Smoked Cheese Attempt

[MacEggs]

This was my second try at smoked cheese. But, my first on a Weber kettle.
I chose to go with the 3-wheeler, as, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of temperature control.

Over 6 lbs of cheese - mozzarella and cheddar.
I cut each slab into quarters, then sliced each piece in half to increase the smoke surface exposure.




The outside temperature was a degree or two below freezing with some wind, but not too much.

I foiled off most of the charcoal grate to direct more airflow towards the smoke source.




My set-up went like this. Lite one briquette, then place it next to some un-lit briqs.
Some slivers of cherry for smoke.
















Not sure what I was initially thinking with the sliver of wood under the charcoal ... it restricted air getting to the charcoal.

I tinkered with the set-up a little and everything went better. I had to lite another briq about an hour in to keep things going.
For most of this I went with all intakes wide open. It settled in the 60-70° range ... that was fine with me.




After the cheese came off.




Not all of the briquettes lit, but, there was still plenty of smoke for what I was doing.
Because there was a period without much smoke, I had it on for close to three hours.    We'll see how it turns out. 




Vacuum sealed for the mellow stage.

[SlickedBack]

I gotta try this one day. Your method seems the most manageable.
It looked like only five or so Briqs for the three hours? Minion method to keep them lit? And smoke wood, on top of the Briqs as they lite?
I know nothin of cold smoke but would love to try that.



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[MacEggs]

It looked like only five or so Briqs for the three hours? Minion method to keep them lit?

Ya, initially it was 1 lit briq, with 4 un-lit, then I lit another about an hour after the start-up.
And still, not all of the charcoal ignited for this experiment. 

And smoke wood, on top of the Briqs as they lite?

I did not use large chunks. I got this cherry in 2012 by taking down a couple of trees.
Some small slivers are inevitable when splitting it ... I didn't throw them away ... I kept them for this purpose. Waste not, want not. 



I am not an experienced cold-smoker, but, I always like to try new things. Just thought I would pass along my most recent try.   

[LightningBoldtz]

Nicely done MacEggs.  I just did another 9 lbs of cheddar (& 6 lbs of almonds) today with my Amazen Pellet smoker.

[Aawa]

Nicely done!

[wyd]

Very nice.  Whats better than cheese but smoked cheese.  I guess I will have to try it but I need to get a vacuum sealer and then give it a try.  Think I might throw on a few other things and try to get smoke in them just to see if it works on not.  Have to take some notes and get some other ideas on what I want to smoke. along with the cheese.

[225tostayalive]

How did the cheese turn out?

love your set up by the way....

[MacEggs]

How did the cheese turn out?

Sorry for the late response.

The cheese turned out very good. The cheddar had a surprisingly nice smokiness to it.
I was hoping for more smoke flavour in the mozza. Maybe next time I will shoot for a heavier smoke.

[Craig]

I've been really wanting to try smoking cheese!

[dazzo]

I've been really wanting to try smoking cheese!

If I wasn't a Packers fan, I'd say there's a joke in there somewhere   

[MacEggs]

Photobucket pooched the older pics above...


So I smoked some marble cheddar a month ago.
The ambient temperature that day was around the freezing mark.




My method was the following:
I used KBB. Lit one briquette and placed it on two un-lit briquettes.
A couple three small chunks / pieces of cherry wood... Or, apple wood. Can't remember.

I monitored the temperature by using a flashlight and peering thru the lid vent onto the grate thermometer.
It never got above 80℉, which I was very happy about.
I did not add any more lit charcoal, but I did occasionally move the wood pieces around for more smoke.
Total time was about 3 hours.

After removing them from the kettle, I let them rest for maybe 30 minutes.
Then wrapped each piece in plastic wrap. The following day I vacuum sealed each piece.

It's a good idea to let the cheese mellow at least 2 weeks. I waited 3 weeks and I was very impressed.

@jhagestad

[ReanimatedRobot]

This is definitely on my to do list.  Nice job!

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[bbqking01]

Sweet!


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