Join me in smoking cheese!

pensrock · January 10, 2009, 09:17:16 PM

T2, I found a small block vac packed last March and opened it for Xmas. Fantastic.

Brisket Lover · January 10, 2009, 10:30:17 PM

After opening it up from the vac pack, how long will the cheese stay fresh?

pensrock · January 10, 2009, 10:33:20 PM

QuoteAfter opening it up from the vac pack, how long will the cheese stay fresh?

Its hard to say because it doesn't stay around very long.
I did notice that the smoking process does seem to prevent mold from forming as fast as it does on unsmoked cheeses.

FLBentRider · January 11, 2009, 04:01:19 AM

I was looking at cheese at Sams yesterday - a block of cheddar had a date of 12/09/2009 on it.

weekendsmoker · January 11, 2009, 07:38:22 AM

I have also read that you should un-wrap the chees from its original package, re wrap in some kind of cling wrap and let it sit in the fridge for a week, then bring it out, let it come up to room temp and then smoke. Have had great results with this method, but also when just doing it the normal way.

One question I do have, no matter how I do it, my cheese always comes out very oily with all kinds of oil beads on the cheese. I usually let it sit in some paper towl or newspaper for a few hours. Any suggestions on how to beat this?

Thanks.

P.S. Thanks for the post as I have not tried garlic cheese yet but will be buying some today to try next week. I will also have to talk to the Amish folks in Ontario here to ses when their sale day is. Fingrs crossed.

Smoking Duck · January 11, 2009, 07:50:26 AM

Weekend,

Are you saying that your cheese comes out oily after or before the smoke? If it's coming out after the smoke that way, you probably have the temp too high when cold smoking. Anything close to 100F and you'll get that oil and "sweat" from the cheese.

If the cheese is coming out of the refer and you let it set out before smoking, you can sometimes get that "sweat" as well.

I do not bring the cheese to room temp prior to smoking. I take it out of the refer and right into the smoker. Additionally, I do not do anything other than store the cheese in it's original packaging in the refer until it's time to smoke. I believe that handling the cheese too much can transfer oils from our skin to the cheese. I may be way off base on that, but I feel the less oils, etc on a cheese, the better. I wear food gloves when handling my cheese. It may be something akin to a football game day ritual, but that's how I do it anyways.

Good luck with the garlic cheese......I love the stuff, but what's not to love with garlic? My blood is really 50% blood and a 50% combo of olive oil/garlic anyways ;D

SD

weekendsmoker · January 11, 2009, 08:27:47 AM

Thanks SD.

The oil is after it comes out of the smoker so I'm thinking I must be reaching too high of a temp, and there is lots of oil. I'm going get a cardboard box and give that method a go this weekend, seems like the only way to be sure of the temp. So when you do yours there is limited oil on the cheese when it comes out or none?

Cheers.

Smoking Duck · January 11, 2009, 08:40:24 AM

Yes, you're definitely getting too high of a temp when doing it. I strive to not let my tower temp get above 80F. The first time I did cheese, I got lots of oil and even melted some pieces (however, I was extremely new to the smoker at the time and used the tower to heat as well; big mistake). Since then, SG heat only and never had the oils. Now, I don't have mine setup in a cold smoke setup, so I find myself tending the smoker quite a bit when doing cheese and I also prop the door open a bit to keep the temp down. Additionally, with the door propped open a bit, I position the smoker so that the opening of the door is facing the prevailing wind, thus helping to keep the temp down even more.

The cardboard box works wonderfully well and will certainly keep the temps down in the tower so you avoid the "sweating" of the cheese.

Good luck! When it comes out right, you'll be wanting to do more and more of it!

SD

tsquared · January 11, 2009, 08:41:47 AM

Thanks boys. I figured it would be tough to hang on to this stuff for too long. I am making a recipe called Swiss eggs for a brunch this am using smoked cheese. It's very simple, but good. You can use different cheeses, I am using smoked aged cheddar today.
Swiss eggs
1.grate cheese to cover the bottom of oiled baking pan (I use pyrex).
2. break 2 or 3 eggs per person on top of cheese. I pierce the yolks to let the egg spread out a bit more.
3.dot the top with plain yogurt and sprinkle on whatever spices you like. I tend to keep this recipe simple, so I use a bit of cilantro or parsley and a bit of pepper and that's it.
4. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or so, until the top of the egg dish has brown spots and is fairly firm. Makes a great addition to a weekend breakfast.
T2

Smoking Duck · January 11, 2009, 08:45:50 AM

Sounds good, T2. I'll have to give that a try.

SD

pensrock · January 11, 2009, 11:04:23 AM

I take the cheese out of the wrapping and into the smoker. If I find oil on the cheese it is getting too hot. As long as it is not too bad just wipe the oil off with a papper towel. It should be fine. If its bad, a lot of oil, then the texture of the cheese will be drier and not so good. Different cheeses can go to different temps before this occurs or they melt so I try to just stay 80 and less for all cheeses. I have even smoked Velveta which will melt if you look at it too long. ;D