Mother's Day Cheese and Garlic Smoke (with pics)! LQ, Please don't look!

Smoking Duck · May 11, 2008, 10:15:27 AM

Happy Mother's Day all! In honor of a lady that's fond to me and strangely enough, fond of me, I've decided to smoke some cheese and garlic. It's 50F outside and rainy and a little wind. Perfect for a cold smoke. Went to the market today and did they ever have a sale on cheese. I ended up with some Wisconsin Wilmot Farms Farmers Cheese, Yoder's Amish Lacey Baby Swiss, Wisconsin Maple Leaf Jalapeno Monterey Jack, Cabot Seriously Sharp and Cabot Habanero Cheddar. Got it all for $12! Then they had garlic on sale as well and figured, what the heck, why not smoke some as well. Gave the garlic a little coating of Genco and popped them in there as well. Got them both in the smoker as we speak. 3 hours of pecan, sitting steady at 67F inside the tower and then the wait begins!

Here's the Baby Swiss, Farmers and Jalapeno Monterey Jack

And the Cabots

And on to the smoke!

Finally, with the smoker at 66F and the threat of violence should the kids try to steal a little, it's on for 3 hrs of smoke and then a week of waiting!

SD

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 10:49:07 AM

SD that sounds good, but one question how long does the ice stay without melting?

Smoking Duck · May 11, 2008, 10:50:26 AM

Not sure........I'll go check it right now.....been on the smoke for an hour now

Smoking Duck · May 11, 2008, 10:52:59 AM

After an hour, the ice is still there.....some melting occurring but not much.....wonder how a smoked JD and coke would taste? The ice has got a nice smoked appearance....... :D

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 10:55:49 AM

Hahaha....that could be a new drink at any local bar. ;D ;D ;D

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 11:00:09 AM

Ive been wanting to smoke some cheese for a while now but the temp here has been usually around the 70-80's and im affraid that I would just melt the cheese?

pensrock · May 11, 2008, 11:09:02 AM

TT, I do not think I would try doing cheese much over 50 degrees. I always try to keep the temp inside the smokers below 80-90 degrees max. It won't melt at 90 degrees but it will start drawing the oils out and make the cheese dry and crumbly, if it goes too long at the higher temps.... not good. :P

The ice will help but I have not tried it above 50 degrees outside temp, maybe someone else here has had more luck doing it at a higher temp than me. ???

westexasmoker · May 11, 2008, 11:53:21 AM

TT the only way I've been able to smoke cheese in our neck of the woods is ice in the bowl, just like SD has and then another foil pan full of ice on the lowest rack. Gotta keep a close eye on it and leave the door ajar, did a batch yesterday turned out ok. I think here in west texas our best bet would be the offset smoke box!

Looking Good SD, your mother will be so proud!!

C

huhwhatliar · May 11, 2008, 12:02:02 PM

Quote from: tturaider on May 11, 2008, 11:00:09 AM
Ive been wanting to smoke some cheese for a while now but the temp here has been usually around the 70-80's and im affraid that I would just melt the cheese?

tturaider, I'm in the Ft. Worth/Dallas metroplex and did 14lbs of cheese this morning. I have a cold smoke setup and put a large tray of ice in the bottom. Started at about 4 am and finished around 7:40 am. The box stayed below 65 degrees.

Domenick

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 12:26:47 PM

Yea I was thinking the only way that I would be able to do any cheese now would be to start it at night and use the ice that you all have suggested.

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 12:28:57 PM

What is the best type of smoke to use? I know it varies with the type of cheese that you are smoking but is there one flavor the is used more than another?

Smoking Duck · May 11, 2008, 12:45:52 PM

Getting ready to pull the cheese and garlic out in about 5 minutes. Box never got above 73 degrees, so it stayed nice and cool.

I've been partial to the mellower woods when smoking cheese, TTU. Had my best luck with apple and pecan. Don't have any cherry wood but have heard it works pretty good as well.

I'll post pics of the finished product when I can.

SD

tturaider · May 11, 2008, 12:59:31 PM

Thx SD I cant wait to see the end product.

Smoking Duck · May 11, 2008, 02:46:51 PM

Well, here's the finished product with three hours of pecan smoke. Never got the box over 73F, so I was real happy about that.

Cheese didn't get real dark but the flavor is what I'm after, not necessarily the color.

And here's the garlic. It certainly took on some color but not as much as I suspected. Garlic is in a tupperware container in the refer and the cheese is vac sealed in the refer until the 21st of the month at the earliest.

SD

westexasmoker · May 11, 2008, 03:05:24 PM

Looks awesome SD, you think you can make it till the 21st.... ;D ;D

C