Cold smoked cheese (pics)

Biggreengreg

I've been thoroughly enjoying cold smoking on the Amazen Pellet Smoker , the latest smoke consisted of Pepper jack and white cheddar which adds a great smoke flavor to enchiladas, nachos, or tacos. 

Cheese was cold smoked for ~3 hours turning every ~30 min. Once off the smoker, it rested for 1 hour before sealed for 1 week to help lock in flavor (read from another recipe this is key). 

Anyone else have any tips or suggestions? Gouda is next : ) 

slovelad

Excellent! What was the temp you smoked them at?

Biggreengreg

@slovelad - 85° F 

blasting

@Biggreengreg   Welcome.  Nice color on that cheese.  I have the same smoker tray as you.  Works great but I have yet to sample my first batch.  I've no idea how smokey it will end up being.

I did mine on baking cooling racks. So I didn't turn it.

Why do you wait an hour to vac seal?

I heard a guy should wait a month or more to consume - I'm waiting 6 weeks  - thoughts?

I cut my blocks about half as big - my thought was to get more smoke penetration/ area.  No clue if there is anything to this, but it made sense at the time.

sctdg

When I smoke cheese I use a Masterbuilt digital smoker with the Masterbuilt cold smoke attachment . I did Cheddar,Gouda and provolone last Friday .Temp inside smoker never went over 58 degrees .I cut down big blocks of cheddar to where they look like the regular Kraft cracker barrel cuts .Average Gouda wedges get cut in half and hard provolone half cuts like Auricchio usually gets cut into thirds .When I do pound block of Mozzarella it is cut in thirds .All to get most surface area for smoke .I make sure before vacuum packing cheese it is dry ,that is why the wait before sealing .Sometimes like in summer temp in smoker could go up to 70-75 degrees in smoker and cheese will sweat .I wait anywhere from a week if I'm impatient to three weeks before eating .I do NOT use Amazin tray ,had mine about 3 years and NEVER and I mean NEVER had any luck with it.Microwaved pellets,baked pellets in oven tried everything ,it does not work for me .Masterbuilt attachment gives me a lot more flexibility on what I use for smoke and generates no heat into smoker . I light chips or pellets in attachment before hooking up to smoker then turn off electric lighter,open bottom tray and wood in attachment maintains a steady smoke with very little heat .I smoke cheese anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on how much smoke is being generated ,weather conditions makes a difference.This method will work for anything you want to cold smoke. Only time I use Masterbuilt anymore is cold smoking . I do not put an ice tray in with cheese don't like how wet it makes it .
PS Mozzarella can be consumed right away ,and when you do it you will want to. I do not use fresh Mozzarella for smoking ,seems to delicate for that .

nolaegghead

helps if you add some small lump to the a maze in smoker thing and put your smokewood on top. Just burning pellets...you need a lot of airflow...and abundance of air.  I'd rather have a greedy fuel that generates heat that operates in a reducing environment.

blasting

@sctdg   Thanks very much for taking the time to write so much info.  Lots of great information.  

I foolishly smoked a huge batch of cheese.  I food savered right away, but it wasn't sweating,  Sure hope I didn't wreck all that cheese.

I read that a lot of people shared your experience with the amazing smoker tray.  I've only used mine once, and I was prepared for some issues, but it lit up no problem and stayed lit.  

SunDeviledEgg

if the cheese is vacuum sealed, how long will it keep in the fridge?  can it be frozen?

bettysnephew

Vac sealed cheese will keep a very long time if refrigerated. We are presently eating gouda done last May and it is excellent. It seems to mellow more with time. Just remember how long cheese is aged in the old world caves and don't worry about it too much in the fridge. Do not freeze as it gets very grainy, the taste seems okay but the mouth feel is not the best. I recently ate some sharp cheddar that was smoked in December of 2014 and it was very good with a glass of cabernet sauvignon and some thin sliced Amana Old World summer sausage. My local foodie friends really liked this. You might also like to try Kerry Gold cheeses, they are drier and keep well.