Smoking something a little different
- Thread starter J Boldt
- Start date
Matt, That will be a while, after I am finished I vacuum seal it for a nice month long rest in the fridge. This is my 4th or 5th time I have smoked cheese and it continues to get better. First one was very bitter, but every other time after that it has gotten better as I have added more mild woods to the smoke and adjusted the times.
It is fun and it is nice to give to that person that is not into smoked meats but likes cheese.
Cold Smoked almonds are awesome too.
and I LOVE your profile pic, Go Tigers.
Paul Kastner
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Bet that cheese is going to be great.
John Solak
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Very nice!!
Brad Barger
TVWBB Fan
Great job. My wife wants me to try cheese after seeing your pictures.
Mike Coffman
TVWBB Olympian
That is going to be some delicious cheese!
Gary S
TVWBB Guru
Mike Cosgrove
TVWBB Diamond Member
Thanks for sharing that, would love to the smoke setup.
Gary S.
I bought the Amaze N Pellet smoker in Jan of this year. I have learned a lot in the 4 or 5 times that I have smoked.
My first batch was a mixture of Oak, some Apple and even a bag of black walnut (2-1-1) that I had. I think this was too strong as black walnut is a strong wood.
Additionally, I think I smoked it for too long as I went for 4 hours.
Round two, I added a lot of apple pellets to my ratio was 3 apple, 2 oak and 1 black walnut. I reduced the time to 3 hours and this came out much better.
Round 3 I did the same wood but did 1, 2, and 3 hours with swiss, ched-Jack and mild cheddar. I did a taste test last week at work, while opinions varied, two hours was the sweet spot. Todd the owner of the Amaze N products confirmed that two hours is about right.
I found that swiss can handle longer smokes, in the case of cheddar I prefer a mild version and the sharper ones get bitter faster. I am still learning and want to get the system perfected before summer when it is difficult to cold smoke anything. If you like smoked cheese get a Amaze N Pellet smoker, if you are hesitant to fork over 30 or 40 bucks from something that you might make for $20 then e-mail Todd and ask him about his used products, I got mine for half off. I think you said you already had one Gary so that statement was for the others that wanted to try it out. It is a great way to take cheap $2 - $3 cheeses and make them very good.
I have had a lot of success with almonds as well, simply smoke them for 4 hours, coat them with olive oil and Weber sweet and tangy rub and roast them in the oven@ 350 for 15 to 20 min
Oh, and the bitter first round cheeses have mellowed out going into month 2 and 3 so you really can't go wrong.
I bought the Amaze N Pellet smoker in Jan of this year. I have learned a lot in the 4 or 5 times that I have smoked.
My first batch was a mixture of Oak, some Apple and even a bag of black walnut (2-1-1) that I had. I think this was too strong as black walnut is a strong wood.
Additionally, I think I smoked it for too long as I went for 4 hours.
Round two, I added a lot of apple pellets to my ratio was 3 apple, 2 oak and 1 black walnut. I reduced the time to 3 hours and this came out much better.
Round 3 I did the same wood but did 1, 2, and 3 hours with swiss, ched-Jack and mild cheddar. I did a taste test last week at work, while opinions varied, two hours was the sweet spot. Todd the owner of the Amaze N products confirmed that two hours is about right.
I found that swiss can handle longer smokes, in the case of cheddar I prefer a mild version and the sharper ones get bitter faster. I am still learning and want to get the system perfected before summer when it is difficult to cold smoke anything. If you like smoked cheese get a Amaze N Pellet smoker, if you are hesitant to fork over 30 or 40 bucks from something that you might make for $20 then e-mail Todd and ask him about his used products, I got mine for half off. I think you said you already had one Gary so that statement was for the others that wanted to try it out. It is a great way to take cheap $2 - $3 cheeses and make them very good.
I have had a lot of success with almonds as well, simply smoke them for 4 hours, coat them with olive oil and Weber sweet and tangy rub and roast them in the oven@ 350 for 15 to 20 min
Oh, and the bitter first round cheeses have mellowed out going into month 2 and 3 so you really can't go wrong.
Gary S
TVWBB Guru
Thanks for the advice. I bought mine this winter too just have not gotten around to using it yet. I had smoking fish in mind and hadn't thought about cheese until a few weeks ago.
Walnut is not available to me but I have to wonder about alder? It's mild and I have used it with great success smoking fish when I had the Big Chief electric smoker.
Thanks for the advice on time. Sounds like 2 hours is the magic number.
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So, I would avoid black walnut altogether, I was using it simply because I had it.
I think Alder would be perfect for smoked cheese, I have some alder smoked sea salt and the smell of it is amazing. I don't have it here in Michigan in pellet form so I haven't used it.
The hardest part is the 4 week wait. Good Luck Gary.
I think Alder would be perfect for smoked cheese, I have some alder smoked sea salt and the smell of it is amazing. I don't have it here in Michigan in pellet form so I haven't used it.
The hardest part is the 4 week wait. Good Luck Gary.
Andy Beers
TVWBB Diamond Member
Looks great