Batch of cheese for Christmas

[whitetailfan]

Got a couple bricks of medium cheddar and a mozza to do.
Have had good luck with pecan in the past, it goes over with the largest audience vs hickory.
I bought some apple last year I have not used yet, I think I'm gonna give that a whirl.

Anyone else have a favortie cheese wood?

[Habanero Smoker]

For the sharper cheese I like pecan and hickory and thought about using oak, for milder cheese I will often use maple. I haven't tried apple but that does sound good for the milder cheeses.

[manxman]

Apple and oak are my favourites.  :)

[huhwhatliar]

I did some Apple on mild cheddar for my daughter and she just loves it.

[Habanero Smoker]

WTF;

I forgot to thank you. This post gave me some gift ideas.

[Stickbowcrafter]

Sounds good, and great ideas about making gifts.

-Brian

[Ontrack]

Yeah, the few lucky people who got some of my last (and only, so far) batch of cheese are now wanting it for Christmas. A good trade for pumpkin rolls, fudge, etc. :P

[Scotty-G]

My favs:
Apple or Maple for Swiss & Extra Sharp Cheddar
Pecan for Mozza & Gouda

Just made an AWESOME PIZZA today -
Iceman's sauce with Mozza, Swiss & Extra Sharp Cheddar and a little shroom.
That were Fantastic!!!  Wife and kids gobbled it all up.

[West Coast Kansan]

yellow and darker cheese i have used hickory

lighter color cheese gets a lighter smoke,  ;D  I had used apple, but reading pecan above sounds pretty good.

Stronger flavor light color cheese I like Oak the best.   :-*

Snacking cheese without Hab S style Canada Bacon is like eating Ribs without the Iceman sauce.  Something not right about it anymore

I follow the same approach with meats as well

[whitetailfan]

Had the first sample Tues night, so about 3 days in the fridge mellowing.

Hot damn it was good.  I did a quick 1 hour on the small hunks of mozza, gouda, etc and a cracker barrel cheddar maybe only 2 inch square by 10 long.

Larger bricks got 1 hour 40 min.  Yet to try it yet.

Weather was perfect.  It was like 10c below or so, my box never got above 50f.  Zero sweat factor on the cheese.

BTW the apple is a very nice compliment on the cheddar I have sampled so far.  Cant wait to try the others tonight.

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks again for this idea. I smoke one batch, and will be smoking another batch this weekend. I'm in the process of ordering some flat boards to make the packaging more attractive.

[pensrock]

I mainly use apple for cheese, oak is good also and I have used hickory but not as much. This year it seems everyone is asking for smoked cheese, I have smoked about 70 lbs. so far and have more coming. Try smoking some pepperoni also it goes great with the cheese. Its easy to do, just peal the outer skin off, cut into shorter sections about 6", I then slice it in half and smoke away while you are doing your cheese. It should be done sooner than the cheese, I would say 1-1/2 to 2 hours. It will be strong tasting right out of the smoker, let it set in the fridge for a day or two, if you can wait that long.

[sherlock]

I decided to buy some Boars Head smoked gouda to try since I have never tasted smoked cheese. First tasted some thin slices and thought it was pretty good, so I bought a pound of it. After eating more of it, I am not to keen on it. Is cheddar and Mozz any better?

[pensrock]

I like a good NY Xtra sharp cheddar. Most of the people I smoke cheese for prefer, in order:
Cooper brand, sharp american, #1 by far. Horseradish cheese #2 (my personal #1). Swiss is #3 and cheddar #4. I tried pepper jack but was not happy with it, I'm looking for an american hot pepper cheese to try. One guy is getting me some Habanero cheese to try another is getting some Munster and I do want to try Gouda. I have done Velveta but it has to be really cold outside to do it without it melting.
The Cooper sharp may not be national, I'm not sure about that, but it is really great smoked.