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**Skip** · January 18, 2019, 12:26 PM

Hello Mr. Bones. I have smoked cheese several times using the Amaze N Tube. However, I've always wrapped afterwards and given the smoked cheese 2-3 weeks to mellow. Without giving it too much thought I'm wondering that if you need it for Sunday at Suppertime maybe give it a light smoke and see what happens. I usually smoke it for 2 hours so maybe try 1 or 1 1/2 hours to see if that is mellow enough to eat sooner? It's snowing like crazy here in southern MN or I'd drive down on Sunday to taste your finished product! Good luck with your challenge!

**MBMorgan** · January 18, 2019, 01:10 PM

Hey Bones ... I'm not a cheese smoker (yet) so consider this more of a question than a suggestion: In addition to a short/light smoke with milder wood, would it make sense to slice the cheese into smaller pieces to increase surface area and therefore smoke uptake?

**Troutman** · January 18, 2019, 01:26 PM

Here's the Mac Daddy by Smoke Daddy, forget the Tube .....

**BigD** · January 18, 2019, 01:39 PM

Hey Mr. Bones, I just did this for the first time over the holidays. Tube in my Traeger 075 rolling smoke for approximately 2.5 hours. This was my first time smoking cheese so I didn't know what exactly to expect. I let it rest a week and it still had a really smoky flavor. Not overly smoked in my opinion but other guests did not like it. Next time I'll try a little less time and see the results. You could always go with a short smoke time and see how it turns out. Relatively inexpensive test cook compared to a hunk of meat! Good luck!

**Mr. Bones** · January 18, 2019, 01:43 PM

What It Is, So Far:

I have 6 lbs. (4 ea. 24 oz. blocks) of cheese to smoke; 2 ea. Sharp Cheddar, an Pepper Jack.

2 will be used Sunday, th remainder ziplocked an put into a state of mellowin, meanin I'll probly let th latter 2 go longer in th smoke, mebbe even different pellets, since it'll have time to balance out...

Their average dimensions are ~7.125" x 3.5" x 1.5"

My plan is to cut em down into 1.5" x 1.5" x 3.5" logs, ie.: slice th blocks crosswise, fer more smokeable surface area.

Here's th pellets I have immediately handy; I have some others tucked away, but th clock is runnin down, so I will select from these, today: my initial thinkin leans t'wards straight up Apple, or mebbe a 60/40%-75/25% blend with th JD...

Any thoughts?

**RichieB** · January 18, 2019, 02:11 PM

I've smoked cheese in a tube. In fact that's my only real option as only have the gasser. I've had what I believe is success. Used Jack Daniels pellets. They are used charcoal which was soaked in whiskey. Mixed with oak and made into pellets. I've also used hickory and apple. Most is Cabot brand cheese which IMO is good and a good value. I smoke for at least 4 hours with a temp of no greater than 80. That's pretty easy this time of year. Wrap it and forget it for at least 7 days. When unwrapped, the aroma of wood flows up and I get a smile on my face.
Oh, I've done, Colby jack, pepper jack, monteray jack, sharp cheedar all in full blocks as purchased. I've done white cheese. I got this at the Deli and had it sliced. Not happy with the results. Smoke fine, but the smoking process did something funky to the texture. Dry and leathery. So now get bulk at the weight I want. Smoke it and slice after the 7 day wait.

**RichieB** · January 18, 2019, 02:50 PM

This was where I saw the techique I use.

**Steve B** · January 18, 2019, 03:04 PM

Sorry to here about your MIL brother. Wish everyone the best my friend.
On an up note I'm glad to see you're bustin out that big arse smoker.

**IowaGirl** · January 18, 2019, 03:22 PM

I'm not an expert on smoking cheese, but I cold-smoked several types of cheese recently with my AMNPS -- string cheese, farmer cheese, 4 year cheddar, and colby. I cut the larger pieces into roughly 2 x 2 sticks, and smoked the pieces for about 2 hours. I used the Amazen "pitmaster's blend" pellets. I think that's hickory, cherry and maple. The cheese didn't take on a lot of color, but the smoke aroma was pretty strong after 2 hours.

I ate a piece of string cheese the next day after smoking. I didn't care for it because the smoke smelled and tasted bitter, but I wasn't surprised about that. One week after smoking, the smoke flavor was better, but still too bitter for my taste, but I could tell the flavor was beginning to meld with the cheese. Today is 18 days after smoking and your thread reminded me I need to see how the cheese is doing. I'm chomping on a piece of string cheese right now -- 18 days after smoking -- and it's really, seriously TASTY! I'm very pleased with the string cheese (haven't tried the others yet) and will do this again. Obviously patience is a key ingredient for success.

**Davek8282** · January 18, 2019, 07:22 PM

I have smoked a fair bit of cheese in my time. The one thing I have noticed is that the colder the ambient temperature the longer you need to smoke. I did some Gouda for Christmas it was -10 Celsius thats 14 Fahrenheit for you Mericans and after 3 hours of smoke and 14 days aging still just a mild smoke flavor. In the summer when it is warmer and I get up early I usually only smoke for an hour and a half. I have tried cheese without waiting 2 weeks and found the outside piece not that great but after that was more than edible. Outside piece just a little too bitter. Contrary to what the others are suggesting I would be smoking in large blocks so you can trim the outside ends just in case your cheese is a bit bitter with such a short cure. I wouldn't be scared to have a block of ice in the cooker to keep the temps down either.

**Davek8282** · January 18, 2019, 07:25 PM

Did I mention I use the same tube you have in your picture and I would stick with the milder pellets due to your short cure time.

**Sweaty Paul** · January 18, 2019, 08:25 PM

Not ever smoked cheese, but, per everything I’ve read you need at least a week after smoking and vacuum sealing to allow the cheese to mellow so it doesn’t taste acrid.

**texastweeter** · January 18, 2019, 11:15 PM

I smoke 50+ lbs of cheese a year with a pellet tube. 3-4 hours of smoke 2+ weeks vac sealed sealed to mellow. I can get more specific as to time for each size chunk, what wood, and what cheeses I like best if you want pardner. About to load up another batch of about 30 lbs next weekend which will bring me to 50 lbs so far this winter.

**Flat Rocker** · January 19, 2019, 06:45 AM

I've found that mild cheddar has a better flavor than sharp, even though I really like the sharp "out of the wrapper". I would stay away from extra sharp, mine was very acrid even with 4-6 week waiting time. I think that the softer the cheese, the better it will take on the smoke. I do mine for 90 minutes using Lumberjack Competition blend. I've used hickory which was edible but was a bit too strong. Cherry and apple were both nice too. I also tried using 1" x 1" cubes of mild cheddar and they were not good at all, I ended up tossing them. I've read someplace that the larger bricks of cheese are better in the smoke and then cut them before vacuum sealing. After 90 minutes in the smoke, I put them on cooling racks on the kitchen counter for 1-2 hours, then wipe the moisture off them, wrap in waxed paper, vacuum seal and try to leave them alone for 3-4 weeks. I think you'll be disappointed with trying to have some ready by Sunday, but please let us know how it turns out and what you think? Our best to your family on the loss of your MIL.

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