The last time I smoked some cheese it was about 50 degrees outside and keeping the cheese below 80 degrees was not a problem. The problem is I was almost out of smoked cheese and it is 90 degrees outside. So after doing some looking around I came up with an idea similar to the mailbox smoke chamber for the Amazen AMNPS, but I used some stuff I already had on hand.
I took a popcorn tin and cut a 3" hole in the top for some 3" flexible aluminum tube. I put about 10 holes about 1/4" diameter and about 1/2" up from the bottom. I cut a 3" hole in my wood chest kit that I turned into a cold smoker. The little air pump was only needed till the draft got established.
In addition to the having the AMNPS separate from the cold smoker in the popcorn tin, I put four 1 quart containers of ice in the cold smoker.
So for the first time using the popcorn tin smoke chamber (I have used the cold smoker many times), I used a combination of hickory saw dust and maple pellets for about 2 hours. The outside temp was about 90 degrees and the cold smoker dropped to 68 degrees for a low and 72 degrees for a high temperature.
On a side note, I seldom go food shopping with my wife, but we were at the Offutt AFB Commissary so I had to look at cheese. The Commissary had 1 pound blocks of Tillamook for $3 each. That is much cheaper than I have seen Tillamook for a long time. So I got pepper jack, medium cheddar, and colby jack. I vacuumed packed the cheese and will give it a try in a couple weeks.
HK91
I took a popcorn tin and cut a 3" hole in the top for some 3" flexible aluminum tube. I put about 10 holes about 1/4" diameter and about 1/2" up from the bottom. I cut a 3" hole in my wood chest kit that I turned into a cold smoker. The little air pump was only needed till the draft got established.
In addition to the having the AMNPS separate from the cold smoker in the popcorn tin, I put four 1 quart containers of ice in the cold smoker.
So for the first time using the popcorn tin smoke chamber (I have used the cold smoker many times), I used a combination of hickory saw dust and maple pellets for about 2 hours. The outside temp was about 90 degrees and the cold smoker dropped to 68 degrees for a low and 72 degrees for a high temperature.
On a side note, I seldom go food shopping with my wife, but we were at the Offutt AFB Commissary so I had to look at cheese. The Commissary had 1 pound blocks of Tillamook for $3 each. That is much cheaper than I have seen Tillamook for a long time. So I got pepper jack, medium cheddar, and colby jack. I vacuumed packed the cheese and will give it a try in a couple weeks.
HK91
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