cheese

[bowhuntermws1981]

Has anyone tried to make smoked cheese? I read a little about it today on some cooking website and their setup was like this:

1) Wait for a cold, cold night.
2) Build a small fire (I'll use hickory chips) inside of your BBQ grill or smoker).
3) Fill a glass casserole dish (13"X 9") with ice cubes and place above the fire.
4) place blocks of cheese above the ice dish. Try to keep the fire below 90 degrees otherwise your cheese will melt. Do not rotate the blocks of cheese. Leave them cook for about 4 hours, you'll need to replace boththe woodchips and the ice several times.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this or if there is an easier way.

[moosehunter21]

What are you tring to somke gouda or mozzarella?
It sounds like a great method.

[St.Barnard]

Just the other day at our hunting camp, one of the guys told of how he does it. He takes his cheese, usually cheddar, and puts in a small loaf pan. He puts it in the smoker, with it not real hot, and let it get smokey until the cheese melts and coforms to the loaf pan. Then he takes it out, lets it cool, wraps in saran wrap, and slices to eat. I have not tried it, but it sounds good. Most of the smokey cheese loaves in the stores are to smokey for my taste. This sounds like you could modify it for you own taste, according to the type wood, and amount of smoke you have.

[bowhuntermws1981]

Well we're right in the middle of smoking it. It's about 7 degrees with the wind chill outside and keeping the temp below 90 hasn't been a problem. It's looking pretty good, I'll try to get some pictures on later.

[buckskinnerchris]

Here's how I do it.

Set up smoker for indirect smoking. I use a offset fire box. You can use a direct heat smoker, but you will need to somehow spread out the heat. I recommend using a piece of metal that sits over the fire but still allows the smoke to travel up the sides. As soon as you get the fire going real good close the dampers off. The biggest thing is to use green wood or wood that you have soaked for at least 30 minutes in water after you get the fire going good. This will create the lowest temp and the most amount of smoke. How much or how little smokey taste you attain will be by experimenting since not every smoker is the same. You can also use
Hi-Temp cheese which has a higher melting point than regular cheese.