The cheese is done. I'll let you know how it tastes in a week to 10 days!
I don't have a torch so lighting the smoking tube was a little tricky. Tried to put a light cube under one end but it just wouldn't quite do the trick. I ended up put a few of the smallest scraps of applewood in my chunk bag in the open end then put a lighter cube right next to it. As the lighter cube burned down I put it in the end of the tube. It worked and after it was going I pulled the cube out, but I think it might have worked too good. I didn't quite have the tube all of the way filled, but it was close and it burned all of the pellets in about 4 hours. I think I got it going a little too much! I'll get a torch so I can focus a flame on a smaller area to get it going next time. It did give me lots of smoke though. I am hoping it wasn't too much smoke.
Temps stayed below 90 the entire time, hovering mostly around 88. I initially had a pan of ice on the bottom and added a second pan on the top grate. I think with a less lit tube next time the temps will be a little lower.
The cheese smoked for 3.5 hours and looked good when I pulled it off. I used paper towels to get the sweat off of the cheese blocks then individually sealed each one with my food saver. They are now in the fridge pending finally judgment mid to late next week. I'll make sure to post an update once I give them a taste test.
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