Smoked Cheese Advice

K80Shooter · 10-31-2012, 04:24 PM

Being it's going to get down into the mid/high thirties tonight I thoought I would try my hand at some smoked cheese.

I have never done this before but have read a few threads on here about it. My question is about the wood chips. I have on hand three diff. kinds of wood chips, apple, cherry and mesquite. Which wood would be best for this?

I'm kinda leaning toward the apple but want to get some more opinions.

The cheese's are, pepperjack, mild chedder, medium chedder, sharp chedder, swiss, muenster and monterey jack.

Any and all advice is welcome.

Smokeoholic · 10-31-2012, 04:54 PM

Apple or cherry will work fine..it won't take much to get a nice light smoke flavor.

RW · 10-31-2012, 05:45 PM

^^^ Yep, either cherry or apple should do nicely. I'd stay away from the mesquite.

Rookie'48 · 10-31-2012, 10:46 PM

Beware of over-smoking, it's very easy to do

.

Don't ask how I know that

.

Seriously, a light smoke for no more than a couple of hours will do just fine for the harder cheeses. I go 1 1/2 hours for the hard stuff down to 1/2 hour to 45 minutes for cream cheese, Velveeta, etc. After smoking, put the cheese in a zip-lock or vacu-suck it & let it rest for a week or two in the fridge for best results. But that's using my Ugly Cheese Bucket with the Smoke Daddy - YMMV.

K80Shooter · 11-01-2012, 05:29 AM

Thanks guy's, I have them on the egg now, it's a cool 40 degrees outside and I have a dome temp of 55 degrees. Been smoking for 30 min. so far. I went with the apple wood.

I did a trial run last night just to maake sure I had everything right, good thing I did. I was going to do the soldering iron in a can thing but I just couldnt get any smoke that way, I then just removed everything, added two more holes the same as I had for the soldering iron, then added two pieces of charcoal. This worked great after letting the charcoal ash over and filling with the chips.

IamMadMan · 11-01-2012, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RW

^^^ Yep, either cherry or apple should do nicely. I'd stay away from the mesquite.

^^^^^ I agree.....

K80Shooter · 11-01-2012, 06:55 AM

Ok now they are vacuum sealed and in the fridge.

How long will it keep? I'm guessing I'll need to freeze some of it if thats ok.

RW · 11-01-2012, 08:08 AM

Quote:

How long will it keep? I'm guessing I'll need to freeze some of it if thats ok.

We just finished eating the last of our cold-smoked cheese from late last winter. It had been vacuum sealed and sitting way in the back of the fridge. Looked good and ate great.

captndan · 11-01-2012, 09:25 AM

If it's vacuum sealed and in the fridge it will last a long long time. It's when you open the package that things really start to change. Note on the smoking, It's easy to over smoke cheese. Smoke to enhance the flavor not cover it up. I know others that could save money by spreading some cheeze whiz on a piece of match lite.

10-31-2012, 04:24 PM	#1
K80Shooter On the road to being a farker Join Date: 10-20-12 Location: Hartwell, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Smoked Cheese Advice Being it's going to get down into the mid/high thirties tonight I thoought I would try my hand at some smoked cheese. I have never done this before but have read a few threads on here about it. My question is about the wood chips. I have on hand three diff. kinds of wood chips, apple, cherry and mesquite. Which wood would be best for this? I'm kinda leaning toward the apple but want to get some more opinions. The cheese's are, pepperjack, mild chedder, medium chedder, sharp chedder, swiss, muenster and monterey jack. Any and all advice is welcome.

10-31-2012, 05:45 PM	#3
RW On the road to being a farker Join Date: 02-13-12 Location: Texas Hill Country Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	^^^ Yep, either cherry or apple should do nicely. I'd stay away from the mesquite. __________________ Weber Performer / 18.5 WSM / mini WSM / Char-Griller Akorn / #14 Old Smokey / Weber Jumbo Joe

10-31-2012, 10:46 PM	#4
Rookie'48 Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 11-12-06 Location: Des Moines, Iowa Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Beware of over-smoking, it's very easy to do . Don't ask how I know that . Seriously, a light smoke for no more than a couple of hours will do just fine for the harder cheeses. I go 1 1/2 hours for the hard stuff down to 1/2 hour to 45 minutes for cream cheese, Velveeta, etc. After smoking, put the cheese in a zip-lock or vacu-suck it & let it rest for a week or two in the fridge for best results. But that's using my Ugly Cheese Bucket with the Smoke Daddy - YMMV. __________________ Dave Compton KCBS MasterCBJ # 22569 KCBS BoD Judges' Advocate Possibly the only judge ever to get an award from a bunch of cooks UDS 075 UCB WSM and a bunch of other stuff. The above post is only my opinion - mine & mine alone. Last edited by Rookie'48; 10-31-2012 at 10:53 PM.. Reason: added info

10-31-2012, 04:54 PM	#2
Smokeoholic Got Wood. Join Date: 08-22-11 Location: Spokane Washington Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Apple or cherry will work fine..it won't take much to get a nice light smoke flavor.

11-01-2012, 05:29 AM	#5
K80Shooter On the road to being a farker Join Date: 10-20-12 Location: Hartwell, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Thanks guy's, I have them on the egg now, it's a cool 40 degrees outside and I have a dome temp of 55 degrees. Been smoking for 30 min. so far. I went with the apple wood. I did a trial run last night just to maake sure I had everything right, good thing I did. I was going to do the soldering iron in a can thing but I just couldnt get any smoke that way, I then just removed everything, added two more holes the same as I had for the soldering iron, then added two pieces of charcoal. This worked great after letting the charcoal ash over and filling with the chips.

11-01-2012, 06:55 AM	#7
K80Shooter On the road to being a farker Join Date: 10-20-12 Location: Hartwell, GA Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Ok now they are vacuum sealed and in the fridge. How long will it keep? I'm guessing I'll need to freeze some of it if thats ok.

11-01-2012, 09:25 AM	#9
captndan is One Chatty Farker Join Date: 06-29-11 Location: Greeneville TN Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	If it's vacuum sealed and in the fridge it will last a long long time. It's when you open the package that things really start to change. Note on the smoking, It's easy to over smoke cheese. Smoke to enhance the flavor not cover it up. I know others that could save money by spreading some cheeze whiz on a piece of match lite.