Cheese

[Steve Wene]

Don't know if anyone on here has tried this before, but I've been thinking seriously about smoking some cheese. With the temps here in June/July, there's no way I could keep the WSM down in the range needed. A co-worker of mine suggested adding ice to the water pan. I thought this was a great idea. What do you think?

 

[Russell Y]

There is cheese instructions in the Cooking Topics.

Also there has been a lot of talk about it in past posts - FIND - smoked cheese

 

[Jeff T Miller]

I like to smoke cheese. I always do it fall/winter though. I think I remember reading about the ice in the pan. Check out Russell's link for more info. I don't know where you are but if it is warm I would definitely only use 2 pieces of charcoal.

 

[Bryan S]

Originally posted by Jeff T Miller:
I don't know where you are but if it is warm I would definitely only use 2 pieces of charcoal.

Yep! One or two lit is all you need along with some smoke wood. The cheese will grab on to the smoke, very low temps are best here.

 

[Shawn W]

I've smoked a lot of cheese, mostly 2 or 3 yr aged white cheddar.

I live in Canada and I do mine mostly in November or December with ambient temps like 0ºF - 30ºF. Ice water in the pan and no problems with cold smoke.

Do try to keep below 90ºF otherwise the cheese will sweat an oily substance. Too much of this is bad. Your cheese will become dry, crumbly.

If it's hot where you are do the ice in water pan thing and do it in the middle of the night and use only enough fire to make some smoke.

I prefer to smoke for 90 minutes then vac pac and age in the sub 40ºF fridge for months. Yes months. The smoke mellows (sweetens?) and over time the flavor gets drawn in to the cheese IMO.

I give cheese away every XMAS for gifts and I'm now on track for smoked then aged 1 year.

 

[Shawn W]

Another tidbit, if your grates are not super clean place the cheese on parchment paper. It doesn't seem to interfere with smoke transfer and will leave your cheese tidy looking.

 

[Elsie D.]

Shawn, what kind of wood do you use?

 

[Shawn W]

Originally posted by Elsie D.:
Shawn, what kind of wood do you use?

I like apple for this, cherry is ok too, tried hickory as well.

I posted my last cheese smoke with pics in December here. Do the ice in water pan thing. If you still have trouble keeping the temp down smoke the cheese on the bottom rack and put another pan of ice water on the top rack.

Suggest you try the cheese after smoking and being chilled, then let it sit at least two weeks and try it again.

 

[Elsie D.]

Thanks, Shawn. I did a search on this site on "smoked cheese" and your link did not come up. I have read it through and will keep this in my "In Box" so I can refer to it when I try this. I don't have a WSM but I have a Performer. I'm thinking I can keep the heat down if I use maybe only 2 briquettes. I was surprised that you did not care for smoked mozz. I had been sitting here thinking it would go nicely on a pizza.

 

[Shawn W]

I had been sitting here thinking it would go nicely on a pizza.

Sounds good to me, I wasn't fond of it for plain eating. I should give that a go.

 

[Scott in CT]

OK, now i gotta smoke some cheese this winter for smoked chicken sandwiches next spring!

 

[Skip Felts]

I smoke a lot of cheese, mostly while I'm doing my beloved seafood - prawns and scallops and the kokanee I catch in the lake. I've got the temp down at 225 or lower for this smoking. Vents are mostly closed, and the coals have aged a while before anything goes on.

I snagged a rectangular box, and cut curves in the sides so it sits on the top of the WSM pretty well. Then I cut some holes and inserted dowls through the box at two levels. Two cheapo wire grates from WalMart cut down to size go on the dowls. I generally cut the cheese in 1 inch cubes and put them on soaked skewers (so the cheese doens't split when the skewer goes through). I've found that swiss and white cheddar work well. Gouda and ementhaler not so much. I use a combination of apple and alder for my seafood and fish smokes. The cheese comes out very smokey, with a nicely darkened exterior. My wife thinks it's too smokey. But not me. And the dog is just nuts for it. It must turn on some ancient campfire instinct in her somehow...