How To Smoke Cheese On A Pellet Grill

Keep The Temperature Low

Aim to keep the cold smoking temperature at below 90°F. Anything above this temperature could lead to your cheese sweating or melting.

One of the best ways to help keep a low temperature is to use ice pans. These are just like the water pans we use for hot smoking, but are filled with ice instead. This will help to keep the ambient temperatures in your chamber cool, and minimize the effects of any disruption from the weather.

How Long Should I Cold Smoke Cheese

When smoking the cheese on your pellet grill, flip the cheese after every 30 minutes to give both sides even exposure. Its recommended to smoke the cheese for two to four hours. Make sure you maintain constant light smoke all throughout. Make sure to add pellets or wood chips on your smoking device at regular intervals in order to maintain a steady flow of smoke.

What Are The Best Cheeses For Smoking

While all smoked cheeses taste great, not all are great for smoking by yourself at home. You need to pick high temperature cheese or something that can hold up at a high temperature without melting.

The best cheeses for smoking are robust ones, like mozzarella, gouda, and pepper jack. You can also smoke cheddar cheese with excellent results.

The important thing is that your cheese has to be firm. Softer cheeses will crumble and will retain too much of the smoky flavor and can taste acrid.

Homemade cold smokers can be a little unpredictable so you need to err on the side of caution. Solid cheeses will hold onto the right amount of smokiness, which will give them a perfect and complex flavor profile.

It is also important to remember that you shouldnt use shredded cheese as it will melt in the smoker. Using large blocks will also mute the smoky aspect.

Instead, cut the cheese into 2 to 4 inch blocks. If you want a mild smoky flavor, keep your blocks of cheese bigger.

Read Also: Babybel Cheese Shelf Life

What Are The Best Types Of Wood To Use When Smoking Cheese

Now that you know what cheese to use, you need to know the best wood to smoke it with on your pellet grill. Try for mild flavors until you have a better grasp of how to smoke cheese. Once youve tried it a few times, you may want to branch out to other flavors or you may find that the types of pellets youve chosen are the best wood to smoke cheese. Common mild options for smoking pellets that go well with cheese include:

• Pecan

Balance flavors between the cheese and the wood pellets you use for smoking. Mild cheeses can get a flavor boost from slightly stronger smoking pellets, while stronger cheeses should only get a mild addition of smoky flavor. Of course, it all comes down to your preference in the end, so experiment with an array of flavor combinations to see what you think tastes best.

What Is The Best Temperature To Smoke Cheese

It is very important to keep the temperature of your grill between 80 °F and 90 °F. If you are unable to maintain this low temperature, it would be better not to smoke cheese at all as it will melt away completely.

Melted cheese has its own taste and flavor, but it is certainly not something you would love to have when all you want is smoked cheese.

Read Also: How To Make Snack Sticks in a Smoker?

You May Like: Does Laughing Cow Cheese Have To Be Refrigerated

Smoked Cheese Tips And Tricks

• Check the Weather: Choose to smoke cheese when the weather is cooler than 60 degrees outside.
• Use a Probe Thermometer: If there is any question about the temperature of the grill or smoker, use a probe thermometer to monitor the temperature. Make sure that the temps DO NOT rise above 80-90 degrees F.
• Ice Pan: A foil pan of ice placed inside the smoker under the cheese can reduce the temperature around the cheese for the duration of smoking.
• Small Blocks: For best results, blocks of cheese should be relatively small, like a pound or less, about 3-4 inches in length. Smaller chunks will take on the smoke better than larger chunks.
• Room Temperature: Allow the cheese to come to room temperature and wipe away any moisture that forms on the surface of the cheese before smoking.
• No heat or flame: You want to smoke the cheese with a steady light and consistent stream of smoke without heat or flame.
• Rotation: Consider rotating the cheese if the smoke is only coming from one direction inside the smoke chamber. Moving the cheese around ensures the cheese blocks take on smoke equally.

What Seasonings To Use For Smoked Cream Cheese

In the picture above, I used a home-made Tex-Mex spice blend as well as an herby Green Goddess blend I had in the cupboard. The big takeaway with how to season your cream cheese is NOT to pick a blend thats salty. So many rubs and blends are loaded with salt and this will then just become a huge salt bomb. Add salty crackers and watch your blood pressure go up.

However, if you use a salt-free or low-salt blend, your smoked cream cheese will turn out perfectly wonderful!

Also Check: Does Babybel Cheese Need Refrigeration

Bring It To Room Temperature

While theres no reason you cant smoke frozen or chilled cheese, preparing it from room temperature will give you the best results.

The structure of some cheeses can morph rapidly when smoked from frozen, making them lose their texture, color and flavor.

Allow your cheese to rest at room temperature for one or two hours before smoking. Wipe off any moisture to help it develop better skin.

Arrange The Cheese On Wire Rack & Bring To Room Temperature

Remove the cheese from its packaging and pat dry any condensation.

Arrange the blocks of cheese on a wire rack that fits on the WSM top cooking grate. Allow space for smoke to circulate around the cheese. Placing cheese on edge allows for increased capacity in the smoker.

To reduce condensation on the cheese surface during cold smoking, allow the cheese to come to room temperature, approximately 68-70°F, before smoking.

Don’t Miss: How Long Does Babybel Cheese Last After Expiration Date

How To Cold Smoke Cheese

I’ve been wanting to cold smoke cheese and since the temperature today was in the low 60’s, I figured why not!

I had some already-sliced sharp cheddar and that was perfect for what I needed.

Here’s my easy method for cold smoking cheese using a tube smoker filled with wood pellets.

Helpful Information

• 20-30 slices sharp cheddar or your other favorite hard cheeses
• Pan/Rack
• Tube smoker
• 2 cups hardwood pellets

Considerations

Here’s some things to consider when you cold smoke cheese. Many of these list items were sent in by readers:

• Make sure the ambient temperature is low
• Make sure the smoker is in the shade
• Wear latex gloves when handling cheese to prevent oils and bacteria from your hands transferring to the cheese. This will stave off mold and help the cheese to last longer in storage.
• Zip top bags are ok for storage but a vacuum sealer is even better.
• Let the cheese come to room temperature before smoking it. A thin skin or rind will develop and protect the cheese while it smokes.
• I used slices but you can also smoke larger pieces if desired.
• I used pecan pellets but the more common competition blend pellets are also perfect for cheese
• The 2 week aging process at the end is the minimum. 2 months is better.

Step 1: Lay the Cheese On a Rack

I had all of these slices of sharp cheddar so I just laid them out on my pan/rack in neat little rows.

Feel free to be more freestyle with it if you so choose.

Man, look at all that smoke!

Can You Put Wood Chips In A Pellet Grill

Because a pellet grill works like a convection oven, you can load up the cook chamber without fear of uneven cooking. You dont normally over-smoke food on a pellet grill. For additional wood smoke flavor, you can position hardwood chunks or pouches of soaked wood chips directly on the heat diffuser plate.

Don’t Miss: How Long Can Babybel Cheese Be Unrefrigerated

Smoked Cheese The Recipe

• Grill
• Wood pellets

• Put cheese in the freezer for 2 hours.
• Cut the cheese into 2-3 inch bricks.
• Preheat your grill/smoker to 70-85°F.
• Put cheese on the grate and watch the temperature you want to keep it between 80 and 90 degrees.
• Turn cheese over every 30 minutes.
• In 2 hours, remove the cheese.
• Wrap it in paper and put it in the fridge for 24 hours.
• Put it in a vacuum-sealed bag and leave in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Place The Cheese On The Smoker

Place the cheese on either the top shelf or bottom shelf beside the smoking device. If placing them on the bottom shelf, use a cooling rack to keep them off the grates, especially, if they havent been cleaned in a while.

Placing them on a rack will also prevent the cheese from falling through the grates if youve cut the pieces too small.

You May Like: Private Selection Genoa Salami

The Cold Smoking Process

Once you are certain your grill and grates are completely clean and youve gathered your items, you can get started!

Can You Smoke Cheese At 150 Degrees

Semi-hard cheeses are among the best for smoking on a grill. Cheddar and Gouda are incredibly popular options, but other delicious varieties include Swiss, Gruyere and Monterey Jack. Varieties like these dont fully melt until they reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit, so you have a bit more room for error.

You May Like: How Long Does Babybel Cheese Last Refrigerated

How To Buy The Cheese

I purchased the cheese from the deli at the local supermarket. Ask the person behind the to cut up some blocks of cheese. Once you get home, you can cut them into smaller sections if you choose.

Cutting them into smaller sections makes it easier for the smoke to penetrate the cheese. I chose to smoke mine as a full block.

The blocks should be big enough so they dont fall through the grates, meaning you dont want to smoke shredded cheese.

Using A Smoking Tube:

This process is ideal for smoking cheese in a Masterbuilt electric smoker, and similar models. You can store smoked cheeses like this in the fridge for up to 6 months.

Don’t Miss: Private Selection Multigrain Bread

How To Smoke Cheese

Smoked cheese has a delicious, nutty flavor thats unlike anything you will have tasted at the store. The good news is that its a lot simpler to make at home than you might think. Learn how to cold smoke cheese the easy way.

Is anything that cheese cant solve?

Its the perfect topping or side to any good BBQ dish, and delicious enough to stand alone.

Here are ten easy steps to help you smoke the best cheese this year.

How To Smoke Cheese In A Traeger Grill

May 31, 2021 by Shrey

In this post, we would discuss how to smoke cheese In Traeger to make the best-smoked cheese at home. It is pretty easy to do, so you will not have any issues following this recipe.

The supermarket cheese is enough for most people to go with the other food on their table. However, there is even a better way to make your cheese better for eating.

Smoking cheese is a popular way of making your cheese flavourful. It creates a lovely unique, rare flavor that comes with the flavorful block of cheese.

While it is pretty easy to do, some people often make mistakes by using the wrong type of grill or smoker, or they do not know at what setting they should put the grill on to smoke the cheese.

Since Traeger grills are one of the best grills that can smoke any food you want, it is pretty easy to do it in them. You need to know the proper technique and master it for the smoked cheese.

Here, we will teach you how to smoke cheese on a Traeger grill by showing you the step-by-step process and all the specifics that you need to know to smoke cheese perfectly.

• What Cheese Is Good For Smoking?

Read Also: What Does Brick Cheese Taste Like

Put Your Cheese Into The Grill

Now open the smoker and put your cheese on a small tray which you can find at any grocery store near the meat section. Then, close the lid.

Now you will have to wait for an hour before opening your smoker, dont forget to wear grill gloves while doing so. If you open the lid without wearing grill gloves it could burn your hands and that is something nobody wants happening. Because after all this work we want to eat cheese and not get rid of burned hand skin.

Turn Cheese Over Every 30 Minutes

Every thirty minutes, you need to turn the cheese. This will allow the smoke to reach each and every surface of the cheese for a fuller and more pronounced smokey flavor. Since you are going to be smoking the cheese for 2 hours, this means that each side of the blocks will get a chance to be down on the grates.

You May Like: Babybel Cheese Refrigerate

Best Pellets To Use For Smoking Cheese

When smoking cheese, opt for mild wood such flavors as cherry, apple, maple, or pecan. I filled my 12-inch A-Maze-N smoke tube with the applewood pellets.

I was able to salvage a handful of pellets that didnt burn at the end. Once youre more confident about smoking cheese, youll know exactly. how many pellets to put in the smoking device.

Wrap It In Paper And Put It In The Fridge For 24 Hours

When you have all of the cheese off of the grill, use the parchment paper, and wrap it up tightly. Try to make sure that every part of the cheese is completely covered so that it doesnt have a chance to lose its smokey flavor. After you have, it wrapped up, place the cheese in the fridge for 24 hours wrapped in the paper.

You May Like: Charcuterie Cutlery

How To Smoke Cheese: A Beginners Guide On Fancying Up Your Cheese

You know and love cheese with all your heart. But are you ready to level up your cheese?

Were talking about smoked cheeses. These delectable hunks of dairy have a complex flavor brought on by the smokiness and aging that makes them almost irresistible.

You can add them to charcuterie boards, shred them into sauces, put them in sandwiches, on crackers, or just munch on them as a snack.

The downside? Smoked cheeses can be pretty pricey. Luckily for us, smoking cheese at home is perfectly easy and doable.

If you have a smoker or grill, knowing how to smoke cheese can save you a ton of money. All you need is a good smoked cheese recipe.

So, how do you smoke cheese? We go into detail about the best cheeses to smoke and walk you through the entire smoking process. Sounds interesting to you? Stick around and find out more!