11 pounds of cheese

I started collecting cheeses before Thanksgiving but I just never got around to smoking it. I got an 8# brick of Swiss, 5# sharp cheddar (kirkland), two 2-pound extra-sharp white cheddar from tilamook (my fav smoked cheese, I think)....... a pepper-jack (tilamook)...................... I kept calling it 18#.

I wanted to do it early for Christmas gifts, but that didn't happen. Luckily this gets better with age, or so I'm told

I filled up my smoke tube with hickory pellets & started cutting the cheeses close to the size of sticks of butter or a little larger.

I thought I'd let them go all night, but after 2.5 hours I pulled off half of the first load & the rest of the first load came off another ~45 minutes later........ then went on the sharp cheddar.

I haven't smoked Swiss cheese before so I'm not sure how it'd take, the sharp white cheddar is as good as I remember. The sharp cheddar (5#) is all that's out there now and I don't plan on looking at it until morning....other than maybe rotating it before bed.

I love the sweet smell of these hickory pellets.

Looks awesome, Clint! I just got my pellet tube for Christmas and now that its cool enough here in AZ I plan to do some cheese very soon!

What types of cheese are you planning? And what kind of pellets? If you want my advice I'd say let some go for 1.5 hours and let some go for 3. I just did mine in my Platinum (like a performer).

I just pulled the sharp cheddar (5# kirkland block) off. I pulled the roughest looking one to sample, the others are in ziplock bags in the fridge and will be vac bagged this afternoon.

There was <1/3 of the tube smoker left when I put these on but a whole lot of smoke got on them. I thought it was too much by the look when I first took them off, but cut a few slices off & enjoyed them thoroughly.

I'll age some vac bagged in the fridge as I carefully sample others. Last time I did this I'd warn people that it might seem too smokey and to give it back if they didn't like it - everybody told me it was gone in no time.

Looks good Clint, I've never smoked cheese although I like it. Might get a smoke tube and give a try, just what I need another gadget.

Rich Dahl said:

Looks good Clint, I've never smoked cheese although I like it. Might get a smoke tube and give a try, just what I need another gadget.

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I use the smoke tube on my gas grill ~>75% of the time I use it, adds a nice smoke flavor on the gasser; I just throw in a handful of chips and set it over the flavorizer bars.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KNF9ZNY/?tag=TVWB-20

These are the pellets I've used, but I paid $6 for the 5# bag last time so look around:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4ZSE9I/?tag=TVWB-20

I just sampled a piece of Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar that I smoked ten years ago! Every year I have a couple slices. Then vac pack it back up and into the fridge. Keeps getting better every year!

That's some mighty fine looking cheese Clint. Nice variety too. I did mine in early November and it's been vac sealed for a couple of months now. I did Gouda and Cheddar. I love sharp cheddar but went with mild on this batch as I thought (or read somewhere) that it would absorb the smoke a little better. Went with Apple pellets. I'll be curious about how you liked the sharp when it's done aging.

CaseT said:

I just sampled a piece of Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar that I smoked ten years ago! Every year I have a couple slices. Then vac pack it back up and into the fridge. Keeps getting better every year!

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Whoa! How is the texture? Has it gotten crystalline and crumbly? That's how old cheddar usually gets.

Clint said:

What types of cheese are you planning? And what kind of pellets? If you want my advice I'd say let some go for 1.5 hours and let some go for 3. I just did mine in my Platinum (like a performer).

I just pulled the sharp cheddar (5# kirkland block) off. I pulled the roughest looking one to sample, the others are in ziplock bags in the fridge and will be vac bagged this afternoon.

There was <1/3 of the tube smoker left when I put these on but a whole lot of smoke got on them. I thought it was too much by the look when I first took them off, but cut a few slices off & enjoyed them thoroughly.

I'll age some vac bagged in the fridge as I carefully sample others. Last time I did this I'd warn people that it might seem too smokey and to give it back if they didn't like it - everybody told me it was gone in no time.

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I got a nice sampler with all types of pellets; maple, cherry, apple, hickory, mesquite, pecan, and a mix. Never did it before, but I love smoked Gouda. Definitely some Gouda and probably some mild cheddar. Definitely need some advice, especially on what you recommend for timing.

I also don’t have a vac sealer, so I can’t do the vac bag aging. That means this will be a smaller batch since I guess we will need to eat it fairly quickly!

By the way, it will be in my 18.5 WSM.

KToliver said:

I got a nice sampler with all types of pellets; maple, cherry, apple, hickory, mesquite, pecan, and a mix. Never did it before, but I love smoked Gouda. Definitely some Gouda and probably some mild cheddar. Definitely need some advice, especially on what you recommend for timing.

I also don’t have a vac sealer, so I can’t do the vac bag aging. That means this will be a smaller batch since I guess we will need to eat it fairly quickly!

By the way, it will be in my 18.5 WSM.

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the 18.5's the way to go. You could put several # of cheese on the top shelf and the smoke tube on the bottom shelf. If the ambient temp is 45F or less I don't think you have to worry about the pellets generating heat, but I've gone out to it and found some melting, so maybe put it on the edge, and the cheeses on the other.

I've always (just a few times) used a perforated pizza pan, a rack or clean grate would work too, just try to get air circulation all around it, I'll turn the pieces sometimes but not always.

I think the smoke particles mostly adsorb into the surface, kind of like a smoke ring, it only seems to penetrate about 1/8". The smoked gouda I've bought from Costco must mix liquid smoke or one of the cheese's ingredients, they sure didn't smoke it like this.

I took some over to a couple of different neighbors and gave some to a friend, total of 4 people enjoyed it. I really don't think aging adds much to it but I'll be aging this like I rest my steaks (I rest the far side of the steak while eating the close side), This will last at least 2 months, depending on how much I give away (most).

One of the neighbors said she wasn't sure if she'd like it, took an end piece when I said it'd be strongest & she had a slight reaction before saying "oh this is good". Another neighbor (my smoker buddy) and his wife - she busted out the cutting board & started carving pieces - I let her know the end piece would be the strongest so she split that between the men . She loved it too. So I'm not so sure what aging it does, I'll be paying attention again as time goes on.

Post pics & your thoughts when you do it and as time passes, we'll all be interested in your experience. Beware though - someone here said "it tastes like campfire" lol. I dunno, I like campfire It's not offensive at all to me. You'll notice the color changing as it's in the smoke, pull some off early to see what you think.

A couple more things you might find helpful. Chris posted a smoke not long ago and a video that should be very helpful:

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?79319-Smoked-Gouda-for-Christmas

here's his article from Cooking Topics if you haven't seen it, the video's embedded in the page.

https://www.virtualweberbullet.com/smoked-cheese/

I tried a knockoff of this a while back: https://www.traegergrills.com/recipes/baked-goods/holiday-smoked-cheese-log
my pics disappeared: https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?72691-Cold-smoked-cheese-log

WOW!!! Clint that all looks awesome. Yes, we will be trying that for sure.

Barb D said:

WOW!!! Clint that all looks awesome. Yes, we will be trying that for sure.

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I know you'll love it.

One more thing for KToliver:
condensation will build up in the baggie you store your cheese in, one thing I've done is add a paper towel in the baggie (1 gallon or quart) to absorb the condensation. It might absorb a little of the smoke too but I doubt too much. Just change that every 3rd day or so (start at the third day or when you first notice moisture), doesn't have to touch the cheese, it just has to be sealed in the bag. That should help you get 3 weeks out of it.

I most certainly will post my first attempt. Going up to Sedona and Flagstaff for a few days so my girls can do a little skiing.

But I'm on it right after New Years!

Thanks for all the tips, Clint,

Ken

Here's another video that popped up on my youtube - this guy goes all-out but uses the amazn-maze smoker.

His goes for 4 hours but uses probably only 1/3 of the pellets & gets a much lighter color change. IMO, the tube is the better option, not sure I'll get a maze smoker after seeing this video, but props to this guy for sharing the nice video, technique, & setup:

You da man Clint!

Man, I hope he doesn't get a gust of wind back there...that 22 looks seriously top heavy!