke, but it was only 1 hour of smoke. Never reached 80 degrees. They then sat on the counter long enough to cool down and they were lightly wiped with paper towel. Then vacuum packed and in the fridge ever since.

As far as size of pieces...nothing thinner than 1" some abit thicker. Most were blocks that I cut in rectangles. The gouda was a round so the one end is thin being "pie shaped".

It is 1 1/2 wks since I first tried the cheese and it has improved. This takes it to 5 wks. It still has that aftertaste that i don't think should be there. It can't be too much smoke as some of you are doing 2 hrs while I did only 1 hr. I'm guessing that it just simply will take more time to mellow out. I'm curious how people are eating after only 2 wks when we're using the same smoker and the same pucks???

Also curious about no after taste when using a hotplate and shavings? I do plan to eventually build a plywood cold box as I've seen on a thread here (can't remember who to credit) so I wonder if that's the place to put in a hot plate for cheeses?

pensrock · December 30, 2011, 12:30:55 PM

I made a metal cold smoke box and use a hotplate in it. Works great. And since I have a PID if I have a problem with the puck pusher I can easily switch to the hot plate setup. But now what I do when smoking cheese is by using my homemade smoke daddy to make the smoke and run it right into the Bradley. I use the PID to add heat if its too cold.

La Quinta · January 03, 2012, 01:01:00 AM

I have a cold smoke box (from Bradley) and I have to wait until it's around 40 degrees outside but the smoker gets to 50ish degrees after 2 hours of smoke...vac seal the cheese for 45-60 days...never tastes too smokey...(and I am not an overly smoke cheese fan)

I am not sure what the shavings are? Maybe I didn't fully read your original post?

chiroken · January 03, 2012, 07:48:28 AM

Quote from: La Quinta on January 03, 2012, 01:01:00 AM
I am not sure what the shavings are? Maybe I didn't fully read your original post?

I am referring to wood shavings (or wood chips) you put on the hot plate. Are you still using the Bradley pucks on a hot plate? I just assumed everyone used chips on a hotplate.

La Quinta · January 03, 2012, 11:38:41 PM

Yeah I use the pucks...but in the offset box...depending on the cheeses I go with hickory or pecan...but oak is nice...lots of times I mix too...Did a bunch 2 weeks ago...have to wait until we cool down again to do more...

I would love to hear about the Havarti taste...never tried that...

JZ · January 06, 2012, 09:29:20 PM

I've been out of touch for a long time -- computer issues ---- but I can add my experience to those you have already read. My first smoked cheese on the Bradley was the same thing. I did 2 hours of cold smoke with Hickory, using marbled cheese, med and mild cheddar. My second smoke was the same cheeses with hickory and pecan for 2 hours.

After 2 months it still tasted ashey. It was much better after 3 months and improved with age.

I was thinking that next time I would try 1 hour of smoke and see if that improved things - but you have already done this.

I read somewhere else on this forum that it may be the pucks. I recall smoking some cheddar on my Little Chief years ago and the wife and I ate it the same day. It was my first attempt at smoked cheese and it turned out great. Maybe like others have said --- the cheese is better if smoked with wood chips on a hot plate. I might give that a try next time.

La Quinta · January 06, 2012, 11:57:09 PM

Wouldn't that be more work? Or does the generator push the embers off? I never tried it so pardon my ignorance? Wouldn't the chips burn faster than the pucks? You would have to keep reloading chips?

JZ · January 07, 2012, 05:20:10 PM

I haven't done it yet but think it would involve a cold smoke adapter with a hot plate and pan of wood chips in the adapter.

Or I could borrow the Big Chief smoker I gave my son. :)

viper125 · January 07, 2012, 09:16:27 PM

Well sliced the last of the cheese today. It was about 3 lbs i believe and gone in 1 hour. My Kids and grand kids finished it off with woos and awws. 4 1/2 weeks old and tasted great!

La Quinta · January 07, 2012, 11:56:00 PM

JZ...borrow the Big Chief!!! ;D

JZ · January 08, 2012, 05:31:29 PM

At Christmas when the family was visiting I opened a block of Med Cheddar that was smoked for 2 hrs with Hickory and packaged on Nov 2, 2011. Everyone loved it but I thought it was a bit too smokey and still had a bit of the ashy taste. I cut off a chunk and trimmed off the exterior which was discolored from the smoke and the taste difference between the outside skin and the inside was quite pronounced. The cheese inside the block was much milder and very tasty. No ashy taste at all.

Might be worth trying.