Smoked Cheese Question?

[Seahawk]

Hi everyone haven't posted in a while, but was wondering about temperatures on cheese.  I did a batch of cheese 2 weeks ago, and noticed that I didn't have that nice smoke ring around the cheese.  Temperature where I live has been around the high 40's and I smoked my cheese at night when it was around 40 deg.  I ran just the smoke burner and couldn't get the temp above 60 deg.  Is this temp ok or do I need to get the smoker a little warmer?  I usually shoot for 70 deg.  Any help would be appreciated.

[RedJada]

 Hi seahawk, I just did some cheese myself, 1st time. I'm in NE Ohio and were at 50 degrees. I put two ice trays in to keep the temp down. Smoked the same way you did. I was able to maintain 75 degrees. But the important thing to remember when doing this, you just (cold) smoking and not cooking. As long as you had the smoke going and low temps you should be fine. You don't want to melt the cheese.
You mentioned you did this two weeks ago? How does it taste now? We would love to see some pictures...

[Keymaster]

Hi everyone haven't posted in a while, but was wondering about temperatures on cheese.  I did a batch of cheese 2 weeks ago, and noticed that I didn't have that nice smoke ring around the cheese.  Temperature where I live has been around the high 40's and I smoked my cheese at night when it was around 40 deg.  I ran just the smoke burner and couldn't get the temp above 60 deg.  Is this temp ok or do I need to get the smoker a little warmer?  I usually shoot for 70 deg.  Any help would be appreciated.

How may Bisquettes did you run through the smoke tower? I usually go about 2 hours of smoke.

[JZ]

You're cheese will be fine at those temps.

[Habanero Smoker]

Your temperatures are fine, though I try for 70°F.

I've have just done an experiment, I was going to repeat it a couple of times before I posted my results, but I figured if others try it and provide feed back; that would give us a better idea of how well this works. What I did with my last batch of cheese was to bloom it in the Bradley. To do this properly, you need to set up your cold smoking box, and have a PID or other temperature control device. My next experiment is to place the water bowl in the cabinet during blooming. I have a dual element mod, with a switch on the second element. I turned the second element off, for a more "gentler" heat recovery.

I applied 2 hours of apple smoke. If you didn't use the cold smoke setup; after applying the smoke removed the water bowl,  and turn off you smoke generator. Set your temperature controller to 70°F (65°F may be safer incase you controller over shoots), and let the cheese bloom for 2 hours, in the smoker. In my opinion the cheese obtained a darker color then I have been able to achieve in the past. There was some mild sweat, so at some point my cheese must have got close to 90°F or higher. After blooming in the Bradley, I air bloomed them on the counter until they cool.

Get ready! I'm about to post two pictures.  ;D




Cheese in order from left to right: Top row: Baby Swiss, White Cheddar w/ Cracked Black Pepper, Sharp White Cheddar, Sharp White Cheddar.
Bottom row: Cheddar w/ Horseradish, Colby Jack.

A couple of things to take into consideration.
1- I would not go over 2 hours of blooming.
2- Keep tight control over the heat.
3- If you have more then one rack of cheese; half way through your smoke time flip the cheese over and rotate the racks.
4- When blooming in the Bradley do the same as above; flip and rotate

[Mr Walleye]

You got some really nice color on the cheese Habs.

I'll definitely have to try that technique next time I'm doing it.

Mike

[pensrock]

I have noticed when my temps get to 90 degrees my cheese always gets a darker color than at a lower temp. I use my PID when doing cheese now. I have not tried allowing it to rest in the smoker after the smoking period. Your cheese looks great.

[Seahawk]

Thanks for all the replies.  I was just curious if temps between 50-60 deg would cause the cheese to not soften, and you wouldn't get even smoke throughout the cheese.  I usually try for 70-80 deg but couldn't get there.  I tried it after 2 weeks and it was too mellow of smoke taste for my liking.  I applied 1.5 hrs of smoke with apple.   

[Seahawk]

Nice smoke color on your cheese Habanero.  That's what I was shooting for, so I  thought that maybe I needed my smoker a little warmer for the smoke to penetrate the cheese.  Nice job

[Seahawk]

Hi keymaster.  I applied 1 hour and 20 min.  Thinking I need to bump it to 2 hrs with a milder smoke like apple.

[viper125]

1-2 is what I do and a lot of times with my hickory. Never take the water dish out doing cheese. I set the pid usually 80 degrees and when the smoking time is over the pids set to shut off. Never really timed when to pull.

[Toker]

Should i leave the cheese inside the smoker while the smoke generator preheat?

[viper125]

I do it really dont matter I dont think.

[Habanero Smoker]

Nice smoke color on your cheese Habanero.  That's what I was shooting for, so I  thought that maybe I needed my smoker a little warmer for the smoke to penetrate the cheese.  Nice job

You will get the darker color on the outside, but under the most ideal conditions the smoke flavor will no penetrate not more them 1/8 - 1/4-inch, though you will obtain more smoke adhesion to the surface. How thick is your cheese. I keep mine no thicker then 1 1/2-inch thick. This increases the surface to mass ratio.

Toker;
I've never tried placing my cheese in the smoker while the generator is preheating. I leave it on the counter during the preheating. The best way to smoke cheese is to use the cold smoke setup. That way you can control the cabinet temperature better.

[Toker]

THX, I was just wondering about from fridge to tower right away or warming up before.  Always used my cold smoke adaptor for cheese so far.