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A-Maze-N smoker tube
A-Maze-N smoker tube
It all started 5 WEEKS ago. On one side a block of Cheddar and Mozzarella (cut in half) and Gouda (pie shaped). A-Maze-N smoker tube filled with pellets, lit and glowing on other side (yellow circle). Damper wide open and thus maintained a constant cool temp. of between 90-100 deg. for a min. 4 hr. smoke. At 2 hr mark flip the cheese over so both sides get equal exposure to smoke.
Following the 4 hr smoke, let cheese cool a bit then wrap cheese (for you Mike) tightly in Saranwrap and place in fridge for 4-5 WEEKS! Yes...,I said 4-5 WEEKS!
Seasoned and placed in fridge over night to flavorize!
Seasoned and placed in fridge over night to flavorize!
Split into two batches. This one with high temp. Cheddar cheese
Split into two batches. This one with high temp. Cheddar cheese
This batch with high temp. Hot Pepper cheese
This batch with high temp. Hot Pepper cheese
Why to you wrap a A-Maze-N smoker tube and put it in the fridge? (Sarcasm)
Is the tube the only heat?
I made smoked duck summer sausage for the first time last weekend. Impressed.
But first had to build a hanging rack to fit inside my smoker for the links. Perfect Fit!
But first had to build a hanging rack to fit inside my smoker for the links. Perfect Fit!
Stuffed and ready for smoking. 2hr smoke at 250 deg. Rotate sausages and smoke 2 hrs at 200-225 deg for total smoke time of atleast 4 hrs
Mike....smoked duck summer sausage sounds A-MAZIN too! Yes, smoker tube is the only heat for the 4 hr smoked cheese.....but you gotta do it on a cool day or in the cool of the morning to maintain 90-100 deg so cheese doesn’t melt.
Smoker was going... so might as well do 5 racks of baby backs separately later that day.
Here with smoked Gouda and stone ground mustard
Here with smoked Gouda and stone ground mustard
The end goal....this CHARCUTERIE and CHEESE BOARD with assorted crackers, bowl of pickles/olives and mozzarella balls, cherries, salami, prosciutto, smoked cheddar (upper left corner), smoke Gouda (upper middle), smoked mozzarella (lower right corner) and smoked , sliced homemade Kielbasa (far upper left and far bottom right).
Smoked Gouda was leaps and bounds better than the smoked cheddar or mozzarella and they were great in their own right. All 3 cheeses had nice even smoked flavor throughout....but the Gouda was INCREDIBLE!
If you try to smoke a block of cheese....the key is to make your block smaller so the smoke has a chance to penetrate better throughout the block. Therefore, cutting a block at a minimum in half is key and of course having the discipline to let that cheese sit in the fridge wrapped for a minimum 4-5 weeks without tearing into it before then and believe me it was hard to resist that urge, HA!
Were did you get the smoker tub4 ?
Looks great man, and I thought you just knitted ;?)
Very cool, I’m gonna have to check out one of those tubes. Can you keep them warm enough on a winter day?
James.....Yes, you can keep it warm for an "avg." winter day here in KS...."extreme" winter day...maybe not? I did this late spring and while it was cooler then than it is now and certainly warmer than winter temps, I had to run the damper wide open to allow as much heat to escape in order to maintain 90-100 deg. Yes, smoke escaped too but these tubes put off a good amount of smoke so you can afford to give up some of the smoke.
If you are doing it on an extremely cold winter day...you may very well want to play with your dampers some and darn near shut them completely to keep the heat inside in order to maintain 90-100 deg. If temp. gets higher than that...then you just open the damper more or even crack the smoker door/lid some. The lit/burning tube does put off heat so make sure you place it opposite and away from the cheese. I did that as you can see in the first pic….and cheese is near the smoke stack where the majority of smoke is being drawn across the cheese. Give it a try and have fun!
Gotta get back to knitting Otis a Beanie, Hee, Hee!
In the summer on my vertical smoker, 16" square 3' tall, I place a pan of ice above and below my cheese and tent aluminum foil over the cheese rack leaving the ends open for good circulation of smoke.
Been doing this for years and like you said 4 to 5 weeks wrapped in the fridge. I taste tested it on my first try to figure out the time to wait. At the 4 to 5 week range it really mellowed out and was perfect.
Copper....if someone has trouble with their smoker getting too hot (even with dampers fully open) the pans of ice in the smoker is a great idea! I haven't had to do that yet but may need to if I try to smoke cheese this time of year. Good Stuff!
Ooooooooo, that looks good! Good work!
Looks like I found my cook for deer camp.
By the looks of your cooking it would probably be worth whatever the price. Sure looks better than my frozen burritos in the morning and sandwiches at night.
Yer a genuine Martha Stewart. Actually looks pretty good
Is that Sito with a beard, weight loss, and a maggot dangling from his lip?
