What Is The Best Way To Smoke Your Own Cheeses?

While you can purchase pre-smoked cheeses, you may wish to choose your own smoked flavors, or do it for the pure enjoyment. Smoking your own cheeses is fun, easy, and adds an amazing flavor. You can use a smoked cheese on anything you would use a normal cheese for, from sandwiches to mac & cheese. Of course, smoking a cheese requires that you own a barbecue smoker and at least a passing familiarity with it. This is the easiest and best way to smoke your own cheeses. Here are the steps to a fine smoke on your cheese for added flavor and fun.

Cold Smoking

Because cheese melts at a fairly low temperature, you will have to use a process known as cold smoking. The easiest way to do this is when it is already cold outside, as it may be difficult to maintain your smoker at about ninety degrees when it is already in the nineties. You can smoke any kind of cheese, but the most highly recommended are cheddar, mozzarella, and Swiss. You should leave it out for about an hour, so it can settle at room temperature, making it less likely to melt. Cut it into squares or blocks of no more than four inches wide.

Smoke But Little Fire

If you are inexperienced with a smoker, it may be difficult to maintain a fire that is not hot, but puts off a lot of smoke. Using slightly wet wood on top of the smoking charcoal is a good bet, increasing amount of smoke put off, but also helping the smoker to remain cool. Once you have a good fire prepared, lay the cheeses on the smoker’s grate. Generally to prevent melting, you will want to put the harder cheeses in the middle, and the softer cheeses on the outside of the smoker grate.

Patience For Flavor

Let the cheese stay in the smoker for up to six hours, keeping as much smoke in the unit as is preferred. The more smoke, the richer the flavor the cheese will keep. Unlike traditional meat smoking, the internal temperature of the cheese is irrelevant. Once the cheese is done smoking, wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate immediately. Leave the cheese to take on the full flavor of the smoke for one to two weeks in refrigeration. The longer you can leave it, the more delicious it will be.