Author Topic: When to smoke cheese  (Read 3417 times)

Offline awakephd

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When to smoke cheese
« on: October 21, 2016, 03:31:41 PM »
I have never yet tried smoking cheese, but I've been wanting to try it, especially now that the weather is turning cool. In particular, I've thought about smoking a Gouda - partly because I find a plain Gouda to be rather bland.

I thought I had read that one should smoke a cheese right after it comes out of the press / brine ... but I was reading an article on the NEC website (about using a soldering iron in a tin can, which is what I have been planning to try), and it said to smoke the cheese AFTER it was fully aged.

Those of you with experience ... which way have you smoked cheese (before or after aging), and if you've tried both, which turned out better? If it works well with an aged cheese, I have half a Gouda in the cave now, well aged, and I'm tempted to give it a go this weekend. Otherwise, it will be a couple of weeks before I have time to make a new Gouda ...
-- Andy

reg

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2016, 12:48:17 PM »
Morning Andy. I have smoked a lot of cheese over the years and have always waited for the cheese to properly age first. The method was always a cool intermittent smoke and always use a milder wood such as white oak. I don't think any one cheese was better than the other they are all good

Good luck

Offline awakephd

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2016, 02:38:22 PM »
Thanks! I think I'll pull out the remaining half of the Gouda I have and give it a try.
-- Andy

reg

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2016, 12:04:13 PM »
The smoked cheeses are great to just nibble on but when you start adding them as ingredients to say pizza or stuffing for different types of pasta or anything stuffed for that matter is where smoked cheese really shines

Good luck Andy

Offline H-K-J

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2016, 02:03:39 PM »
Don't smoke it to long, I have found an hour or just a little less.
I would start light and adjust from there.
Your smoker will do the job way different than anyone else's.
The main thing is, if you and yours enjoy it, then it's done right. O0
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reg

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2016, 12:05:23 PM »
H-K-J thanks for mentioning the timing, that info is very important for a good end product.

Offline awakephd

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2016, 02:14:42 AM »
Here's my first effort at smoking some Gouda -- I had a couple of quarters of this left, but it's never been my favorite make, so I decided to see if smoke would improve it. The pot that I'm using as the smoker is a cheap stainless 1 qt. pot from Walmart, with one hole drilled for a wood burner and three small holes on the other side to allow some air flow. The wood chips are apple wood. It worked quite well to generate the smoke.

The last picture shows the results. Two things that didn't go as they should - one is that the cheese got a bit warmer than I would have liked. I had thought today was going to be cooler than it was ... but when it turned out warmer than expected, I was impatient and decided to go ahead anyway. Definitely this will be better to do on a good cold day.

The other is that I smoked it 80 minutes - didn't get your warning in time, HKJ. The side-by-side arrangement didn't keep the cheese bathed in smoke as well as a vertical arrangement would have; also, part of the time the smoke had mostly died away - didn't put quite enough wood chips in at the start. So I'm hoping with those two factors that maybe I haven't overdone it.

I haven't sampled yet - which raises a question. After smoking, what is the recommended affinage? Does it need some time for the smoke flavor to distribute, or does the flavor stay near the surface? I recall reading about someone suggesting wiping the surface (with brine? or white wine?) to reduce bitterness -- if that is a good idea, at what point should I do so? Bottom line: how long do I need to wait before sampling the result? :)

-- Andy

reg

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2016, 01:59:46 PM »
It looks like they have some good smoke on them. Usually I wait until the following day before consuming, they call it 'blooming'.  If they are to strong you can always wipe them down as the smoke is only on the surface at this point.

john H

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2016, 02:04:26 PM »
"After smoking, what is the recommended affinage?"

Smoke tends to be more pungent off the smoker depending on the type of wood and the length of time in the smoker. I love smoke so I eat it at all phases of the smoke ageing. If lightly smoked a couple of months is good, heavily smoked 6months to a year. That being said the smoke will definitely mellow with age and is all dependent on the individuals pallet.

John

Offline awakephd

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2016, 03:15:29 PM »
John, just to clarify - when you talk about a couple of months or six months to a year, are you talking about aging before smoking, or aging after smoking? If the latter, do you age the cheese first?

Thanks to all for the help. I'm going to go ahead and try some of this, now that it has "bloomed" for most of 24 hours. I'll report back on the taste ...
-- Andy

john H

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2016, 03:41:22 PM »
John, just to clarify - when you talk about a couple of months or six months to a year, are you talking about aging before smoking, or aging after smoking? If the latter, do you age the cheese first?

Thanks to all for the help. I'm going to go ahead and try some of this, now that it has "bloomed" for most of 24 hours. I'll report back on the taste ...

I have aged the cheese (in this case Gouda) 2 months then smoke. If ageing after smoke I have vacuum sealed and put back in the cave. The theory is that the longer it ages the smoke will penetrate the cheese thus being more mellow. Just like wine the ageing gives time for the flavors to meld together.

John

Offline awakephd

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2016, 03:43:30 PM »
Okay, tried a slice from the middle of one of the wedges (so that I wouldn't get just the side that was smoked) - it was delicious, not too strong; in fact, I was surprised at how shallow the smoke layer was, and it could have used a bit more smoke flavor. I decided to let them go for a couple of more weeks before trying again, to see if the flavor develops any further.
-- Andy

john H

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2016, 03:53:53 PM »
Just a word of caution, you will need rehab after you have smoked a few !!!!!!!!!!!   :o
AC4Y

Offline awakephd

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2016, 06:32:33 PM »
:) Thanks for the cheese and the warning!
-- Andy

Offline H-K-J

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Re: When to smoke cheese
« Reply #14 on: October 31, 2016, 05:31:35 PM »
Looks like you got a nice light smoke on them,
I vac sealed mine and gave them two weeks, it was good,
left the other one sealed for another two weeks longer, turned out a lot smoother, not so bitter, a lot more complimentary to the cheese, instead of hiding the flavors.
The cheeses I used were mature (well as mature as we let them get)
I found out that sealing them up and forgetting about them for 2 years was not a good idea 
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