One of my fellow barbecue judges Todd Yates from Sacramento says he watches all my videos and suggested I make a video on smoked cheese. I haven't made smoked cheese since 2000, so I figured Todd was right and I should take another swing at it.
Per his suggestion, I picked up a 6" smoker tube, stuffed it with applewood pellets, and smoked a variety of cheeses for two hours starting at 5:30 am today. Silly me, I decided to smoke cheese in June...during a California heat wave. What was I thinking? I should be doing this in November! But I caught a break, we had a cooldown between heat events, it was 49°F early this morning, and with that and some ice and rock salt in the water pan I was able to keep the WSM between 50-70° the whole time.
Air-dried in the fridge for a couple of hours until all sides were dry. Now vacuum sealed and resting in the fridge for 30 days so the smoke can mellow. I hope.
Per his suggestion, I picked up a 6" smoker tube, stuffed it with applewood pellets, and smoked a variety of cheeses for two hours starting at 5:30 am today. Silly me, I decided to smoke cheese in June...during a California heat wave. What was I thinking? I should be doing this in November! But I caught a break, we had a cooldown between heat events, it was 49°F early this morning, and with that and some ice and rock salt in the water pan I was able to keep the WSM between 50-70° the whole time.
Air-dried in the fridge for a couple of hours until all sides were dry. Now vacuum sealed and resting in the fridge for 30 days so the smoke can mellow. I hope.