Smoked cheeses?

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Brew-Happy

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Ok, I am resisting a serious urge to pick this hobby up as well. I tend to collect hobbies.

I am really fond of smoked cheeses (cheddar, provologne, etc). Has anyone tried to traditionally smoke a cheese or add smoke flavoring to the curds/milk?

must resist temptation... :)
 
i've smoked blocks of commercial cheese in an electric little chief smoker, works very well.
 
I have to chime in.. one of the BEST cheeses to smoke in my opinion is called cooper sharp. I haven't seen it everywhere, so I don't know how easy it would be to get, but it is a fantastic cheese when smoked (it's good not smoked also).
 
I love smoking cheese. I used to work at a creamery and I took home some of the signature aged cheddar and smoked it with both hickory and apple wood. awesome. I used both a cardboard box and a smoker, however keeping the temp down on the smoker was harder.

I just used 3-4 briquettes of charcoal and threw little chips every once in a while. my next project would be a two box layout. Once box for the briquettes (on the ground since I do it in the patio). A dryer hose would go from one hole to the next box carrying the smoke. That would be faced with a container of ice water (or straight ice) to chill the smoke and the air in that box before hitting the cheese. As long as the smoke is below 90 F I think it's good. Otherwise butterfat starts to melt. It's not that big of a deal if its at 100 or so, it just looks weird.

Or if you have a really tall box where the smoke would cool enough by the time it reaches the cheese, that would work too.

*side note* i've wondered about using my dehydrator. The coils on the bottom may not be hot enough to burn the chips though
 
I have heard of people using tin cans, soaked chips and a soldering iron inside of a box. The soldering iron heats the chips in the tin can sufficiently to create smoke and keeps the heat down in the box. I have never tried it, but will do so some day soon with my Gouda after it has aged properly.

Salute! :mug:
 
I'm only starting to get into tasting different cheeses other than regular chedder etc. I had some smoked Gouda today. Resisting the urge to eat it all.... must savour every creamy nibble.
 
I'm only starting to get into tasting different cheeses other than regular chedder etc. I had some smoked Gouda today. Resisting the urge to eat it all.... must savour every creamy nibble.

look for a cheese called Butterkase (German) it's delicious regular, but awesome in the smoked version.
 
look for a cheese called Butterkase (German) it's delicious regular, but awesome in the smoked version.

Around these parts, I'm lucky to get Gouda, although I have a little smoked Gruyere left that I bought last week. Smokey and creamy. Yum.

I smoked a medium chedder block this morning and had a hard time keeping the temps down. I took the cheese out and let it case over a little. Fired up a couple of coals using the side burner of my grill to light them. When they got white, I put a box of soaked chips on top.
Let it go for a couple of hours, turning the cheese every half hour.
Now that it is cooled, it is wraped in saran wrap and in the fridge to let the smoke infuse the cheese. I'll let it do that for a few weeks, although I tried it just now and it is smokin'. Pardon the pun.
It almost got to the point of melting. Definatly sweating a little on the smoker.
Now all I have to do is wait.
 
A two box rig is best for this sort of thing. Hot smoking (heat in the food chamber 140 degrees or greater) is only recommended for meat products, Cold smoking (heat in the food chamber less than 140 degrees) is usually best for fish and cheese. So either a really BIG smoker or a two stage smoker would be best.
 
What's everyone's take on adding liquid smoke to the culture just before adding rennet in place of actually smoking the cheese?

I just made a few blocks of Gouda and smoked it on the offset before waxing it, but was wondering about using the liquid smoke.
 
What's everyone's take on adding liquid smoke to the culture just before adding rennet in place of actually smoking the cheese?

I just made a few blocks of Gouda and smoked it on the offset before waxing it, but was wondering about using the liquid smoke.

I'd try making a fresh (acid) cheese then add it to that. Try it in a day or so after fridging.

Odds are it would be like adding liquid smoke to beer. It would add smoke flavor but it wouldn't taste the same.
 
I'd try making a fresh (acid) cheese then add it to that. Try it in a day or so after fridging.

Odds are it would be like adding liquid smoke to beer. It would add smoke flavor but it wouldn't taste the same.


Well as it don't seem like common practice, I think I'll keep with the traditional way of smoking it. Don't want to spoil a cheese this early in my cheese making career. Thanks for the comments.
 
I've smoked cheese in my gas grill in the winter, one or two charcoal briquets thrown in wood chips and put in one side of the gas grill and the cheese in the other. I leave the cover on the grill and at 20 to 30 degrees the grill would get up to 60 to 70 degrees. Just realize the next thing you cook on the grill will have a smoked flavor unless you let the grill burn a while.
 
I have heard of people using tin cans, soaked chips and a soldering iron inside of a box. The soldering iron heats the chips in the tin can sufficiently to create smoke and keeps the heat down in the box. I have never tried it, but will do so some day soon with my Gouda after it has aged properly.

Salute! :mug:

This method works really well even in hot a$$ Houston summers. A small terra cotta pot full of wood chips (wet or dry) and a soldering iron in a metal trash can will cold smoke all day even the the summer. On really hot days (95+) the cheese may melt a little if you don't watch it but that's pretty easy to manage.
 
I used my offset to smoke them and I also did another cheese or two yesterday that I'm getting ready to wax for aging.
I couldn't wait for one to age at all, and had to start eating it. Now it will be hard to keep my hands off the others and let them age a while.


DSCF4413.jpg
 
I've cold smoked before with a couple of cardboard boxes some flexible aluminum ducting a computer fan(to push smoke from one to the other) and a hot plate and it worked pretty damn well.
 
For smoking cheese I usually use my A-maze-n smoker, put that in my propane or weber (either work); keep the heat off and let the gadget do it's thing. I usually smoke cheese with a mixture of orange (which he doesn't have anymore) and alder. Comes out great everytime. I also use it for cold smokin my trout apple and pecan or just apple for trout.

This guy that makes these is a good guy and provides good customer service. I've had my 6x8 dust smoker for a little over two years now and I love the dang thing. Link is below if anyone is interested in looking.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/default.asp
 
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