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Cold Smoked Cheese

Cold Smoked Cheese

It’s cooling down outside and that is a perfect time to make your own smoked cheese. When the temperature stays below 80F you can fill up that pellet tube with your favorite wood flavors and get to smoking. For cold smoking, you are only burning pellets in the tube and this is the only heat source. This won’t be enough heat to melt the cheese however keep the tube at least 1 foot away from the cheese. You can use any type of grill or smoker to make cold smoked cheese as long as it has a lid and some ventilation. There are many different cheeses that you can use for smoking and what works for you might be different than what is listed here. If this is your first time smoking cheese, give these a try then expand out next time.

Ingredients

  • 8 oz colby jack
  • 8 oz medium cheddar
  • 8 oz pepper jack
  • 8 oz baby swiss
  • 8 oz jarlsberg


Directions

First, fill a 3 hour smoke tube with pellets. For soft and semi-soft cheeses, use a lighter flavored wood such as apple. For hard cheeses use something with more flavor such as pecan or hickory. Light the pellets with a torch and allow them to burn for a minute or two. Blow out the flame and let the pellets smoke. Close the lid on the grill or smoker.


Next, remove any wax rind on the outside of the cheese. Slice the cheese block into smaller blocks roughly 4 x 4 x 2. This exposes more surface area which attracts smoke flavor. Place the smaller blocks onto a cooling rack and transport it to the grill or smoker.


Use a temperature monitor with an ambient probe to make sure the temperature in the grill or smoker does not exceed 90F. Smoke for 3 hours and turn each piece of cheese every 30 minutes. After 3 hours, remove the cooling rack with the cheese and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.


For storage, wrap the cheese in wax paper then vacuum seal each piece. Most cheeses can be stored up o 3 months in the refrigerator.



Watch How To Make This Recipe