Smoked Cheese - first try

I've been wanting to try the smoked cheese "caveman" technique as posted by Firetruck a while back.

Friday afternoon I hit Sam's Club and loaded up on a variety of cheeses.

I vacuumed out the large, filled a can with a mixture of dry apple and maple chips, inserted a soldering iron and plugged it in.

It wasn't too long before the smoke started showing. This was a new soldering iron and I did notice a burned paraffin smell at first, so I waited until that cleared (figured it was a coating on the iron tip). The ambient outdoor temp was 57* as the smoke started. The maximum reached was 78-79*.

Here is the cheese (cut the large blocks into smaller pieces). I smoked for 1 hr 45 minutes. No after pics, as they pretty much looked the same.

I put them in ziplocks and in my outdoor frig overnight and today I cut the larger ones in half and vacuum sealed them before putting back in the frig.
They tasted a little too smokey when trying little samples, but "Hoss" has assured me the will mellow over time in the frig.

Thanks to "Firetruck" for posting a great, easy cold smoking technique and to "Hoss" for his post last week with the huge amount of goodies that got me inspired to 'get off my duff' and "Do it".

Today I roasted a couple of pounds of pecan halves (another "Hoss" inspiration) for the kids to munch on when they all arrive for Christmas. Tonight I cooked four pizzas (haven't cooked zas in a couple of years).

Also just learned tonight that one of my step-daughters is pregnant with her first! Second Grandbaby coming this summer! :woohoo: :woohoo:

Back to work tomorrow (On Call - yuck).

Merry Christmas from our family to all !