First smoked cheese

I've been following several smoked cheese topics on the site and decided today to try it for myself. Thanks for all the pics and tips Brethren. :eusa_clap
My hopes were to whip up some gift baskets for Christmas gifts if things worked out, which they did.
I finally removed the third stacker for my Pro Q Exel from the box today in preparation for my first "cold smoke." Eight pieces of Kingsford were started in the chimney while I got a few pieces of cherry ready for the cooker. I put the Kingsford in the fire basket, set the three stackers and the lid in place (with nothing on the grates) and watched my new Tru_Temp start to climb above 100 degrees..... This was not a good way to get started because I need to cold smoke the cheese at least below 90 degrees to keep it from melting. After adding the water pan in the bottom stacker and filling it with cold water, the temp came down to a reasonable range so I proceeded with the experiment. Cherry wood is now in the fire basket. I double foiled two cooking racks and added some sliced smoked sausage and Cure 81 ham chunks to the one that would end up on the bottom.




The cheese, Colby and Monterey Jack were then put on the top rack and the smoker was sealed up.




These were cold smoked for a little over an hour at between 75 to 83 degrees and turned out great for the first attempt.




I put one slice of each cheese into a baggie, a few chunks each of ham and smoked sausage into another baggie and finally TownHouse crackers into another before putting them into a small Christmas gift bag to give away to friends and co workers.

Thanks everyone. It was all great but I couldn't have pulled off this cold smoke without all the great tips and advice available right here.

bbqbull said:

Looks great Bo. The cheese I smoke seems to get smokier after a few days in the fridge.

I use ice cubes in a half hotel pan when the temps are a bit warmer here when smoking cheese. Might want to give that a try next time to help keep temps down.

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Thanks Bull. I read somewhere about the ice in the pan. Think it was your post but not sure. I seriously considered trying that but I faced a dilema of sorts.... Ice the beer or the smoker. I chose the beer.:smile: But next time I'll have an extra bag of ice on hand.

That looks good Bo! Great idea for a gift as well.

With all the smoked cheese talk that's been going on lately, here's my question. Does the cheese absorb the smoke, or does it simply stick to the surface. If you cut a slice from the center of a smoked cheese block, would it have any smoke flavor to it?

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I'm not sure but I think it would depend on the texture of the cheese as to how much, if any, smoke permeated the inside. Different cheeses do have different textures. The monterey jack and colby probably aren't porous enough to absorb a lot of smoke into the inside. Maybe someone who knows for sure will chime in here.

cowgirl said:

Wow that looks tasty Bo! Nice looking cheese, ham and sausage platter too!

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Wayel thaaynk ya mayam. And kind surz as wayel.
Still an Okie mod :-D Just can't get away from that and don't ever care to. I am what I am...