A Whole Mess of Cheese

We had our first really cool days of the fall last week so I decided to break out the cold smoker and smoke up a whole heap of cheese.

Ambient Temp 57-60*


Supplies:
1 lb Colby Jack
1 lb monterrey jack
1.5 lbs Beecher's Flagship
1/2 lb Fontina
1/2 lb Super Hot Pepper Jack
2 lbs ea. Tillamook Medium White Chedday, Medium Cheddar, Pepper Jack (All on sale for $5 a baby loaf)
Small Bag of pecans


The Cojack, Jack, Fontina & Super Hot Pepper were left as is while the Beeche'rs got chopped in half to increase the surface area and help with fit on the grill and the Tillamook baby loafs each got portioned into 8 ~1.5"x1.5"x3" pieces.


I loaded up the Amaze'N Smoker with some of the Pitmaster's Blend, that I just received in the mail, which is a combination of Cherry, Maple & Hickory. Then set it on the bottom rack of the 22.5" Weber as close to the edge as I could get it.


I lit it using a gooseneck torch and went inside to get the cheese while the dust started to smolder. Loaded all the cheese onto 2 cooling racks. The first went directly on the upper grate and the other sat on two concrete bricks on either side of the lower rack. Using this method I was able to get over 10 lbs of cheese on to smoke at one time.


After about 4.5 hours I started to get the color and smell on the cheese that I like so I pulled it off.






I then wrapped each piece in plastic wrap.


And then vaccuum sealed by type.


I've now got a whole heap of cheese aging in the garage fridge.


This stuff will be ready for me come the first week in November.

plakers said:

Wow, awesome looking cheese,and alot of it too. I've always wanted to try something similar.

So I ask, you let the smoke flavors mellow for 3 weeks or so?

Thanks for sharing.

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I let it age for at least 2 weeks to let the smoke mellow and get evenly distributed. The longer you can let it sit the better IMHO.

Rover24 said:

First off, that is a sweet looking cook, and great looking cheese!

How long of a shelf life for the cheeses after you seal them up? Are you keeping them in the fridge or freezer. I've heard that you can freeze them but I'd think that would mess with the texture.

Where did you get the Amaze'N Smoker?

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Vacuum sealed the way that it is I think it would last in the fridge for probably 6+ months. I've had it last for at least 3 maybe even 4 just wrapped in plastic and inside of a ziplock bag. The smoking extends the shelf life significantly.

These will sit in the fridge until all used up, which with the holidays coming up will probably be by the end of the year or so. Between parties, giving it as gifts and me throwing it into every dish I can think of it won't last long.

The Amaze'N Smoker was a gift from a rep at a competition I participated in last summer. If you want your own you can order it online at https://www.amazenproducts.com/

RW said:

Good looking cheese.
I am curious, though: why did you wrap the finished cheese in plastic wrap before vacuum sealing it?
Thanks

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Three reasons:
1) My vacuum sealer is a little iffy at times and occasionally a seal will fail in the fridge. This provides a little extra protection.

2) Once this is aged I'll start opening the bags and breaking down into smaller portions. I may not want to reseal and some may just go into ziplocks at which point they need to be wrapped.

3) I don't know if this has any effect at all, but I think I get a tighter seal around each block if I wrap and then seal.

Pecans went on once the cheese was done. Laid out on a sheet pan and smoked for about 2 hours. I've been snacking on them and they are excellent. Very light smokiness which compliments the flavor of the nuts well.

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