Cheese smoke results (pics)

[bigredsmoker]

Did a cheese smoke last weekend, just getting around to posting pics.
Did gouda, Habanero, Jalapeno, and Jarlsburg Swiss and Provolone (for pizza).
Used apple for what was suposed to be 2 hours, but my pucks were not advancing so it was more like 3 I think. It was only 10 degrees out the box never got above 48. Now they are vacum sealled and resting in the fridge for a minimum 10 days. Should be ready to try for the Superbowl!

Here are the before pics waiting to come up to room temp to avoid sweating.



After pics waiting to be bagged.

[SmokinHotPapa]

That looks awesome! WTG!  Did you happen to have a little sample?

[La Quinta]

Wow BigRed...looks awesome...don't sneak a sample...you won't like it...play the wait game...it'll be worth it! :)

[Ontrack]

bigred-that looks great! I know you're in for a real treat. Should be just right by Super Bowl time.

[EnglishGuy]

Well, my second go with the Bradley today, and I thought I would have a go at cold smoking some cheese.  The selection was some strong cheddar, gouda and edam. As I'm in Europe the gouda may be unfamiliar to North Americans as Dutch gouda is a flattened sphere rather than a log (its the bottom left in the photo). I split a quarter of edam into two to see if I could get a good result (top of the photo).

There wasn't too much point taking an 'after photo', as there wasn't too much change in color. I had been warned not to smoke it for too long (an hour max), but I noticed after a while that smoke was coming out of the gaps of the remote cardboard box which I had to seal with tape. In the end, I smoked it for 3 hours and its now in plastic in a box in the bottom of the fridge (damn, had to move some beer to make room for it :o)

[bigredsmoker]

Hi English guy! You'll have to let us know how yours came out. The Gouda I used I believe was an imported Dutch and it is the bottom right rack in the picture. The round ones in the log shape is my provolone. I know what you mean about the log gouda. That is usially what I see smoked with the heavy brown rind, which is probably artificially colored. What's your weather like over there? We are actually getting out of the deep freeze here in Nebraska. Today it will be in the 40's F and tomorrow and Monday up to the 50's. It has been really cold with overnight temps -10 F, so this is downright Balmy, break out the shorts tomorrow!

Terry

[EnglishGuy]

What's your weather like over there? We are actually getting out of the deep freeze here in Nebraska.


LOL! Here in England, we're well North of you, but we get weather from the Carribean via the Gulf Stream so any time during the Winter it can actually be quite warm if the wind is right. Yes, its January, and yes, we should be getting Canadian winter weather, but today it was sunny and quite warm.  I was outside in a tee-shirt today as the sun was shining (but not on the Bradley). 

I had a nice big cardboard box to collect and cool the smoke, and the thermometer on the OBS was at 60F when I started and didn't go over 65F. I think it will probably be successful, but this is a first try. The Gouda is actually for my secretary who is from Minnesota, and she begged me to smoke it for her. As I have never tried a 'log' Gouda, I have no idea what I am trying to achieve, but we do have a 'log' cheese with a plastic covering here in England that comes from Austria and claims to be 'smoked cheese'. I figure this must be close to American 'Gouda Cheese'.

[EnglishGuy]

Well, 24 hours since smoking, and I decided to have a taste (of the cheddar).  I think it's got potential. There is a lingering touch of that 'ashtray' taste, but I think it will definitely sweeten up over the next few days.

I'm glad I smoked them for the three hours that I did as I think the recommended hour wouldn't have been long enough, so thanks to the people who have commented on threads here!

[EnglishGuy]

Right, the last lot of cheese has gone! The cheddar & gouda were both excellent.  The edam wasn't brilliant to start with, but improved after a week and a half.

So, I'm experimenting with a second batch tonight.  I'm trying Swiss cheese (emmenthal), two French soft cheeses - brie & camembert which are a little bit underripe - but I'll see what happens, and finally, an English cheese which is Double Gloucester (a cow's milk cheese not too dissimilar from Cheddar).  One cheese that I couldn't get today, but which I think will work very well is Spanish Manchego (a hard sheeps' milk cheese). I know that there is a Manchego made in Mexico which might be more familiar to North Americans, but I don't know how it compares to Spanish Manchego which is a sweet, nutty cheese with a fairly dense texture.

I might put up a picture later.

[bigredsmoker]

Glad to hear of your success Englishguy! I did swiss in this last batch and it is my favorite (maybe because I love swiss anyway). I thought I read in another thread about smoking brie. If I can find the thread I will post a link for you. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[Ontrack]

Congrats on your cheeses, guy(s). I smoked 15 pounds last Saturday ( a mixture of pepper jack, swiss, colby jack, and provolone) and I'm about ready to try them out. Just another day or so...

[Lefty_Smoker]

This thread just inspired me to give the smoked cheese thing another go.  My first attempt resulted in less than stellar results.  The first time I ended up with a fine assortment of cheeses that all tasted like an ashtray.  No matter how long I let them mellow.  I used three hours of hickory and it was definately too much, the cheese never mellowed.  I even let some of it hang out in the back of the fridge crisper drawer for months hoping it would settle down, but sadly it never did.

This time I think I will only use (4) pucks, and I'm going with apple instead of hickory.

Last night I picked up some sharp cheddar, gouda, pepper jack, baby swiss, and some jalapeno havarti.  Only a block or two of each this time as last time I ruined about $100 worth of cheese.  From now on, it's small batches until I get it figured out.  Hope to be able to report some good news in a few weeks.

good luck to all you other cheese smokers.  ::)

[Ontrack]

Sounds good, Lefty. I like a strong smoke flavor on everything, but 3 pucks of hickory or 4 pucks of a more mellow wood are plenty for me. Good luck, I'm sure you'll like it better this time.

[pensrock]

  I have not tried cheese in the Bradley yet, I'm building an offset box right now so I can keep the temps down. But I have done over 150 pounds of cheese this winter alone. I always use apple wood chunks with a hardwood mix sawdust when doing cheeses. I took an old gas grill and gutted it out, then put a hot plate several feet away and using duct pipe carry the smoke into the grill. It works great but I still can only use it when outside temp is below 40 degrees F.
  I smoke swiss for two hours, most other cheeses for 3-4 hours. I go by the color not the time in the smoker.
  Also get some good pepperoni, remove the casing and cut it into chunks that will fit into the smoker, then cut in half legnthwise. Smoke for a couple hours, allow to mellow out in the fridge for a week or so then enjoy.

good luck with your cheese.
pensrock

[pensrock]

Here is a pic of my ultra fancy cheese smoker.... I know you will all be very impressed.  ;) ;) :D I'm ready to take orders also..... LOL!

Here is a pic of my first batch coming off today, 10 pounds of a sharp americian and 5 pounds of horseradish cheese.

And finally here is a pic of the second batch going on right now. Two pepperoni sticks, three more pounds of the sharp american cheese and five pounds of hot pepper cheese.

The hard part is to try to convince everyone not to touch it for at least a week.
Keep Smokin!  :D