Smoked cheese

Hi Bridget,

I ran a quick search at the top of page and searched for "Smoked Cheese" here are a few links on that subject...

Smoked Cheese Link 1

Smoked Cheese Link 2

Hope these help...

The trick in properly smoking cheese is that you will have to keep the oven temperature very, very low. Less than 80 is desirable, Less than 90 is required for most cheeses.

This is a challenge in an oven like the cookshack, which is extremely well insulated. The high degree of insulation and efficiency means that the oven will very effectively hold heat, which is the opposite of what you want when cold smoking. Also, the thing that produces the smoke (the heating element) is also what produces oven temperature, which you don't want. This is the cold smoking dichotomy.

That said, I smoke cheese in my cookshack all the time, and I'm sure you can too. It doesn't take much more work than cold smoking with any other method. Here's the method I've come to use after some experimentation.

First, you will need the cold smoke baffle, available from CS. This is a metal baffle designed to insulate the smoking chamber from the heating element. I have found it to be a worthwhile investment. I've seen comments here that it's designed for the model 50/55 but it can be used with the smokette. Any cookshack folks who know about this please jump in here.

Next, you will need a large metal container and a good supply of ice. I've tried several containers, and I ended up using a large stock pot. It is the biggest container I could find that would fit in my unit, which is a model 50. The more ice, the better. You want to suck up as much of the heat produced by the heating element as humanly possible.

Make sure the cold smoke baffle is installed in the lower shelf slot. Now, fill the container up with as much ice as it will hold, put it in the CS on top of the cold smoke baffle and close the door. I leave it sit that way for a good 2 hours. This "pre-cool the unit" step is not required but I find that it extends the amount of time that you can keep the temperature within range. You will definitely appreciate this when trying to smoke something like cheese, which melts at a very low temperature.

After a few hours of sitting full of ice, the inside of the unit actually feels cold (once again, after you try this a few times, you'll fully understand the advantage of this). Load the unit with the room temperature cheese, and put the wood into the wood box. I use chips because I find they begin to smoke at a lower temperature, which you want when doing a cold smoke. Turn the unit on. The temp setting doesn't really matter but I go about 200. Now wait. In about 15 - 20 minutes you should see a good head of smoke coming from the smoke hole. Shut the unit off.

In my experience, you should see about forty five minutes to an hour of smoke, maybe a little less. When the smoke dies down, open the unit for a minute or two to let any heat out. Shut the door, turn the unit back on and repeat the cycle.

If all goes well and the Cheese Gods are smiling down on you, you should get two full cycles out of it before it goes above 100 F, yielding 2 hours of smoke time. I have never gotten three cycles, as the oven will have absorbed too much energy to keep the temp below 90 - 100 F after that. If you are OK with an oven temp of up to 120 F you can go much longer than that, but I find 2 hours is more than enough time to put a good smoke on cheese.

This weekend I did Swiss Emanthalur, Ridder, Gouda, Parmesano Reggiano, and some Pecorino Romano and they all came out quite well. And it's not hard or time consuming to do once you know how.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask more questions.

I recall that Andi posted some time ago what sounded like a great idea on how to cold smoke with a smokette: she very simply (and brilliantly) suggested fitting a cardboard box ON TOP of the smokette, with a makeshift grill suspended in the middle of the box (poke the ends of the grill through the cardboard). I suppose a small hole on top for venting. Put wood in the smoker and just run it, say at 150. In essence, you would get the smoke rising from the smokette's vent, but not much of the heat. Simple idea... never tried it, but it seems like it would work to me...

woodburner,

I've used the "box over the top" method as well. It's crude, but it works for certain applications. It's useful enough that I made it a bit more permenant by hooking a threaded flexible tube to the top hole and piping it into another chamber. This method has it's advantages, mainly that you can create cold smoke for a long duration. If you're prepared to keep refilling the woodbox, you can create a very light smoke this way indefinitely. I make a gravlox with this method for example, and I'm happy with the results. It's not all that efficient in terms of killowatt hours consumed, but it does work.

However, when smoking cheese I find that I need a heavier smoke then the boxtop method can produce. A very light smoke, even for a long duration, never seems to create the deeper color and flavor that people look for in a smoked cheese. That's why I use the method described earlier. It makes for a heavier smoke which seems to be more effective with cheese products.

As an example, here's some cheese smoked in a cookshack using the earlier method. It has a deep color, as well as a fuller smoke flavor.

Pecorino Romano

Regards,
Joseph

wow! great pic! thanks for the info.

Joseph, great pic! It's making me drool just looking at it .

And thanks to all for all the great tips and info! I'm looking forward to my new smoker.

-Bridget

thanks for the reminder...good link. Cheese is a popular question and this is a great link.

Hey Stuart, where's my Cheese info?

Smokin'

Joseph: At the risk of getting torched, into how big chunks do you "cut the cheese"?

Hey, no flaming, some of us are Blazing Saddles fans, and you're post is fine. It IS a cheese thread is this?

Hey tjr,

I started sizing cheeses a certain way and then settled on what customers were asking for. Anything that may end up whole at the table or on a cheese board gets a nice wedge shape. The more common 'ingredient' cheeses (cheddar, swiss, etc) get sized into a rather utilitarian rectangle shape.

Wedges can make things harder logistically and you really have to watch your temp or they get ruined at the tip. I keep the depth to no more than 1.5 to 2 inches in any case.

The romano in the shot is about 2 inches high and 1 1/2 deep at the thickest point.

Regards,
Joe

Great info Joe, thanks for sharing it.

Great stuff, Joe! But, as usual, I want more! "Piping it into another chamber"...what kind of chamber?

Also, just wanted to say that I wrap block cheeses in cheesecloth (is that what it's for!) cuz I like the look the pattern gives to the cheese. You can also dip the whole ball o'cheese in melted paraffin for sending or storing. Looks cool!

Hi Andi,

The piping technique is a pretty easy one. I made a flexible tube with an attached 90 degree elbow joint. The tube goes from the top vent to an external wooden box where the product sits on racks. Because the smoke volume is low the box has to be small, about the size of a small movers box. This works well for small loads that need only light smoke. Graxlox is perfect because the rum glaze makes even light smoke stick well.

Be careful though. The CS vent needs to flow freely without any obstruction. You need to make sure there's absolutely no back pressure on the system, so

• Use a short, unobstructed tube. No long runs.
  
  
• Use a small chamber
  
  
• Make sure there's a good draft. Feed the smoke in towards the bottom of the chamber and vent the top really well.
  
  

Hey the paraffin is a great idea (I suppose you could even nicely stamp it with a logo that way). I'm gonna try some.

Regards,
Joe

Rum glaze on your Lox? Dang it, Joe, ya stole my recipe! The one with Meyers Rum? Dang! But, that's not gravlox unless you use dill. Do you? I use the rum w/o dill and the dill with GIN!!!!!!!

I do have a very short and sweet piping system for Smokette for when I do heavy smokes in winter. It goes thru a hole in the wall to outside. I like that flexible dealie! I can set that up in about 5 minutes! Have all the stuff....except FISH! Still no Reds in. Dang!I also just remembered a way perfect wooden box we have that would be perfect for your method! Yes! Just gotta rig up an a door on it. No problem! You've inspired me, Joe! Was getting pretty dull around here with no Reds!

The paraffin thing realy is neat. Just remember oil and wax don't mix (that's what makes lava lamps, no?) and have your cheese really dry when you do it. Cold works, too. You will have to dip at least 3 times for a good coating. You can even color the wax ala Gouda or whatever with food safe colorings. You can dip a few times in the colored wax. Then place a label on there and dip in a clear wax. Make sure your label has strong colors that will show thru. Or, stamp it.