I have smoked a lot of cheese over the years. I love the stuff (These days I can't eat it as much as I used to.
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What's your favorite kind of cheese to smoke?
Darn near any cheese is good to smoke.
This batch had 17 different cheeses which included: Sharp cheddar & Amish Yellow Gouda coated in paprika, Vermont White Cheddar, Muenster, Baby Swiss, Aged Swiss with caraway seeds pressed into the surface (YUM - one of my favorites!), Monty Jack, Provolone, Pepper Jack, and Gorgonzola (any blue cheese is great smoked).
What's the maximum pit temperature for best results?
Stay
UNDER 90° or most cheeses will begin to sweat oil.
If it sweats then two things can happen: 1) The oil can absorb & dissolve phenols in the smoke and leave a creosote taste that is just plain nasty. 2) If too much oil is lost, the cheese can become grainy as it rests & ages. In this case, it's best to eat it sooner rather than later as the longer it sits the grainier it will get.
Something a lot of people forget to do is to let the cheese sit out and dry for a good hour so so to form a thin rind BEFORE you smoke it. This will help control smoke absorption and helps control sweating if the temp pushes above 90°.
How long do you smoke it?
That is the tricky question and is very subjective. How long you smoke it will depend heavily on two main factors: 1) The Ambient pit temp, and 2) how smoky you like your cheese.
Like PZ mentioned, I prefer smoking cheese in colder weather. The warmer the pit and softer the cheese, the quicker it will absorb smoke! As a very rough guideline: At temps around 40° - 50° I may let cheese go as long as 4 hours or so. At 60° - 70° a couple hours, and at 75° - 85° 1 hour of smoke may be plenty.
The best tool you have for checking is YOUR NOSE!!! Using the above as a basic guideline, take a piece out, take it away from your pit and smell it. Trust me, you'll be able to tell if it has enough smoke to your liking or not. If it doesn't smell good and smoky to you, then put it back on until it does.
I really like Wingman's advice on taking some off at different intervals to see how you like it.
Keep a record of what the ambient temp & pit temp were and how long you smoked the cheese, and use that as a guide for next time.
Most folks like to let the cheese rest and mellow for weeks or even months, BUT there is no hard set rule on how long. Do NOT be afraid to sample somewhenever you want and see how the flavor changes. The smoke will be concentrated on the outside and more campfire like in taste and smell at first. As it rests and ages, the smoke will penetrate throughout the cheese and become more mellow.
Just remember, unless you let the cheese sweat, or over smoke it, you really can't go wrong.
