Aging Before/After Smoking

[rsterne]

I have developed a great method for cold smoking cheese, and practised quite a bit with store bought Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Halloumi and Mozzarella....



I would like to smoke one of our own Goudas, and I was wondering what would be the best timing for the smoking.... I would assume I should age it somewhat first, and I know that once smoked it benefits from sitting for a while for the flavour to penetrate the cheese.... I would normally age my Gouda 6 months or more, and it would be consumed before a year is up....

When should I smoke the cheese?.... at 2 months, 4 months, or 6 months?.... or something else?....

Bob

[Mornduk]

You'll get a lot of different points of view. And there are traditions cold smoking at different times.

I would cold smoke no earlier than the point when you'd be comfortable waxing the cheese, and at least a couple of months before you plan to eat it.
The longest you age the cheese before cold smoking the drier it will be. Moister product will absorb the smoke flavor quickly, but it will not penetrate very deep, drier product will take more time, but it will penetrate further. If you're just cold smoking for 2-4 hours a very dry product will take very little flavor. If you're cold smoking over several days for a total of say 40 hours (like Eastern Europeans) moist product will have an overwhelmingly acrid surface. In meats that's basically the reason bbq people prefer moist surfaces and charcuterie traditions tend to dry the product a bit before cold smoking.

So many variables and personal preference... but if you're aging your Gouda 6 months I would probably cold smoke at the 4 month mark, probably fill your pellet tube and fire it before going to bed, store the cheese in the cave upon waking up, repeat four times or so.

[rsterne]

I was going to wax the cheese right after drying a couple of day, to age it before smoking, then peel off the wax (so it would not be too dry), smoke it, and then rewax to age further (or vacuum pack?).... My cold-smoking setup takes from 2-4 hours, the cheese in that photo shows 2 hrs. on the right, 3 hrs. in the middle, and 4 hrs. on the left.... cheeses were turned halfway through.... Note that the pellet tube is nearly finished it's burn (it will run 5 hrs. max.)....

I was thinking about smoking it at the 4 months mark, as you recommend.... Would you rewax or vacuum pack after smoking?....

Bob

[rsterne]

As an experiment, I smoked half of a year old Gouda that had developed a bitter flavour due to the use of vegetable (Mucor) rennet.... I smoked it using Apple wood pellets for 3 hours, with the cut side down, and did not turn it during smoking.... I then vacuum bagged it and placed it in a beverage cooler at 44*F.... I planned to eat a quarter each at about 2 months and 4 months after smoking.... but today (at 1 month after smoking) I noticed there was a bit of liquid in the bag, so I opened it to dry it and rebag it.... Of course we had to try a little bit, so I cut a thin slice off the cut side.... The smoke flavour was quite strong, but not acrid, but unfortunately the bitterness had not reduced.... It was just a bit strong tasting, but I have a feeling most of that is the bitterness from the rennet....

After we determine how it ages over the next few months, I will decide how long to smoke an entire Gouda so as to get lots of smoke flavour, but without overpowering it.... I'm thinking that smoking an entire cheese, which has had 4 months to age in wax, would probably be OK at 3 hours, turned halfway through.... The final decision on smoking duration will depend on how far the smoke flavour penetrates into our test sample over the next 3 months....

Bob

[Fates End]

Considering smoke's flavor profile, trying to apply it to something with an already off flavor is probably a bad idea; anyone who's added more than a few drops of liquid smoke to something can tell you that smoke itself is bitter. I would personally err on the side of caution for aging; better to have your cheese not be smoky enough and then dialing it in than to open up a four month old gouda only for it to be inedibly acrid.

[rsterne]

I agree, and I didn't expect miracles.... I just wanted to get a better feel for how long to smoke a whole Gouda next time.... I have had some experience with smoking, and my particular process, and realistically the decision will be between 2 hrs. of smoking and 3 hrs.... as I have already determined that an hour is insufficient and 4 hrs. is too much....

You are probably correct, 2 hrs. on a whole Gouda would be the safer approach, but at worst I could trim off the rind if it was too strong.... We have solved the bitterness problem on our aged cheeses by going to Chy-Max rennet.... I just wish we had known 2 years ago, as we still have a lot of bitter cheese to work our way through.... Fortunately, eating it on a salted cracker eliminates the bitter taste.... 

Bob