Cold smoking some cheese.......

[AndyL]

I picked up a variety of cheeses for my first attempt at cold smoking cheese. I decided on some pepper jack, sharp cheddar,  monteray jack, swiss and a horseradish cheddar that I thought would be really interesting smoked.

My starting temp was 28 deg F this morning using my PBC as my cold smoking chamber and my amaze-n-smoker tray with mostly Cherrwood pellets and some Hickorywood pellets mixed in to keep the cherry burning I let the cheese smoke for 3 hrs with the rods out and the lid cracked several inches to to keep the air flow moving and release some of the heat. The high ambient temp outside the barrel reached 42 deg F and the high temp inside the barrel registered at 72deg F in part due to the sun hitting the metal barrel I'm thinking, with the tray generating some of the heat.

Then, I let the cheese rest at room temp for another couple of hours before vacuum sealing and putting them into the fridge for a minimum of 30 days to age and mellow. 

Which,  will be just in time to use the cheese for our summer sausage and cheese platters for Christmas!

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[HighOnSmoke]

Excellent looking cheese Andy!

[ronman451]

You are rockin' that PBC, Andy! Nice looking assortment of cheese for sure...

[Salmonsmoker]

Andy, the next time you smoke some cheese, try some Dubliner. We get it at Costco. I think it might be a Kerrygold product. It's really good.

[AndyL]

Excellent looking cheese Andy!

Hey thanks again for all your help with my cheese questions Mike!

You are rockin' that PBC, Andy! Nice looking assortment of cheese for sure...

Yeah, I'm definitely utilizing my PBC to it's fullest capabilities. Hahaha!

Andy, the next time you smoke some cheese, try some Dubliner. We get it at Costco. I think it might be a Kerrygold product. It's really good.

Hey, thanks for the cheese tip suggestion.......we get the majority of our cheese at Costco its easily 50% to 70% cheaper pound for pound than your main line grocery store. I saw some gouda I'd like to try next and I'll score some dubliner too, if I can find it! 

[Salmonsmoker]

The Dubliner cheese is usually with the specialty cheeses, not in the coolers with 5# blocks of cheese.

[Kalamnzoo]

Does the cheese have to be vacuum sealed? I dont have one and was planning on just putting the cheese is zip locks for a few weeks. Thanks.

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[AndyL]

Does the cheese have to be vacuum sealed? I dont have one and was planning on just putting the cheese is zip locks for a few weeks. Thanks.

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Hi Ryan!

I asked that same question myself and folks who know a lot more about cold smoking cheese than I do said you should be able to get away with wrapping your cheese tightly in plastic wrap and putting them in ziploc bags for a few weeks.

I just sampled some of the cheese I smoked last Saturday (Monterey Jack) with some pepperoni on the side to see how the flavor was developing and it was delicious! Definitely smoked alright, but it was pleasant and not to smokey for my taste. I'm pretty happy with my results so far! 

[ronman451]

Does the cheese have to be vacuum sealed? I dont have one and was planning on just putting the cheese is zip locks for a few weeks. Thanks.

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I've seen folks on the interwebs wrap their smoked cheese tightly in saran wrap and putting it in the fridge for a few weeks. I've wrapped cheese before in plastic wrap and it seems to last a few weeks... Like everything, I suppose your mileage may vary!

[Salmonsmoker]

Does the cheese have to be vacuum sealed? I dont have one and was planning on just putting the cheese is zip locks for a few weeks. Thanks.

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You can try putting the cheese in a ziplock bag and sinking it in water up to the zip(zipping it 3/4 closed makes it easier), then closing it just like you would do for sous vide. A word of advice for you... don't touch the cheese with your bare hands. Even if you just washed them, bacteria on them will make the cheese mold. I use tongs and/or nitrile gloves when handling. I found a vacpacked piece of cream cheese that I smoked over 4 years ago and there still isn't any mold visible on it. Still deciding whether to open it or toss it.

[TentHunteR]

It looks like your first batch of smoked cheese turned out great!

[AndyL]

It looks like your first batch of smoked cheese turned out great!

It sure did Cliff! I'm gonna try some of that Pepper Jack tomorrow....

I couldn't have done it without the help of you and many others here in this forum.......because frankly I was clueless on how to cold smoke anything successfully let alone cheese and cured cold smoked sausage for that matter. So, thanks again for everyone who has given me helpful advice!