Smoking Cheese

[js1050]

I attempted several times unsuccessfully to cold smoke cheese.  The first go round was by far the worst, leaving the brick of cheese on the counter for an hour left the kitchen smelling like charred lumber for a day.  I did no heat, apple wood, various times for the first five or six pounds of cheese, none of it was fit for consumption.  Times ranged from 1 hour down to 20 min.

A friend gave me this method that has worked wonderfully....

Smoke the cheese over the exhaust of the smoker while smoking pork shoulders (or ribs, chicken, turkey, etc).  I perfected his method by running the cheese in cycles.  There is some goodness from the pork fat that escapes through the exhaust...

Exhaust fully closed, allow smoke through small holes to escape...

3 minutes on one side, flip, three minutes on another side
rest off of the smoke for 6 minutes.

I run four cycles of 6 min (3 min per side) and after the last cycle place the cheese in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.  Next I remove from the freezer and cut into 8 oz bricks and seal in the food saver.  We normally consume the cheese within a month but I have had sealed portions last 4 months.

I buy the 1lb Extra Sharp Cheddar bricks and smoke 4 at a time using cookie cooling screens (one on top and bottom) to make it easier to flip.  I have also smoked pepper jack as well as fresh mozzarella, the mozzarella may have been three cycles tops.  I do a "smell" test with mozzarella after the second cycle.

The cheese is a hit!  It handily beats commercially bought smoked cheeses when served side by side.  The photo below is from smoking 16 pounds of spare ribs with mesquite; hickory for pork shoulders is amazing as well.  I've smoked cheese this way over turkey smoked with both apple wood and Jim Beam cask wood.  End results are great, works anytime of the year regardless of outside temp (today was 90).

[mikecorn.1]

Hey, never seen that before. I like it. Now wheres the pics of the product inside. Unless your making things up and just burning up puck ;D.
Did I tell you about that time I seen two unicorns on the side of the road :o


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[Tenpoint5]

I am thinking that you problem with smoking cheese inside of the cabinet is "We normally consume the cheese within a month but I have had sealed portions last 4 months." Most of us all wait about a month before we try the cheese. The nasty taste that you and your family are tasting probably makes your cheese taste like your licking an ashtray right? That taste is caused by the microscopic particles of ash that are being carried within the smoke. As those particles settles on your cheese that is where you get the taste. If you seal the cheese and wait about 10-14 days minimum (The longer the better) The ash particles will dissolve and your cheese will taste Awesome. Some of the harder cheeses take longer

[Up In Smoke]

X2 Chris,
However i have used this method on long smokes to warm drunken sausages for snacks.

mix them up, wrap them in foil and just let them ride.
after a couple of hours they are hot enough to snack on while you cook....i just leave them over the exhaust....
but i keep it full open.

[Ka Honu]

... taste like ... licking an ashtray ...

Where did we come up with "licking an ashtray" as a comparison?  I don't know anyone who has ever done that (or, if they have, they have never admitted it).

[js1050]

Hey, never seen that before. I like it. Now wheres the pics of the product inside. Unless your making things up and just burning up puck ;D.
Did I tell you about that time I seen two unicorns on the side of the road :o

Ha ha.  I did 16 lbs of spare ribs with my rub recipe for 3 hours of mesquite.  I transferred the ribs to pans and basted with apple cider vinegar for another 2 hours of cooking.  The finish was an hour in the pans covered with BBQ sauce on.

Tender like warm butter...

[OU812]

I have found that for me if the cold smoke is to cold the cheese dont taste right.

I like to cold smoke at 80 to 85 F

By setting your cheese above the exhaust I bet your smokin closer to 95 F maybe your cold smokin your cheese at to cold of an temp the times it tasted bad.

Just throwin it out there.

[js1050]

I have found that for me if the cold smoke is to cold the cheese dont taste right.

I like to cold smoke at 80 to 85 F

By setting your cheese above the exhaust I bet your smokin closer to 95 F maybe your cold smokin your cheese at to cold of an temp the times it tasted bad.

Just throwin it out there.

You may be right.  Then again, I have found something that works and I can serve the cheese the same day I smoke it.  Win/Win...

[OU812]

I have found that for me if the cold smoke is to cold the cheese dont taste right.

I like to cold smoke at 80 to 85 F

By setting your cheese above the exhaust I bet your smokin closer to 95 F maybe your cold smokin your cheese at to cold of an temp the times it tasted bad.

Just throwin it out there.

You may be right.  Then again, I have found something that works and I can serve the cheese the same day I smoke it.  Win/Win...

Win/Win,,,,,gotta love that.  ;D

[KyNola]

If you fully close that vent or exhaust as you call it with the smoke generator working, you are backing up the smoke in the tower into the generator and effectively destroying it.  Big mistake.

[Indy Smoker]

Add the cold smoke adapter -or build your own and save your generator.  Most of us here smoke with the vent wide open and you will still get the flavor in your food without comprimising your equipment or adding moisture.  I have this setup and it works well

[js1050]

After reading through the replies I smoked a couple of pork shoulders over night with the vent full open.  This morning I checked them at 11 hours and they are tough and bone dry.  When I smoke with the vent closed, probing at 10-11 hours the juices squirt out and the meat is easy to probe. 

I'll know more when I pull them in a couple of hours, but this will be the first time in 3 years of smoking shoulders that I had this result.  If I confirm they are dried/petrified I will go back to keeping the vent closed. 

[KyNola]

You do whatever you feel works best for you. Don't take my word for it.

See here--- http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=5192.msg50150#msg50150

Iceman has been around here much longer than me and is one of the more respected members of the forum.  That's good enough for me.

[js1050]

Maybe I am missing something.  If I keep the vent wide open for the four hours of smoke, and then close the vent for the remaining 8 hours will this "damage" the smoker?

I can see with brined turkey where keeping the vent wide open won't be a problem.  Doing so with two 8 lb pork shoulders for 12 hours just left me with pork at 140 degrees.  I have a digital cooker which I set to 200 degrees. 

Hopefully a couple of hours covered in a low oven will make the shoulders salvageable.  Otherwise I will be tossing 16 lbs of pork.

I did do 4 lbs of cheese last night "above" the exhaust/vent.  It was excellent this morning with omelets...

[js1050]

I re-read the linked thread and find this to seem like sage advice:

In most situations you would only want your damper about 1/4 open. As a general rule you will open it only as far as to prevent the smoke and moisture from backing out of the generator. For poultry with skin, you would need to open it much wider to allow the excessive moisture to escape. Also, generally the damper is also helpful in controlling the heat, the smaller opening will help with higher heat temperatures, more open will help keep the cabinet temperature down.

As I have just learned, the "wide open" as a hard and fast rule is an extreme.  I will keep an eye out though to ensure that smoke/condensation isn't coming out by the generator.

Now to deal with the disappointment of my first ruined shoulders in three years of smoking...