Awful smell after smoking cheese

[bigssa]

I am looking for some advice.

I decided to smoke some cheese in my WSM since temps were in the 30s. I used a pellet tube for the first time and pellets from Traeger (cherry wood). Started the tube with a butane lighter and everything seemed to be going well. After two hours, I took the cheese out and vacuumed sealed them. I noticed that the smoke smell was pretty strong but didn’t really think much else of it.

The next day, I went to cover the WSM and the smell of smoke was insanely strong. I opened it up and there was a thick grease all over my WSM, grates, barrel, bowl, and dome. Mind you that I clean my bowl and grates after every cook.

I basically decided to do a hot burn in the WSM to burn off whatever the grease was. I cleaned the everything with a brush afterwards and things seem to be back to normal. However, I have no idea what caused this. The temp never got above 60. The WSM was relatively clean before hand. The only thing that I have never done before was the cheese, the pellets, and the  pellet tube. It has to be one or a combination of those things that caused this. Any ideas? Anybody ever experienced this before? My #1 suspect is the tube. I did not throw it into a hot fire before using it to burn off whatever manufacturer crud was left on it. But I also have no idea how it would produce that much grease that would cover EVERYTHING.

[vwengguy]

I have never done cheese, but my first thought was maybe the temp is too high and the cheese started to sweat out the oils ? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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[Heavydlite]

Noticed my WSM also has a strong smoke smell after using my pellet tray to cold smoke. It goes away the next time I fire up the smoker with charcoal.
I assumed it was just a heavier layer of smoke inside the WSM due to the cold smoking process.
My cheese was good after it 'aged' for a few weeks after cold smoking it.

[SMOKE FREAK]

I think what you have here is a classic case of creosote...Smoldering wood at low temps is notorious for creating creosote...Hope the cheese doesn't taste bad because of it...

[HoosierKettle]

Maybe it was just condensation?


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[kettlebb]

I think what you have here is a classic case of creosote...Smoldering wood at low temps is notorious for creating creosote...Hope the cheese doesn't taste bad because of it...

This was my first thought. You can read about good smoke being thin and blue which is usually when the smoke wood burns between 650-750 Fahrenheit.

I’ve posted this a few times before but it’s a good worthwhile read about smoking with wood.

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/what-you-need-know-about-wood-smoke-and


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[Mkrause]

I noticed this over the weekend also... first time using the wsm after cold smoking cheese. Smoked a pork shoulder so i used my ATC and the probe leads were dripping with an oily brown substance, almost like they were wicking it out from where they were touching the rim.

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[hawgheaven]

I think what you have here is a classic case of creosote...Smoldering wood at low temps is notorious for creating creosote...Hope the cheese doesn't taste bad because of it...

Yup, me thinks this is the culprit...

[Hell Fire Grill]

Did you cut it?

Every time I cut the cheese...it's followed by an awful  smell.

[hawgheaven]

Did you cut it?

Every time I cut the cheese...it's followed by an awful  smell.

OMG... you went there... I was gonna, butt you beat me to it...

[bigssa]

I think what you have here is a classic case of creosote...Smoldering wood at low temps is notorious for creating creosote...Hope the cheese doesn't taste bad because of it...

I thought that creosote is a product of lack of oxygen, not necessarily a product of low temps. I had my vents wide open because I was not worried about the temp getting too high with just pellets being used.
I will have to run another test (sans cheese) to see what happens with these pellets.
I appreciate all the feedback and hopefully this does not happen ever again. I have been smoking with charcoal and wood for a long time and have never had this issue before, so I am getting skeptical of these pellets.

[SMOKE FREAK]

I think what you have here is a classic case of creosote...Smoldering wood at low temps is notorious for creating creosote...Hope the cheese doesn't taste bad because of it...

I thought that creosote is a product of lack of oxygen, not necessarily a product of low temps. I had my vents wide open because I was not worried about the temp getting too high with just pellets being used.
I will have to run another test (sans cheese) to see what happens with these pellets.
I appreciate all the feedback and hopefully this does not happen ever again. I have been smoking with charcoal and wood for a long time and have never had this issue before, so I am getting skeptical of these pellets.

And you may be onto something there...Treager pellets are known for being a mix of woods rather than the wood they are labeled as...