12/29/2015
How to Smoke Cheese on an Offset Barbecue Smoker
If you’ve got a barbeque smoker you will definitely want to learn how to smoke cheese. Smoked cheese is a real treat, and it’s really not hard to smoke.
There are many ways to serve and enjoy smoked cheese. It makes a delicious snack with crackers. And it’s extremely edible in sandwiches and salads (shredded).
When you smoke cheese, you are cold smoking. You won’t maintain 225 degrees in the smoker like you do when you smoke ribs or chicken. Otherwise, the cheese would melt. You need to build a small fire that cranks out some nice smoke, but keep the heat under 90 degrees F. For this reason, it’s best to smoke cheese in the fall or winter when it’s cold outside. It’s hard to build a fire in your smoker in 80 degree weather and keep the smoker under 90.
Simply follow these easy steps and you’ll find it’s a breeze to smoke cheese.
Pick your cheese. You can smoke about any kind of cheese, including Colby, Mozzarella, Cheddar, Muenster, and Swiss.
Cut the cheese into blocks about 4″ x 4″ x 1″. No seasoning is needed.
Let your cheese adjust to room temperature for at least one hour.
Make a small “fire can.” Start with a large tin can, such as a 46 oz. pineapple can with both ends removed. (This works well for a smaller smoker ; if you have a larger smoker, you may need to step up to a coffee can.) Fasten a piece of 1/2” x 1/2” wire netting over one end to make a ventilated bottom.
Load the grate. Put the cheese on the grate spaced at least one inch apart.
Build a fire inside the can. Start with six charcoal briquettes. Light the charcoal with a propane torch or electric starter. Once the charcoal is well lit, set the can on the charcoal grate in the smoker firebox. This way you'll have a good draft through the tin can. Adjust the firebox vents to one-fourth open position, or give it more air if the fire lags.
Keep the smoke puffing. Add a handful or two of dry wood chips on top of the fire at the beginning. Soak some wood chips in water. You will keep adding dry and wet wood chips throughout the smoke.
Maintain the fire at 90 degrees F. Keep the temperature in the smoking chamber 90 degrees or below. Make as little heat with the fire as you can. Stay close to your smoker because you will need to add wood chips every 15–20 minutes. Periodically add another briquette about every 30–40 minutes. Add a handful or two of dry wood chips and then add some wet ones on top to keep the fire under control. If your fire gets too hot, just throw on more wet wood chips. But don't overdo it; your fire will be small, so make sure you give it enough dry fuel to keep it going.
Fire tip: Periodically before adding fuel, lift the can with a pair of pliers and tap it against the bottom to shake the ashes out the bottom and help the fire burn more efficiently.
Smoke the cheese for 2–6 hours. You will smoke the cheese for a certain amount of time, not until it reaches some internal temperature. This is where you will need to experiment and decide what your preference is. It also depends on what kind of wood chips you used and how much smoke you made. So if you're in doubt, just create a moderate amount of smoke and leave it on for about three or four hours and adjust it the next time for more or less smoke according to your taste.
Wrap and refrigerate the cheese. Remove your cheese from the barbecue smoker and wrap each piece individually in plastic wrap or put each one in a freezer bag. Refrigerate the cheese for at least a week to let the smoke flavor pe*****te the cheese. If you have the patience, you can leave it in the fridge for two weeks or longer; I've heard it gets better.
We hope you enjoy our smoked cheese recipe. The key will be to constrain your fire, and like I mentioned earlier, the perfect time to do it is when it’s cold outside—just in time for the holidays. :)
Just go do it now. Then leave a comment below and let us know how it went.
Have fun!
