First time cold smoking cheese

[ANT0407]

Decided to try to smoke some cheese for the first time. I'm going to use it for smoked mac and cheese with my left over brisket. I have the racks sitting on foil pans filled with ice and one smoke tube going. I figure I'll leave them on for 2 hours, any thoughts on anything I should have done differently?

 

[Redoctapus]

Decided to try to smoke some cheese for the first time. I'm going to use it for smoked mac and cheese with my left over brisket. I have the racks sitting on foil pans filled with ice and one smoke tube going. I figure I'll leave them on for 2 hours, any thoughts on anything I should have done differently? View attachment 3063

Your set up looks amazing. What wood are you going to use?

 

[ANT0407]

Your set up looks amazing. What wood are you going to use?

I have hickory on hand so I'm using that

 

[Jimsmokes]

If you're planning on using today or tomorrow for MC. Cut into smaller chunks for more surface area and short smoke it. Then put it all together and cook it on the smoker. Stir it a few times while it cookin till its all melted and gooey. Then sprinkle a light layer of shredded over top and let crust up.
Rest of your cheese smoke several hours let cool. Then wrap in plastic wrap and let it mellow for several weeks.

 

[ANT0407]

If you're planning on using today or tomorrow for MC. Cut into smaller chunks for more surface area and short smoke it. Then put it all together and cook it on the smoker. Stir it a few times while it cookin till its all melted and gooey. Then sprinkle a light layer of shredded over top and let crust up.
Rest of your cheese smoke several hours let cool. Then wrap in plastic wrap and let it mellow for several weeks.

Thank you Jim. I tried it before I vac sealed it just to see how it was and it definitely has to mellow.

 

[brewersfan73]

ANT0407 - now that it's had a couple of months to mellow, how was it? I just did a few small chunks of medium cheddar over the weekend with 100% cherry pellets. Smoked for 2 hours, wrapped loosely in parchment paper in the fridge for 24 hours, then vacuum sealed. First time cold smoking cheese, and I can't wait to cut it open in a couple of weeks and try it. Really curious how yours turned out and if you have any tips or tricks. How was the hickory?

I thought is was a super easy process, so if it tastes good, I imagine I would do this quite often. I love smoked cheddar and gouda, but I hate the price in the store.

 

[ANT0407]

ANT0407 - now that it's had a couple of months to mellow, how was it? I just did a few small chunks of medium cheddar over the weekend with 100% cherry pellets. Smoked for 2 hours, wrapped loosely in parchment paper in the fridge for 24 hours, then vacuum sealed. First time cold smoking cheese, and I can't wait to cut it open in a couple of weeks and try it. Really curious how yours turned out and if you have any tips or tricks. How was the hickory?

I thought is was a super easy process, so if it tastes good, I imagine I would do this quite often. I love smoked cheddar and gouda, but I hate the price in the store.

View attachment 3393

View attachment 3394

So it's is good, not great. Some people that have eaten it says they like the heavier smoke taste and others say it's too strong. I think hickory might have been to strong of smoke for the cheese. My other thought is that I didn't wrap it for 24 hours in paper like you did. I vac sealed it right away.

 

[brewersfan73]

So it's is good, not great. Some people that have eaten it says they like the heavier smoke taste and others say it's too strong. I think hickory might have been to strong of smoke for the cheese. My other thought is that I didn't wrap it for 24 hours in paper like you did. I vac sealed it right away.

OK - good to know. I saw some articles about sticking with milder fruitwoods. But then again, my favorite is hickory smoked cheddar, so I didn't know what to do. I didn't have any hickory at my house, and I was eager to try my new bag of Lumber Jack cherry, so that made the decision easy.

The big question is whether you will do it again? And since you tried a lot of different cheeses, was there one or two that seemed to work better?

 

[ANT0407]

@brewersfan73- The Cheddars seemed to be the best to me. I will definitely do it again but will try the method you used and wrap in paper for a day before I vac seal. Also if I use hickory maybe just an hour of smoke to see if that mellows it out a bit more.

 

[Odessa Bob]

I smoked cheddar and pepper jack all the time. Living down here near Tampa I wait till the temperatures drop down into the 60s. I have tried doing it with the temps in the low 70s and the cheese started to melt on me. So now I get up at 4 o’clock in the morning when I’m going to smoke the cheese.

 

[Odessa Bob]

Are use hickory when I smoke cheese. I let it cold smoke for 2 1/2 hours. Pulled off the smoker and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then I can be freezer wrapped and stored for up to a year.

 

[ANT0407]

Are use hickory when I smoke cheese. I let it cold smoke for 2 1/2 hours. Pulled off the smoker and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then I can be freezer wrapped and stored for up to a year.

Thanks for the info. Looks like the piece I was missing was the fridge for 24 hours before wrapping.

 

[brewersfan73]

Thanks for the info. Looks like the piece I was missing was the fridge for 24 hours before wrapping.

Does anyone out there know what this 24 hours before vacuum sealing is for? I also saw someplace mention putting it into a brown paper bag. I'm assuming something that breathes a little, but I don't know why.

 

[Redoctapus]

Does anyone out there know what this 24 hours before vacuum sealing is for? I also saw someplace mention putting it into a brown paper bag. I'm assuming something that breathes a little, but I don't know why.

Hello Ant0407,
At work we smoke cheese and it gets put in the walkin as soon as removed from the smoker for no other reason but to chill it.

I found mention of 24 hours in this article-

Thermal Tips: How to Cold-Smoke Cheese

Thermal Tips: How to Cold Smoke Cheese

Temperature control is absolutely critical when cold-smoking cheese, and we have tips to get you fired up about making your own!

blog.thermoworks.com

Our cheese gets chilled and shredded then into a cambro storage container, just because... we use shredded cheese to make our Smoked Cheeze Maccaroni.

 

[gordongal]

Decided to try to smoke some cheese for the first time. I'm going to use it for smoked mac and cheese with my left over brisket. I have the racks sitting on foil pans filled with ice and one smoke tube going. I figure I'll leave them on for 2 hours, any thoughts on anything I should have done differently? View attachment 3063

Did you tirn the smoker on at all or just use the a smoke tube?