Smoking a "Danablue" - a photo essay

[awakephd]

It has been a LONG time since I posted any cheese-making pictures, so I decided to document the smoking of a "Danablue" (AKA Caldwell's "rindless blue").

I made the cheese following Caldwell's "rindless blue" recipe. As she notes, one won't actually get a clean rind without using natamycin, which I don't have, so there is a fair bit of blue on the surface, but far less than a Stilton at this point. I varied from the recipe only in that I decided to try wrapping it in cheese ripening paper after the first couple of weeks, to see if that would make it easier to handle and maintain the humidity. (That experiment seems to have worked well.)

The first picture shows the cheese as of this morning, only about 5 weeks along, so still young for a blue. However, I wanted a very mild blue for smoking, and testing a plug from the middle showed it has developed nice flavor. I might have waited another week, but today is pretty cold for my area - 42°F - and there is no telling what it will be in a week. Cheeses must be smoked cold in order to prevent weeping of fat or, even worse, melting.

As you can see in the first picture, I made the cheese rather tall, by intention. The second picture shows the cheese after it was cut in half, leaving two rounds of more typical proportions. The cut side is up, showing thorough veining. One of the two rounds was wrapped up to age further, but the other was cut into 4 wedges for smoking (Picture 3).

Picture 4 shows the smoking setup on a basic gas grill. No, I'm not using the burners (that would melt the cheese for sure!); the grill is just a convenient outside location, vented but with a lid, to create a smoke chamber. On the right you see a raised stainless steel platform on which the cheese will rest. On the left is the smoker, made from a dollar-store stainless pot into which I punched some holes near the bottom. Some of the holes are to let air in, but one is to allow insertion of a cheap woodburner bought at Wally World - see Picture 5 for a closeup of the woodburner and the apple-wood chips it will cause to smolder. Picture 6 shows the cheese set in place and the first wisps of smoke.

It takes a good 10-15 minutes to really get going, but then you can see a continuous stream of smoke coming out of the grill (Picture 7). I turn the cheese every 20 minutes or so, checking to make sure it hasn't gotten too warm - this time, with the low temperature outside, it was great. Picture 8 shows the grill just after opening to turn and check.

Picture 9 shows the results at the end after 45 minutes or so of smoking. Harder cheeses that I have smoked longer (>1 hr) show quite a bit of color change, but this one is only really visible on the corners. However, some of the crumbles that I managed to snag and test were well smoked, and I didn't want to over-do it. The wedges are now back in the cave, airing out for a couple of days, and then will be wrapped back up in the cheese-ripening paper for at least a couple more weeks for the smoke to mellow and for final aging.

I'll report back with a taste test - this is my first time smoking a blue cheese, but I've had Rogue River's smoky blue a couple of times, and it is to die for. Hopefully this one will at least be in the vicinity ...

[cheesehead94]

That looks incredible, nice work! Be sure to let us know how delicious it is :)

[rgreenberg2000]

That's a lovely looking cheese, Andy, and a nice tutorial on the smoking.  I am an avid BBQ'er, and have smoked many a piece of meat, but never cheese......once I can confirm that I have made any cheese worth eating, it will be fun to try smoking some.

Let us know if you got the level of smoke you were after!

R

[River Bottom Farm]

Nice job. AC4U!

[awakephd]

Thanks! I will certainly look forward to the taste test - it will be hard to keep my hands off of it for the next couple of weeks ... :)

One thing I neglected to point out above - in Picture 5, the chips in the pot have been spread out so that the end of the wood burner is visible. In use, however, I pile the chips up on the wood burner. Probably an obvious point, but just in case ...

[PacoSEDG]

Awesome! Thank you for the photo essay, I hope it tastes so good as I am imagining  ^-^

[TravisNTexas]

Absolutely awesome post Andy!  AC4U and a big thank you for taking the time to document it so well.

[Boofer]

Nicely done photo spread, Andy.

Smoke 'em if you've got them! Have a cheese.

-Boofer-

[awakephd]

Thanks,  Boofer! And this reminds me that it is about time to try some and see how well the smoke has mellowed ... will get back with a taste test soon.

[awakephd]

So I tried some of the cheese. By itself, it is a bit on the salty side. Smoke flavor is mild, as is the blue. Probably needs to age a bit longer for the latter. But crumbling some up on a salad ... wow. Simply incredible!

I'm going to call this a success, with the caveat that it is still in development ...

[cheesehead94]

A cheese for you!

[PacoSEDG]

Congratulations, AC4U!

[awakephd]

Thanks!