My first cheesy smoke

[Smoking Duck]

Well, I was just gonna start out with a basic cheese smoke of mild cheddar and cojack I picked up from Sam's but decided to take a run down to the Country Market about a mile down the road where they have an indoor farmers market with all kinds of meats, veggies and cheeses.  Fortunately, I live amongst a lot of Amish people (I love Amish; they're peaceful people and some of the friendliest folks I know; I do wish they'd get on board with cell towers, tho  ;D).  Anyways, I decided why not get a bunch of different Amish cheeses and see which ones come out well.  Here's what I'm trying the first time out:

Here's the basic cheddar and cojack:


This next tray is (left to right): horseradish cheese, roasted garlic cheese, top right is yogurt cheese, bottom right is monterrey


The last tray is: pepper jack and some habanero cheddar


This last pic is what my wife calls the cheesiest pic with me, my Goose Bay apron and one of my favorite Italian beers (my wife asked me to apologize for this last pic ahead of time  ???)


Anyways, got the cheese in about 15 minutes ago, putting apple smoke on it, have the vent wide open and the door cracked and the temp is staying pretty even at 65*.  Will pull it in around the 3 hour mark.  Sure hope this turns out well.

[Mr Walleye]

Nice spread of cheese Marc!

Keep us posted how it comes out and which ones you like best.

I've never seen habanero cheddar or horseradish cheese around here but they sound great!

Oh ya... Nothing wrong with the last picture... Iceman's apron on and your favorite beer in hand!

Life's great ain't it!  ;)

Mike

[Smoking Duck]

Thanks Mike.  They had so many different types of Amish made cheeses, I just tried to pick the ones I thought I'd like smoked.  Have tasted all of them unsmoked and I liked them, so I figured why not try them smoked.  If this works out, I'm gonna try every one they have. 

By the way, does anyone flip the cheese over 1/2 way through the process or is that unnecessary?  Was just wondering if it made any difference?

Thanks!

Marc

[wicz]

Looking great Marc.  I have been wanting to do cheese since i got my bradley.  Cant wait to see the after pics.   ;D

[Smoking Duck]

Thanks  Wicz.  I'll be sure to post pics after they're done.  I'm probably going to keep them on an extra 1/2 hour to hour.  I've had to open the door about 3" at the opening to keep the temp down.  Any less right now and the temp seems to want to climb up a little.  Right now, the temp is at 63.  Hopefully, it'll stay there.

[Habanero Smoker]

That selection of cheese looks real good.

I don't flip my cheese over. It wouldn't hurt to do so, but I only want the grill marks on one side of the cheese.

[Smoking Duck]

Thanks Habs.  I decided to leave it the way it was.  I did think of you when I purchased the Habanero Cheddar.  Figured that was right down your alley.  It sure is good, but I have to be careful.  Going down is fine, but when I (how do I say this delicately?) download, there sure is fire down below!  Oh well, I guess that smoked cheese will have to be enjoyed in moderation.  Thanks goodness there aren't any peppers in beer :o

[Smoking Duck]

Well, I learned my first lesson:

I have three racks going and I've learned that even at these low temps, the two slices of cheese on the lowest rack (closest to the puck burner) will melt!  Other than that, those are the only ones I've lost.  I have the ET-73 in the middle by the lowest rack but did not measure the temp above where the puck is burnt.  Oh well, I guess that isn't too bad.

[KyNola]

Looking good Marc!  Isn't it amazing how such simple things can make a man happy?  Will be interested to see the after smoke pictures.  Smoke on brother and open another beer!

Happy Holidays,
KyNola

[Smoking Duck]

Yes, KyNola, it is the simple things that make a man happy.  That must be why the wife refers to me as a simpleton  :D.

Here are the results with some lessons learned.

The biggest lesson learned is that I discovered (when I went to turn the DBS off) is that you can run the smoke generator without the oven.  I'm the type that doesn't really read directions and discovered that you can't just turn on the smoke generator by itself.  You have to turn on the oven, then the smoke, then you can turn the oven off and just run the smoke.  Good thing to know, I think.  It certainly would have made it easier to keep the temp low as the lowest you can set the DBS is 120*.  Then you have to open the door to keep the temp down to 65* even in the midst of a snowstorm. Oh well, the best lessons learned are the mistakes you make.

Here's what happens when you have both the oven and the smoke going (even as the ET-73 read a temp of 65*):


Here's how the other cheeses turned out:








The nice thing was that the only cheese that showed any condensation was the horseradish, which, ironically, showed the most darkness from the smoke.  It was hard to notice any smoke, by appearance on the darker cheeses.  I could notice a difference in the lighter cheeses.  All of the cheeses did have a great smoke smell to them.  As soon as they cooled down to room temp, I vac sealed them all and they went into the fridge for their 10 day aging process (I actually had to threaten my kids with torture if they opened earlier).  All in all, I wouldn't call it a smashing success just yet, but it did get a cheese smoke under my belt and I feel pretty confident in doing another.  Of course, the real measure of success will come in ten days.

Personal note:  You know how at a restaurant a waiter/waitress will bring a plate out and they tell you to be careful as the plate is hot, and you touch it anyways?  Well, even though I was told not to taste the cheese right out of the smoker because it would have a real ashy taste to it, I tasted it anyways.  Fortunately for me, I used to date a lot of girls who smoked so the taste did not repel me.  However, it was one of the reasons I married a gal who didn't smoke. 

Hopefully, someone can learn from my mistakes.  I know I have  ;D

[Mr Walleye]

Great report Marc!

Make sure you keep us posted on the final, final results.

Live & learn! And it's fun trying

Mike

[bigredsmoker]

Looks good Marc. I like the apron... I was cooking in mine yeaterday. I have a bunch of cheese in the fridge waiting to be smoked next week. I did do a cheese smoke last Thursday. I was reading about it on here and I had a big wedge of Jarlsburg from Sam's so I dcided to through it on. I smoked 1 hour with cherry and hickory combo. And like you I could not wait to try it. However, I hadn't read about the whole aging thing until Friday. It did taste kind of ashy, but not super terrible. The wife and I had some salami and crackers with it on Friday night and it was even better by then. I also served it at my party on Saturday and the guests liked it. Next time I will be waiting the 10 days. Good luck and keep us posted.

Terry

[SmokinHotMama]

Looks great!  WTG!!  <------  is a CHEESE fanatic!   :P

[Ontrack]

And it's so easy to do! If you like grilled cheese sandwiches, you gotta try one with smoked and shredded cheese (I add mayo, tomato, pepperoni,bacon bits, egg, just whatever I feel like at the time) . Outta this world! :)

[Consiglieri]

Hey Duck:  I'm glad your project worked well for you.  I've never cold smoked in my BS, but I've read that others remover the smoke generator from the cabinet, hook it up to a cardboard box, and run a collapsable dryer duct hose from the top of thecardboard box to an elevatedbradley smoker.  You might also want to put an aluminum pan in the cabinet filled with ice.  Did you use that type of set up?

Some one posted a picture recently-- I think it was habanero smoker-- of this type of cold smoke set up.