Fall 2020 Smoked Cheese test run

xfire_ATX

Ive been smoking cheese for a while but because of my method I was doing it when it was generally cold and with ice between smoke and cheese.

I broke down in the spring while at CGS and bought the Amazen Smoker Tube and some pellets- then it turned into Texas Inferno so there it sat.  Well thanks to TS Beta its been in the mid 60s/ low 70s so last night I went for a trial run.  Bought some throwaway cheese and went for it.

Pulled the KAB, Cleaned ash and lit the tube.  Full load on pellets as had no idea how long it will last.


After 15 min to get settled in with smoke added grate, deflector and put on a grill mat to put cheese on.


15 Min holding steady at a low temp, restricted bottom vent almost fully but still generating plenty of smoke.


Roughly an Hour later pulled them off and vac sealed for 4-6 weeks to mellow.


When I pulled the Tube today before cooking a chicken I was amazed it only used 1/2 the load.  Next run I will fill it up with cheese for the Thanksgiving/ XMAS season.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

xfire_ATX said:

Ive been smoking cheese for a while but because of my method I was doing it when it was generally cold and with ice between smoke and cheese.

I broke down in the spring while at CGS and bought the Amazen Smoker Tube and some pellets- then it turned into Texas Inferno so there it sat.  Well thanks to TS Beta its been in the mid 60s/ low 70s so last night I went for a trial run.  Bought some throwaway cheese and went for it.

Pulled the KAB, Cleaned ash and lit the tube.  Full load on pellets as had no idea how long it will last.


After 15 min to get settled in with smoke added grate, deflector and put on a grill mat to put cheese on.


15 Min holding steady at a low temp, restricted bottom vent almost fully but still generating plenty of smoke.


Roughly an Hour later pulled them off and vac sealed for 4-6 weeks to mellow.


When I pulled the Tube today before cooking a chicken I was amazed it only used 1/2 the load.  Next run I will fill it up with cheese for the Thanksgiving/ XMAS season.

My large AMS tray burns for 12-14 hours depending on the pellets.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

BTW- I learned that Traeger pellets are almost always alder wood with flavored oils (apple, cherry, oak etc). I switched to a 100% hardwood pellet (I'm using Green Mountain these days) and it made a huge difference in flavor. The Traeger Apple pellets were turning my bacon jaundice-y yellow. I guess it was the oil/color they added.

xfire_ATX

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

BTW- I learned that Traeger pellets are almost always alder wood with flavored oils (apple, cherry, oak etc). I switched to a 100% hardwood pellet (I'm using Green Mountain these days) and it made a huge difference in flavor. The Traeger Apple pellets were turning my bacon jaundice-y yellow. I guess it was the oil/color they added.

Good point to check- these were "branded" from CGS and Im sure they just took a big bag and made smaller bags.  I wasnt investing much until I get a better feel so now its time to move to the next step.  Looks like BBQ Outfitters has Green Mountain so thats what I'll pick up.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I just checked his site. He has the good pellets. Lumberjack are 100% hardwood with no flavor additives. I figured he wouldn’t carry the crap pellets. 

TEXASBGE2018

I need to try this again. The 1st batch I only let it settle for a couple weeks. It tasted like an ashtray. 

Langner91

I have been using the Amazen tube for a few years now.  It burns about 4 hours with the bottom vent wide open.  I can't wait for it to cool off enough to do another batch.  Every year I swear I am going to do enough to last through the hot months.

Do you always vacuum seal?  I usually wrap in saran, and then bag for at least two weeks.  I thought I read somewhere that vacuum sealing caused some cheese to mold?