What Gives Smoked Cheese The Robust Flavor

Smoked cheeses have a nutty flavor that is very different from fresh cheese. There are several varieties of smoked cheeses that are commonly sold. These include Cheddar, Scamorza, Oscypek, Sulguni, Rauchkase, Provolone, Gouda, and Gruyere.

Process And Methods
In order to effectively smoke a cheese, it must first be dried to the point that a tacky skin, called a pellicle, forms on the outside. This allows the smoke to better adhere to the cheese.

There are two major methods used to smoke foods—the cold-smoking process and the hot-smoking process. Cheese smoking is usually done by the cold-smoking method, as the hot-smoking method would cause the cheese to sweat or ooze. There are also a couple of other methods for imparting the smoke flavor to cheese.

Cold smoking is done by utilizing some method of suspending the cheese over a very low fire, at temperatures between 68 and 86 degrees Farenheit. This process can take up to a month. Applewood is often the wood of choice to burn during the smoking process.

A third method is sometimes used for less expensive cheeses, and that is to use an artificial smoke flavor. Obviously, this is not a true smoked cheese, but just a smoke-flavored cheese. Some cheese makers use a distilled hickory smoke to blend into the cheese to give it a full, robust flavor.

Smokers
If you would like to try smoking your own cheese at home, you can use any type of cheese except a cheese that is too soft and would fall through the grate. You can purchase a cold smoker machine to use at home.

Flavor
As mentioned previously, apple wood is often burned to smoke cheese, but cherry wood is used also. A specific combination of these two woods infuses the cheese with a fruity essence that complements the robust, nutty flavor of many cheeses.

Hickory wood is also used to smoke Cheddar cheese, and gives it a particularly robust and nutty flavor. It can be used in cheese that is used to make a cheese spread.

Another wood used in the smoking process is maple wood. This wood gives Cheddar a great robust flavor.

Other Woods
There are several other woods that are used to a lesser extent in smoking foods, including cheeses. Each one will give a somewhat different flavor. These can include pecan wood, almond, beech, chestnut, cottonwood, and grapevines.