Greetings with a Question of Cheese

[BurntFork Ken]

Hello my fellow OBS friends!  I've been looking at the OBS for some time, and lo and behold, Santa had one under the tree for me this year.  I'm looking forward to sharing stories and tips with everyone.

I've been smoking / BBQ'ing on the Big Green Egg, and my big New Braunfels Texas-style BBQ for a few years, but never had the luxury of true cold smoking and the low temp capability of the OBS. 

Soooo here's my first question: Cheese.  Anybody do cheese, if so, what kind and are you using heat (like no more than 80)?

Thanks much, it's a pleasure to be aboard!
Ken

[Smudge]

Smoked sharp cheddar is my wife's favorite, so I've been exclusively smoking that. Some other candidates are pepper jack, parmesan, and colby.

The OBS is the perfect machine to cold smoke cheese. Depending on where you live, this time of year is easy to stay under your desired high temperature limit. As summer approaches with its high ambient temps, some novel ideas have been incorporated to keep the cheese from melting, such as putting ice in the water pan, leaving the door slightly ajar, and perhaps the best idea--disconnecting the generator from the smoke box and using a length of dryer hose and a makeshift housing to add distance between the cheese and puck burner.

I've yet to do the latter. Even in summer I've been able to keep a low enough temp to get my results. Granted, I live in Minnesota and plan an early morning smoke away from direct sunlight during the warm months, but with proper planning even our Floridian smokers can use that technique.

Bring the cheese up to room temp before smoking. Plan on about an hour for your first smoke. That should provide you with a solid flavor without being overpowering. I prefer the lighter woods for cheese such as maple or apple. Wrap in plastic for at least three days for proper incorporation of the smoke flavor.

Good luck and welcome to the forums.

[manxman]

Hi BurntFork Ken and welcome to the forum.

IMHO this is the best set up for cold smoking with or without the addition if ice to the cabinet itself. Typically I don't use ice and the cabinet temperature normally only goes a couple of degrees above ambient.

http://www.foodsmoker.co.uk/equipment/bradleycold.htm

Depending on where you live it may be physically impossible to cold smoke if temps don't go below 80F but hopefully you aren't in that situation.

I have tried a variety of cheeses but my clear favourite is a mature cheddar although some friends prefer a milder cheddar variety. Typically people smoke between 2 and 5 hours for cheese, I am at the top end of the scale and generally go for 4 - 5 hours.

I tend to use apple or oak, wrap the cheese as Smudge says in plastic wrap for at least 3 days, I would recommend even a week or so otherwise it will taste like ash! It vacuum seals very well for a long period of time although typically it gets eaten before then in any case.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

[BurntFork Ken]

Thank you gents, I appreciate the tips.  Here in Central California, it gets a little chilly in the winter (OK, we had 65 on Christmas Day) but it does dip down below freezing.  Summer is another story where it can hang around 670 or similar to the surface of Venus for weeks at a time.  Is it possible to smoke some in spring, vacuum pack it and have it keep for any length of time, refrigerated or not?

Thanks again, and I'll let you know how the first block turns out!

Ken

[manxman]

Is it possible to smoke some in spring, vacuum pack it and have it keep for any length of time, refrigerated or not?

Yes, perfectly possible. When I buy the cheese in the first place I tend to look for the longest expiry date possible and smoke it as quickly as possible after purchase.

I usually smoke a large volume of cheese at once and vacuum seal it. Kept in the fridge it has lasted well over 3 months. Occasionally I have found the odd mold spot on packs where the vacuum has failed so I keep half an eye on the packs and if any fail then I rebag and re vacuum seal them as soon as possible.

Personally I would keep it refrigerated though. Hope this helps.  :)