Cheese?

[Pits_N_Pellets]

I’m going to cold smoke some cheese for the first time. Using my smoke daddy attached to my ironwood.

Any advice on how Long it lasts in the vacuum sealed bag afterwords? I know it needs to sit refrigerated for about 2 weeks before eating.

All advice and recipes welcomed, this is a new one for me!

 

[RustyJake]

I don't have the smoke generator like you. I used a smoke tube with mine.
I did 4 hours the first time with apple pellets. That seemed to be too much smoke for my taste. My girlfriend loved it.

I just did 3 hours with cherry pellets. I haven't tasted the results yet. But I am thinking no more than 2 hours next time

I put it on a pan filled with ice to keep the temperature down. You won't generate any of the heat the tube does, so it may not be necessary.
Throw on a pan of salt or paprika while you are doing that. They are great to have for rubs and seasoning meats
As for how long it lasts, we still have some from the middle of May and it is still fine.

 

[RustyJake]

This site is a fairly good guide to cheese smoking

Smoked Cheese: A How-to Guide - Hey Grill, Hey

Smoked Cheese is so delicious and makes a great snack or gift. It is the perfect snack or flavor booster for pasta or soups.

heygrillhey.com

I did the paper wrap for 24 hours this time. Never did that on my first go around. It definitely smelled up the fridge with a smoke smell. Be forewarned on that. It even got into the ice cubes in the freezer. So it can saturate other products while in the paper wrap. Now its been in the vacuum bags for a week. No more smell in the fridge

 

[Pits_N_Pellets]

I don't have the smoke generator like you. I used a smoke tube with mine.
I did 4 hours the first time with apple pellets. That seemed to be too much smoke for my taste. My girlfriend loved it.
View attachment 2042
I just did 3 hours with cherry pellets. I haven't tasted the results yet. But I am thinking no more than 2 hours next time
View attachment 2041
I put it on a pan filled with ice to keep the temperature down. You won't generate any of the heat the tube does, so it may not be necessary.
Throw on a pan of salt or paprika while you are doing that. They are great to have for rubs and seasoning meats
As for how long it lasts, we still have some from the middle of May and it is still fine.

I’ll try smoker tube as well, I really want to use the bear mountain sweet pellets for that.

can you explain more about the salt/paprika?I’m interested in smoking paprika for sure. I use that as a base to a lot of my homemade rubs.

 

[RustyJake]

Smoking spices, especially salt and paprika is easy and it is nice to have around.
I use a cookie sheet to lay it on for smoking. I had a few that bought for my Bradley smoker. If you have a disposable sheet, that would work too. I probably wouldn't use your wife's good baking set ?
I just pour the spice on that, level it and smoke. I usually give it a bit of 'stir' while it is smoking just to make sure it gets good and smoked. I do Paprika and coarse/kosher salt quote regularly. Love having it around to make rubs and to season meats.
It is a nice filler to use up space in the smoker while its doing something like cheese. If you have the space and nothing that will drip on it, why not use it.
Spices can use more than the 2 hours of smoke. Paprika seems to take on more flavor quicker than the salt.
I want to try smoking some other spices and maybe some oils as well.

 

[Pits_N_Pellets]

Smoking spices, especially salt and paprika is easy and it is nice to have around.
I use a cookie sheet to lay it on for smoking. I had a few that bought for my Bradley smoker. If you have a disposable sheet, that would work too. I probably wouldn't use your wife's good baking set ?
I just pour the spice on that, level it and smoke. I usually give it a bit of 'stir' while it is smoking just to make sure it gets good and smoked. I do Paprika and coarse/kosher salt quote regularly. Love having it around to make rubs and to season meats.
It is a nice filler to use up space in the smoker while its doing something like cheese. If you have the space and nothing that will drip on it, why not use it.
Spices can use more than the 2 hours of smoke. Paprika seems to take on more flavor quicker than the salt.
I want to try smoking some other spices and maybe some oils as well.

I was doing pizzas for a work event once and the chef there was telling me about smoking olive oil. I tried it out, but wasn’t any good. I probably should have smoked it longer because it was very very light. Maybe I’ll look it up and do this with the cheese as filler also.

Thanks for the details on the salt, definitely giving that a shot! Seems like smoked cheese and salt would be a good gift to have lying around when going to someone’s house so you don’t show up empty handed.

 

[RustyJake]

Tried my 3 hour smoked cheese today. Very light smoke flavor.
I used cherry pellets. Not sure if wrapping in paper overnight or the cherry pellets made the difference, but this last time is perfect for my taste.
I have always wanted to do oil. I am going to try it next time. I just bought a pound of paprika and some more kosher salt, so I will be doing those up soon.
Will smoke those for 6 hours though, the more the better
Look forward to hearing about your cheese and if you attempt anything else