Help with the Ashy Cheese!?

Saber 4 · January 28, 2014, 09:47:10 PM

The couple of times I have tried my tube smoker I got much more concentrated smoke than I get from the pucks, I think I will probably only do 1 hour with the tube smoker on cheese. I have never seen such a thick dense smoke as I did from the tube of course it also burned up a 12 inch tube in just over 2 1/2 hours so I may have done something wrong.

TedEbear · January 29, 2014, 04:45:32 AM

I did another round of cheese with my A-MAZE-N pellet tube the other day. I'd say the smoke density was somewhat greater than when I used bisquettes. 3 hours of cherry, currently vacuum sealed for 30 days. Left it on the counter to bloom for 2 hours before sealing.

My previous smoked cheese went for 2:15 with hickory pellets. We started eating it after 30 days and it tasted pretty good. Just experimenting with a different flavor this time.

wkahler · January 29, 2014, 08:39:27 AM

Looks like we are going to leave it for a few more weeks then try it out! Until then i will wait before smoking any more just to see how this comes out! Thanks for the help and if anyone else has anymore ideas feel free to pass them along!

BAM1 · January 29, 2014, 03:38:46 PM

I use both and I agree with Larry, I get a more concentrated smoke with my Bradley. When I use the Tube I put it under my drip tray in the Bradley and the smoke rises out the vent. It may be that the way the smoke exits your Traeger it does permiate over it longer. I'm going to try it in my Traeger but only apply an hours worth. I also believe the longer it sits both blomming and in the fridge it's better. just my 2¢.

STLstyle · January 29, 2014, 05:29:56 PM

Sounds like a split decision. Gonna have to buy one of those dang tubes to decide for myself...

Saber 4 · January 29, 2014, 05:54:37 PM

Quote from: BAM1 on January 29, 2014, 03:38:46 PM
I use both and I agree with Larry, I get a more concentrated smoke with my Bradley. When I use the Tube I put it under my drip tray in the Bradley and the smoke rises out the vent. It may be that the way the smoke exits your Traeger it does permiate over it longer. I'm going to try it in my Traeger but only apply an hours worth. I also believe the longer it sits both blomming and in the fridge it's better. just my 2¢.

You may have hit on my problem, I opened a small gap between the SG and the cabinet like the instructions said, but I left the V-tray out since I was only cold smoking cheese. That may have created to much draft and burned up my pellets faster than they are supposed to. The smoke was so dense that it burned the back of my throat and nose when I opened the cabinet to check on things.

wkahler · January 29, 2014, 07:22:18 PM

I think what i might try is 1 hour of smoke or like 1.5 hours of smoke then let it run the 30 days and see what happens!

Mr Walleye · January 30, 2014, 04:31:23 AM

Saber

Another thing I've noted with the Amazen Pellet Tube and the tray for that matter, it does make a difference which direction it faces. As an example, on the Bradley your draft is coming in from the left hand side. If you place the tube in the bottom and have the lit end on the left, you will have a faster burn. If you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn. This is true in my big smoker as well because I have air circulation in it. To put it simply, I usually make the pellets burn against the draft air which works best for me.

Mike

TedEbear · January 30, 2014, 05:03:38 AM

Quote from: Mr Walleye on January 30, 2014, 04:31:23 AMIf you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn.

That would explain why I seem to get more hours out of my pellets than what some others on here have reported. I orient the tube so the open end faces away from the SG.

Saber 4 · January 30, 2014, 07:19:51 AM

Quote from: Mr Walleye on January 30, 2014, 04:31:23 AM
Saber

Another thing I've noted with the Amazen Pellet Tube and the tray for that matter, it does make a difference which direction it faces. As an example, on the Bradley your draft is coming in from the left hand side. If you place the tube in the bottom and have the lit end on the left, you will have a faster burn. If you place the lit end on the right side you will have a slower burn. This is true in my big smoker as well because I have air circulation in it. To put it simply, I usually make the pellets burn against the draft air which works best for me.

Mike

That's a good point, I had mine with the lit end on the right but not for any reason other than I'm right handed and that was the direction I had it facing to light it. I will stick with that method in the future and try it with less of a gap and the V-tray installed as a damper to see how that works, I need an excuse to smoke some salt anyway.

wkahler · January 30, 2014, 07:21:57 AM

I used to have an old vertical propane smoker that i gave to a buddy that is trying cheese also. I told him we are going to do some cheese in it and put the cheese on the racks and try it kind of like a Bradley but not LOL!

renoman · January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PM

I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.

wkahler · January 30, 2014, 04:35:24 PM

Finally another person stressed out about there failure!!!!

Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PM
I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.

renoman · January 30, 2014, 04:37:47 PM

Quote from: wkahler on January 30, 2014, 04:35:24 PM
Finally another person stressed out about there failure!!!!
Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PM
I smoked a bunch of cheese on November 24. I tried it after 4 weeks and it was horrible. I tried it again a few days ago and it was the same. I used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.

Ya and it was probably about 40 bucks worth of cheese!

TedEbear · January 30, 2014, 09:12:21 PM

Quote from: renoman on January 30, 2014, 04:33:59 PMI used 2 hours of alder and the temp stayed at 70-80 for the whole smoke. I am very disappointed. It is the only thing that I have smoked that hasn't turn out really good.

All I can say is try 'er again, maybe with a different flavor. Experiment with less than $10 worth of cheese and see how it turns out.

I had my Bradley for several years before I tried cold smoking anything. Then I bought an A-MAZE-N pellet tube and tried it on some cheese last month. 2:15 with hickory on one batch and 3 hours with cherry the next. I left both batches vacuum sealed for a month before eating any of it. My wife says it's the best cheese she's ever had.