Cheese Smoke


 
Originally posted by Eric Aarseth:

I also use the Maverick ET-73 (I believe that is what you show in one photo). I use mine to measure the smoker temp at the top grate as opposed through the top vent. Is your preference the top vent? If yes, why top vent versus at the grate where the meat/cheese is at? I don't have an opinion as to one being better, just curious.
Click to expand...

I too measure at grate level.
With a light breeze and cool air (~50 deg), and smoker temp around 100-150, I find that the temp near the lid is lower than the top grate.
It seems that with a small fire, the airflow through the smoker is much slower so the exhaust cools more.
This is with a dry pan and a few ceramic briquettes.
 
I use mine to measure the smoker temp at the top grate as opposed through the top vent. Is your preference the top vent? If yes, why top vent versus at the grate where the meat/cheese is at? I don't have an opinion as to one being better, just curious.
Click to expand...
No preference, was just lazy I guess, didn't want to go dig out the grate clip from the cupboard.

I'm FAR less anal about WSM and food temp than I used to be. I don't use the food probe during the cook, I might temp finish once I'm happy with how it feels (cheese exluded
icon_smile.gif
). The only reason I used the ET-73 at all this time was concern to keep under 90ºF and a desire to not stand outside watching a regular therm.

Last few months if I use the ET-73 at all it's been just like that, I set a high high alarm and a low low alarm if cooking overnight, in between those ranges IDC enough to want to be woken up. It's convenient to just plunk the probe through the top vent and I consider it to be about 10ºF warmer there than top grate.

Now for the 10 page war on how one IS better than the other, complete with high end thermometers, multi hour cook logs, WSM thermo-dynamic models of different water pan solutions and properties of various meats, micrometer placement of probes, the statistical average difference between dome temp and grate temp and so on. ROFL
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
Now for the 10 page war on how one IS better than the other, complete with high end thermometers, multi hour cook logs, WSM thermo-dynamic models of different water pan solutions and properties of various meats, micrometer placement of probes, the statistical average difference between dome temp and grate temp and so on. ROFL
Click to expand...

Laughing.gif
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I use mine to measure the smoker temp at the top grate as opposed through the top vent. Is your preference the top vent? If yes, why top vent versus at the grate where the meat/cheese is at? I don't have an opinion as to one being better, just curious.
Click to expand...
No preference, was just lazy I guess, didn't want to go dig out the grate clip from the cupboard.

I'm FAR less anal about WSM and food temp than I used to be. I don't use the food probe during the cook, I might temp finish once I'm happy with how it feels (cheese exluded
icon_smile.gif
). The only reason I used the ET-73 at all this time was concern to keep under 90ºF and a desire to not stand outside watching a regular therm.

Last few months if I use the ET-73 at all it's been just like that, I set a high high alarm and a low low alarm if cooking overnight, in between those ranges IDC enough to want to be woken up. It's convenient to just plunk the probe through the top vent and I consider it to be about 10ºF warmer there than top grate.

Now for the 10 page war on how one IS better than the other, complete with high end thermometers, multi hour cook logs, WSM thermo-dynamic models of different water pan solutions and properties of various meats, micrometer placement of probes, the statistical average difference between dome temp and grate temp and so on. ROFL </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey, It's ok to admit you don't know what the grate temp was.
icon_smile.gif


Altogether, that's an interesting approach though- ambient -15, big block of ice in a Brinkman pan, top vent mostly closed.
 
Originally posted by Matt_G:
Hey, It's ok to admit you don't know what the grate temp was.
icon_smile.gif


Altogether, that's an interesting approach though- ambient -15, big block of ice in a Brinkman pan, top vent mostly closed.
Click to expand...
You know I put this up on request and I thought I was clear I didn't want to blather on about dome, grate back and forth for hours (I didn't see your post unfortunately until after I had posted mine). Why do insist you know MY WSM better than me? It's hardly a defensible position.

The 6th pic down shows a therm at grate level through an eyelet. I've already checked enough for me, on my set up, where I position the therm through top vent that top vent reads higher.

In my case even if you take temp out of the equation altogether, the cheese didn't sweat, so the cook was a success.

What it boils down to is what works for you.
 
Originally posted by Bryan S:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Shawn W:
Now for the 10 page war on how one IS better than the other, complete with high end thermometers, multi hour cook logs, WSM thermo-dynamic models of different water pan solutions and properties of various meats, micrometer placement of probes, the statistical average difference between dome temp and grate temp and so on. ROFL
Click to expand...

Laughing.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

x 2!
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
Why do insist you know MY WSM better than me? It's hardly a defensible position.

What it boils down to is what works for you.
Click to expand...

well put, and i couldn't agree more. if exact science smoking is what you are into, good for you. i prefer to just smoke!
 
Shawn,

I know tht parchment paper passes smoke but does it help draw the smoke in at all where the cheese (would be) sitting on the grate rungs? I looked closely at your pics but couldn't tell..

Thanks again for honoring my request.
icon_smile.gif


Bill
 
Originally posted by Bill Hays:
Shawn,

I know tht parchment paper passes smoke but does it help draw the smoke in at all where the cheese (would be) sitting on the grate rungs? I looked closely at your pics but couldn't tell..

Thanks again for honoring my request.
icon_smile.gif


Bill
Click to expand...
If I understand your question Bill, I think ideally you'd cut parchment to fit the bottom of each piece. You'd possibly get a little nicer smoke distribution. I'd cut two smallish squares if I was doing two pieces for example, but had no desire to cut 16 small triangles for this.

There are two reasons I'd suggest using parchment. First if you do get too warm the cheese can melt into the grate. Second is grate cleanliness. My grates used to be kept clean enough to do it on them directly but I'd still get some colored lines on the cheese.
 
What I meant
icon_smile.gif
was, where the cheese sits on the grate, there's no smoke penetration and it leaves the cheese looking lighter in color. Does the parchment paper help draw the smoke in under the grate rung so that the part of cheese that was over the grate gets some smoke and therefore looks the same as the rest of the cheese, or do you still see a lighter line from the grate rung?

Thanks again.

Bill
 
Ah, I C, the bottoms have a uniform color (that I can tell from looking through the packaging).
 
Originally posted by Shawn W:
I'm FAR less anal about WSM and food temp than I used to be. ROFL
Click to expand...

I'm getting better at not fussing. I was just curious if there was a reason for top vs grate. Glad to hear that your approach is much like mine; whatever works at the moment.

I don't know all the test shorthand, what does ROFL mean? I think I figured out IDC = i don't care. No eyeroll Bryan.
 
Originally posted by Eric Aarseth:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Shawn W:
I'm FAR less anal about WSM and food temp than I used to be. ROFL
Click to expand...

I'm getting better at not fussing. I was just curious if there was a reason for top vs grate. Glad to hear that your approach is much like mine; whatever works at the moment.

I don't know all the test shorthand, what does ROFL mean? I think I figured out IDC = i don't care. No eyeroll Bryan. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>rofl = roll on floor laughing.

By all means do what you are comfortable with, I would never say otherwise. I spent a lot of time fussing with temps, it is a place to start if nothing else.

I don't want to be a jerk, I guess this cook is temp sensitive so WTH (what the heck) .... what I got snarky about: there isn't really any arguing grate is better than dome especially if you want to not cross a certain temp, grate is more accurate. But I've done the work previously on my WSM with my gear and I am comfortable plunking a probe in the top vent and dropping it down an inch or two ... as long as it isn't windy out it's consistently about 10ºF warmer than grate for me.

6th pic down you can see a therm sticking through a guru eyelet. So in this cook when I hit 87ºF I went out and checked grate temp and sure enough it was a tick under 80ºF. I also have 9 vents on my WSM and it's not a bit leaky.

But all those little details are specific to me and mine. We're all grown ups here, saying keep it below 90ºF should suffice, it's a simple guideline. That was the intention of not wanting to get into nit picking details of grate vs dome, just trust everyone to mind their own temps however they want to do it. How much detail and conversation do we need for such a simple thing?

It's different than someone being uncertain and asking for help, I'd never frown on that neither would the vast majority of this board, people like that don't tend to stick around here.

The reason for keeping the temp down is somewhere around 90ºF or above cheese will start to sweat ... what it is is fat rending out of the cheese. This diminishes the quality of the end product, affectes texture and it gets crumbly, so we want to avoid that.
 
Shawn, I wasn't questioning your approach or uniquness of each set up and I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me. I have less than 20 cooks on my WSM and I've never done cheese, so I tend to ask about some of the details. I only asked about the lid v grate b/c it might have been for a reason I've never considered.

Thanks again for the advice and explaination.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top