Smoked Cheez It's?

[Robert]

Originally Posted by dward51

I make these smoked as a variation on the "Redneck Bar Fire Crackers" recipe. The original used saltine crackers as the base, but I've used the cheese-it and cheese goldfish as a base. Both work very well, but be mindful you can over smoke them (the original recipe was not smoked).

Original Redneck Bar Firecracker Recipe

• 4 sleeves of saltine crackers (the whole box)
• 1/2 cup of butter flavored popcorn oil
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 packet of Ranch dressing mix
• 4 tsp of your favorite rub
• 1 tsp of granulated garlic or garlic powder
• 2 TBL of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 TBL of cayenne pepper (optional for extra heat)

1. Dump saltines in a XL zip lock bag or some other large container with a lid.
2. Put all the other ingredients in a container and heat slowly in the microwave to help mix the flavors (warm the oil, not super hot). Stir to mix evenly.
3. Pour the warm oil & spice mix into the container/bag of crackers
4. Close the container/bag. If using a bag, leave as much air in the bag as possible as you want the crackers to be able to tumble to distribute the oil/spice mix.
5. Lightly roll the bag/container of crackers to coat and then let them sit to absorb the oil/spice flavors into the cracker.

These are great as is on saltines, cheeze-its or the cheese flavored goldfish crackers. When I use cheeze-its or goldfish, I just change out the crackers and use a large box of cheeze-its or one of the bags of goldfish from Sam's Club (Sam's sells a big box with two large bags inside, recipe works perfect with 1 bag). The oil/spice mix remains the same for any of the cracker bases.

I like them best with no smoke, but have smoked them over hickory. Just don't go to long on the smoke or they will take up too much smoke flavor and they are not as good if over smoked. These are super easy to make and the guys at the office will argue over who gets the last bites so they must be good (never last either).

Here are some using goldfish as the cracker base I smoked on pizza screens in my WSM. I used small wood blocks to space the pizza screens and a pellet tray in the fire ring for a cold smoke source. We call these "Fire-fish" at work.

Have you tried to smoke the Saltines? I did at 250 and they were burned black in 30 minutes. I didn't anticipate that. I guess they are more delicate than the Cheez-its.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by TravelingJ

Some interesting points there, Robert. I actually intend to play with a few variables soon. I have a coworker/friend that will be in town for meetings. I had told him how I made the crackers, and he tried it at home on his BGE. His family wasn't really impressed. I sent them some that I had made for Giftmas, and his wife called me saying how they were so much better than his. I think my big variable is I'm using a pellet smoker, so his took on too much smoke flavor, and mine just had a hint of it.

I'm curious about letting them sit in the oil longer. I've generally mixed and had them on the smoker within 5 minutes. We are going to mess around with every variable we can think of (smoker temp, times, olive oil vs vegetable oil, different seasonings, racks vs pans, marinading time) and try to find our ideal end result. It's a fun experiment, because it's just so cheap.

One variation to try: Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix.



Another thing I like to make to go along with the original Fire Cracker recipe is to take a 8 oz. brick of cream cheese and split it in half lengthwise and roll the two pieces in your favorite BBQ rub on all sides. Also good with the above mention Italian dressing mix. Folks seem to love it.


Robert

[dward51]

Originally Posted by Robert

Have you tried to smoke the Saltines? I did at 250 and they were burned black in 30 minutes. I didn't anticipate that. I guess they are more delicate than the Cheez-its.

No I have not tried to smoke the saltines. I know they seem more delicate in the tumbling process where I distribute the oil & spices than the cheeze-its or goldfish were.



Did you warm/hot smoke them or go with a cold pit? I used a pellet tray in my WSM so I cold smoked the batches I've made (but not saltines).

[charcoal4brains]

I got the “smoked Crunchy Cheetos" idea from some Brethren or Cistern here several years ago. My apologies, I didn't bookmark the thread so I've lost your name. Google’s site-searching turns up many hits for "cheetos" which makes it kinda hard to track you down to give credit where credit’s due.


> Time and temp and cooker?
About the same as cold smoking blocks of cheese ...


- TIME
2+ hours, to taste. Cheetos’ oily nature absorbs smoke like I absorb Cheetos. I tend to oversmoke, it helps to have a taste tester who’s smell-buds aren’t saturated with hardwood smoke. Volunteers aren’t hard to find!

Just like cheese, Cheetos benefit from resting before eating. Cheetos do well with a couple of days.


- TEMP
Under 70F (21C) in the smoker, so 50F-ish (10C-ish) or less ambient to account for the smoke generator’s additional heat (see below.)

‘Tos are delicate , 80F+ (27C+) kills them.


- COOKER
I use a 30 watt Harbor Freight soldering iron in a can full of mild hardwood chips for smoke.

I've smoked 'tos in the OTG with all vents wide open and the lid ajar ...

and I've smoked ‘em with the same smoke generator (on top of a heat resistant rock) in an Alton Brown-inspired cardboard box smoker with equal results.



I serve smoked Crunchy Cheetos with slices of lo’n’slowed thick-sliced bacon and, of course, free beer.


On a Cheetos related note, crushed Cheetos - smoked or not - make an excellent crunchy Mac&Cheese topping. Cheetos don’t like heat, put it on after the M&C is all done cooking.

[THoey1963]

Got me two BIG boxes of Cheez It's I'll probably be doing for the Conference games this week. Haven't decided on what to rub them with yet. One box HDD, everyone loved those last time. Going to try something different on the other box, just not sure what yet.

[TravelingJ]

I still haven't tried the Cheetos yet, but that sounds great. I bought 4 Sams boxes this week and a coworker and I tried a bunch of variables for comparisons. We were pleased to learn that even with all the changes we could think of, there was very small changes on the flavor.

Side note, smoked Ritz crackers was amazing. I did find that those burnt FAST, so they needed a lot more attention.

[Robert]

Originally Posted by charcoal4brains

I got the “smoked Crunchy Cheetos" idea from some Brethren or Cistern here several years ago. My apologies, I didn't bookmark the thread so I've lost your name. Google’s site-searching turns up many hits for "cheetos" which makes it kinda hard to track you down to give credit where credit’s due.


> Time and temp and cooker?
About the same as cold smoking blocks of cheese ...


- TIME
2+ hours, to taste. Cheetos’ oily nature absorbs smoke like I absorb Cheetos. I tend to oversmoke, it helps to have a taste tester who’s smell-buds aren’t saturated with hardwood smoke. Volunteers aren’t hard to find!

Just like cheese, Cheetos benefit from resting before eating. Cheetos do well with a couple of days.


- TEMP
Under 70F (21C) in the smoker, so 50F-ish (10C-ish) or less ambient to account for the smoke generator’s additional heat (see below.)

‘Tos are delicate , 80F+ (27C+) kills them.


- COOKER
I use a 30 watt Harbor Freight soldering iron in a can full of mild hardwood chips for smoke.

I've smoked 'tos in the OTG with all vents wide open and the lid ajar ...

and I've smoked ‘em with the same smoke generator (on top of a heat resistant rock) in an Alton Brown-inspired cardboard box smoker with equal results.



I serve smoked Crunchy Cheetos with slices of lo’n’slowed thick-sliced bacon and, of course, free beer.


On a Cheetos related note, crushed Cheetos - smoked or not - make an excellent crunchy Mac&Cheese topping. Cheetos don’t like heat, put it on after the M&C is all done cooking.

Thanks for posting this. I'm planning on a cheese smoke sometime soon and will try to get some Cheetos on during that time.


Robert

[Robert]

Originally Posted by TravelingJ

I still haven't tried the Cheetos yet, but that sounds great. I bought 4 Sams boxes this week and a coworker and I tried a bunch of variables for comparisons. We were pleased to learn that even with all the changes we could think of, there was very small changes on the flavor.

Side note, smoked Ritz crackers was amazing. I did find that those burnt FAST, so they needed a lot more attention.

What was your method on the Ritz crackers?

[TravelingJ]

For the Ritz we laid them all out flat on a baking sheet, and then I used my oil sprayer to coat the tops. Then sprinkled with the seasoning (I used garlic salt and the rub I use for my pulled pork) Just put them in the smoker and checked every 20 minutes, and pulled them when they were starting to get a bit darker.