Smoked Cheese

Yesterday I did a 2.5 hour cold smoke on some cheese in the Primo. I used apple pellets in an A-Maze-N-Tube-Smoker that I picked up at Cabela's. I did 2 blocks of gouda, 3 blocks or cheddar, 2 blocks of colby jack, and one block of pepper jack.

Here they are when I first put them on. That's a 2-liter bottle of ice under the cheese. I thought it might help hold down the temps.

Mash Here

Here they are finished. You can notice the color change.

Mash Here Again

Vacuum seal them for about 2 weeks to let the smoke permeate...I love smoked cheeses and do them all the time!

Yes sir. I've got them sealed and in the fridge.

Looks mighty fine! I love smoked cheese.

Sounds good. Are you running pellets in your A-Maze-N-Tube-Smoker or is it possible to use chips with it? We currently do our cheese and jerky on an electric smoker just because it is easier to hold the low temps.

Yes. That's the 6" model. It should smoke about 2 hours on a load of pellets. I know you can use their dust in it but I don't know about chips. My thoughts are that it wouldn't hold enough and they might have more air gaps and burn rather than smolder.

Looks good. I have a 12" tube and I also use the applewood pellets. I smoked several blocks but I went too long. I went 3 hours and even after 4 weeks its too smoky. The skin of the cheese is almost ash tray smoky. I'm going to try and do some more this weekend and go an hour to hour and half and see what I get.

So never done this how hot are your smoke temps

As low as you can keep it and still get smoke! (I think chips start smoking at about 150°) I have a cold smoker attachment for my electric smoker...the chips are burned in it, and the smoke transferred via a tube to the chip inlet on the cabinet of the bigger smoker. Very little heat transfers with the smoke, that way. I buy big bulk blocks of different cheeses, cut them up into 1/4 or 1/2 pound chunks, and smoke with a sweet wood for 2 1/2 or 3 hours, then vacuum seal and refrigerate for about 3 weeks before eating it. I've done hoop cheese, pepperjack, sharp and medium cheddar, gouda, and swiss cheese...all turned out real good.

I have a Smoke Hollow smoker that I got for Christmas. Still learning about electrics but I like it so far. For cheese, I've been hitting the smoke button just long enough to get the chips to wick, I don't lock the door all the way down when doing cheese and have been able to hold temp under 90 with plenty of smoke as long as I hit the smote button about every 30 minutes. I think I am going to eventually wind up with a 6" A-Maze-N tube, I just hate the thought of having to buy pellets.

Here at work, we just finished sampling a block I smoked about 4 weeks ago. It was a mild cheddar that I ate on a buttery cracker with a piece of salami and a dab of hot sauce. I must say it was very good. It turned out much better than I expected. That block didn't last long.

Four weeks vacuum packed in the fridge really mellowed it out.