First Attempt at Smoking Cheese

[rsterne]

Here is my first attempt at smoking cheese.... I purchased a typical smoker tube on Amazon.ca, and some Old Cheddar and Havarti at the store, along with some Alder and Apple pellets from Traeger.... I plan to smoke my own cheese, but this was a practice run, using Alder, to learn what to expect....



The labels explain the process, the outside temperature started at about 60*F and ended at about 80*F.... The tray of ice is about 80% melted after 4 hours, when I took the photo.... and as you can see the pellets are about 90% consumed.... I am going to let them go out before I remove the cheese from the BBQ I am using as a smoker.... I added another 2" cube of cheese each hour, and turned over the ones that were already there, to even up the exposure to the smoke....

The cheese is a bit soft to the touch, but nowhere near melted.... The hood of the BBQ is warm to the touch over the smoke tube, and barely warm at the other end.... I plugged up the main rear vent with a rolled up towel, but I will make a more permanent plug from wood later, removable for grilling....  We will store the cheese in the fridge for 2 weeks before sampling....

Bob

[MacGruff]

Interesting experiment. I wonder how it will affect the taste? I assume you left some cubes of cheese unsmoked for comparison?

[rsterne]

Just store bought Cheddar and Havarti, which we use frequently.... so I know how they taste.... and we can purchase smoked Cheddar and Gouda here, so I am familiar with the difference.... This is a matter of perfecting the technique and finding out how long to smoke the cheese to get that balance between smoked flavoured and not overpowering the cheese.... 

I made the baffle to plug the rear vent, instead of using a rolled up towel, and today we are repeating the experiment with Apple pellets.... I also found out yesterday that if you allow all the ice to melt, the temperature of the cheese rises to the point where it "sweats" butterfat, so today I have 2 trays of ice, and plan to swap in the second tray at the 3 hr. point.... 

Bob

[rsterne]

We smoked the same 2" cubes of cheese today, using Traeger Apple pellets instead of Alder.... The smoker tube once again lasted almost exactly the 5 hours advertised.... Here is a photo of the results....



The upper row is Havarti, the lower row is Old Cheddar.... The blocks on the left were smoked for 5 hours, and those on the right for 2 hours, the others for 3 and 4 hours respectively.... Now to wrap them and put them in the fridge for 2 weeks, and we can sample all 16 blocks to compare Alder to Apple, and compare the taste for the various smoking times.... I can't wait.... 

The pan of ice lasted for the entire 5 hours today, it was about 10*F colder outside today, we started at 50*F and ended at 70*F.... There was much less sweating of butterfat, really only the 5 hr. Cheddar showed beads of it on the surface, which shows the importance of the ice underneath....

Bob

[rsterne]

Our first attempt at smoking cheese was a success, and after a week to "mellow" before a taste test, we have these opinions....

1. There is little difference between the Alder and Apple smoke, but the Alder is a bit "sharper" and the Apple a bit "smoother".  If you didn't have them side by side to compare you would be hard pressed to know which you were eating....

2. With the way our smoker was set up, 5 hours is too much time.... The cheese sweats and tends to split, and the "rind" (in this case the outside smokey layer) is becoming tough and bordering on acrid.... This might penetrate further into the cheese had we waited 2 full weeks (as recommended) before sampling.... Smoking only 1 hour was definitely not enough on our setup.... leaving the "sweet spot" between 2 and 4 hours....

3. Again, with the setup we had, 2 hours leaves the outside of the cheese quite flavourful, with a full smokey taste, but the inside only has a hint of smoke on the Harvarti, and you couldn't taste any difference on the Old Cheddar (as it was already quite "sharp").... Again, after more time the smoke may penetrate further into the middle.... We have lots of each set aside to try again after further "mellowing"....

In order to help reduce the temperature of the cheese, and hence the sweating, I made a "baffle" out of a pizza pan and installed it between the smoker tube and the pan of ice water and rack where the cheese was.... When I started, I had the baffle too close to the smoker tube, and I guess the airflow wasn't enough, as it burned poorly, producing much less smoke.... I moved it further away, as in the photo below, and it worked perfectly.... The baffle is about 1.5" below the hood of the smoker when closed, and the cheese side has lots of smoke, but stays significantly cooler than without the baffle.... There is now no sweating of the cheese, even after 4 hours....



The top row is our own Halloumi, middle row is Mozzarella, and the bottom row is Monterey Jack (both of those store bought).... The column on the left was smoked 4 hours, the middle 3 hours, and those on the right 2 hours.... There is no sweating on any of them, but the corners of the blocks smoked for 4 hours is just starting to dry out a bit.... There was still lots of ice that had not melted, the outside temperature today was 50*F when I started, and 58*F at the end.... I think I have my technique and equipment sorted out now, and look forward to smoking some of our other cheeses when they are ready....

If you haven't tried smoked cheese, you are definitely missing out.... 

Bob