First batch of smoked cheese

[WALLE]

FIRST - HEY ALL! Great to have the forum back up!


I was tired of looking at cheese posts lately, so decided to give it a shot with some sharp cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella.



I really liked the ideas I've seen of folks using different rubs, so I split the cheddar and pepper jack blocks and rubbed one of each with Cholula.


Using my shotgun smoker to get a true cold smoke on these. I'm using six 6 briquets and then loaded it with a mix of oak, hickory and apple. Side note on smoke generators - I've found that if you use larger chunks/chips, it allows good air flow and you can generate smoke a lot longer. Finer media tends to just choke mine down and kill the briquets.




Cheese loaded - using the advice of others by placing on a clean rack.


In researching, I found a lot of varied smoke times, so I went with 2 hours on the cheddar, 3 hours on the Mozz.
Here it is finished and ready for a two week nap in the fridge.






Smoke generator works darn good! Here's the smoke still coming out of it after 3+ hours.



Thanks for checking out my first cheese smoking project.
Tracey

[Slanted88]

Otta be just right with the snow out there Nothin better than sittin with my granddaughter arguin about the next slice on the cracker!

[Cajunsmoke13]

Send me a couple blocks. Looks awesome.

[Mikey]

Wow! Very impressive! I see we shop at the same store

[mulepackin]

Good job. Love the smoke generator.

[irishteabear]

Looks great. Wait until you taste them after the wait, well worth the effort and time.

[WALLE]

Good job. Love the smoke generator.

Thanks, MP! Kinda ugly... but it works!

Looks great. Wait until you taste them after the wait, well worth the effort and time.

I hope so! Thanks, Dawn.

Mikey/Cajun/Slated - thanks, guys.

[Bassman]

Looks good, Tracey! I haven't tried smoking cheese yet. Guess I need a smoke generator as I know I can't keep the Vault temp low enough.

[Whisky Fish]

Great Job. That plate is cool too.
I'd be interested in a tour of that smoke generator, Homebuilt? I don't think it's ugly, looks kinda cool to me. Bullet proof for sure.
Great work on that cheese, Cholula head here.

JT

[blues_n_cues]

great job. i better get off my duff & do the 3# block of swiss i have before it gets eaten.

[SmokinLee]

Great work, I am down to my last 4 oz. block I did for the holidays, better restock.

[WALLE]

Great work, I am down to my last 4 oz. block I did for the holidays, better restock.

great job. i better get off my duff & do the 3# block of swiss i have before it gets eaten.

Smokin/Blue - Thanks! Yeah... I think this will be like bacon... start making another before you ever try the other!

Looks good, Tracey! I haven't tried smoking cheese yet. Guess I need a smoke generator as I know I can't keep the Vault temp low enough.

Hey Bassman! Just found we were up and running last night. Good to hear from you. The generators work really good, and mine is about as simple as they come - not a lot of moving parts, no electricity.

Great Job. That plate is cool too.
I'd be interested in a tour of that smoke generator, Homebuilt? I don't think it's ugly, looks kinda cool to me. Bullet proof for sure.
Great work on that cheese, Cholula head here.

JT

Whiskey, thanks! Yeah, just about everything I have is make out of some other worn out something!

Re: the smoke generator. I just built this out of a piece 4" tubing. Bottom is solid, with air slits in the sides. The 2" horizontal piece is because I built it to plug into my Cajun Mirowave.


Here are some different pictures of it - let me know if you have more questions.


Shows the grate that sits in the bottom. I get 4 to 6 charcoal briquets lit, then just load it with bigger chucks of wood or chips.


Shows air slits.




This is what I built it for - just used it on the cheese because I can't get my smoker to go that low!







Hope this helps, thanks for checking out my post.

Tracey

[wutang]

Great looking cheese. I am looking forward to your taste test with the Cholula ones. That oughta be great!

[Whisky Fish]

Great design on that generator, I may just steal that if you don't mind.
Thanks for the close ups and description. Got it.

JT

[WALLE]

Great design on that generator, I may just steal that if you don't mind.
Thanks for the close ups and description. Got it.

JT

JT - no need to make a criminal outta yourself! That's what this forum is about, right? If you like the idea, then I'm glad I could help! Build away, my friend.
Tracey