First time cold smoking cheese. Questions.

This is how I do cold smoking of cheese, there are some hints and tips in the blog post:

https://www.thecooksdigest.co.uk/2017/11/03/smoke-your-own-cheese/

To answer your specific questions:

1. Almost closed, the same as I would for cooking low n slow.
2. You don't need ice, just put the platesetter in and the cheese on the grid over the platesetter.
3. I prefer hard cheeses, we just had some smoked Old Amsterdam for lunch today, it was lovely. I have yet to find a blue cheese that works well with a smoke flavour, the search continues.

Good luck!

Agree with the others. No need for ice at those temps. Probably not even any need for the plate setter. I usually do mine when it's a bit colder and never use the PS. I also cut the cheese into pieces no more than two inches thick.
I also think letting it age for at least a couple of weeks after smoking improves the flavor quite a bit. Vac sealing is great for this.
Best cheeses I've found for smoking are Gouda and mild Cheddar.

bottom vent wide open, top opening dependent on smoke and how hard it is to keep pellets lit.  depending on amount of cheese, may need to move around a bit to even out smoke coming from tube and over the cheese.  

you may have trouble keeping the tube lit.  their tray is better.  I would not use a platesetter or stone, do it direct.

cut cheese in 1 inch or so square long logs.....you want surface area.  turn cheese as need to get all four sides. 

time is truly dependent on smoke generation and what wood.  with hickory, and full smoke, 2.5 hours may be a bit long.  

any hard cheese is good.  run into problems with cheese sweating around 90°F in egg, not a good thing.  at 44°F ambient, should not be an issue.

bag and fridge for week minium. 

it takes a couple attempts to get comfortable with it. so first cook, don't go big amounts.  

t

77bronco said:

This is my first time cold smoking cheese. Will be using Amaz n smoker tube with hickory pellets in an XL BGE. Have a variety of cheeses. Was planning on smoking for about 2.5 hours. Will put smoker tube on charcoal grate, under plate setter with cheese on rack above. I’ve read some of the other threads, but have a couple questions. 

1. With the smoker tube,  how do you set the top and bottom vents on the BGE?
2. High temperature of 44 degrees here today. I  haven’t used the tube smoker yet, and am not sure how much heat it will generate. Do I need a tray of ice on the plate setter under the cheese?
3. What are everybody’s favorites?Has anybody smoked Bleu cheese? If so, how did it turn out?

1- with the tray I keep the bottom open a half inch and the top about half
2-no
3-swiss

you can mix your pellets up or use all of one. I prefer a milder smoke for cheese so generally use Apple but I have mixed it with oak

Sherryjames said:

Are you guys looking for thin blue smoke or heavy smoke?? I did my first batch yesterday with my amaze n tube and had the vents as I would with low n slow. I had a thick white smoke the whole time. 

My pellet tray gives steady smoke the whole time till the pellets are burnt up

It makes no difference in this case. Relax.