First Time Smoking Our Own Cheese!

[rsterne]

Well, it's Springtime and I can get into the courtyard, now that the snow has melted.... I cleaned up the BBQ to ready it for the year, and this morning is a perfect day to smoke some cheese.... It's 43*F outside, the smoke tube, loaded with Alder pellets, has been going for about 45 min. and is smoking well, so I put in the cheese.... it will be done before it gets very warm outside.... a true "cold smoke".... The plan is to smoke the cheese for 3 hours, turning them every 45 min.... We have a couple of Farmhouse Cheddars that are 8 months old, and a Lancashire that is 4 months, with a quarter of each left.... In addition, we have a quarter of an Edam that is 6 months old, and a quarter of our Kefalotyri that is also 6 months.... All have been sampled before, and then vacuum bagged to age to where they are now.... I'll take a photo each time I turn the cheese over, and post them here so that you can see the progress.... 

Our smoking setup is detailed in the threaded linked here.... http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19109.0.html

Bob

[rsterne]

Here is what it looks like at 45 min....



The two long pieces on the right are one of the Farmhouse Cheddars (a bit crumbly).... The other 8 pieces, in horizontal rows of 2 pieces.... Top row is the Lancashire,  2nd row is the other Farmhouse Cheddar, 3rd row is the Edam, and bottom row is the Kefalotyri.... You can see the tops of the pieces are collecting colour from the smoke, I turned them after taking this photo, be back in 45 min....

Bob

[rsterne]

We are at 1.5 hrs. now, and the pieces are starting to take on a golden hue....



The piece of Farmhouse Cheddar at the top right is crumbling, nothing to do with the smoking, it just had some big cracks in it when I cut it, and it's kind of falling apart.... 

Halfway there, I turned them again, will be back in another 45 min.... 

Bob

[rsterne]

Three quarters of the way through now, at 2 hrs. 15 min.... The surface of the cheese is drying, no sign of fat building up, so the temperature is plenty low enough....



I turned them for the last time, after another 45 min. they will be finished.... 

Bob

[rsterne]

All done, a total of 3 hrs. of smoking now.... There was still plenty of ice in the tray under the wire rack.... The outside temperature was still only 55*F.... 



The surface of the Kefalotyri had some whey on it when I removed it from the bag, which has now dried out completely and formed a white skin.... All of the cheese is a lovely golden yellow, evenly coated with smoke.... My wife wrapped the pieces in waxed paper and I put them in zip-lock bags, labelled to indicate what is inside, and they are in the fridge for 2 weeks to mellow.... Hopefully at that time they will be great eating.... 

Bob

[MacGruff]

Looks amazing!

AC4U

[rsterne]

Thanks for the cheese.... 

Bob