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Smoked Cheese 101: Crafting Gourmet Flavors at Home

Smoked Cheese 101: Crafting Gourmet Flavors at Home

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If you love cheese, wait until you try it smoked.

My cheese obsession reached a whole ‘nother level once I learned how to smoke it. I might as well get you hooked too!

So, let’s get smokin’!

Why Smoke Cheese?

Three things:

  • Smoking cheese infuses it with deep, complex flavors. It’s fantastic for elevating your charcuterie board or cheese platter and impressing guests.
  • It’s incredibly rewarding. I swear you’ll feel like a seasoned pitmaster after successfully smoking cheese.
  • It’s the perfect way to rescue that impulse-buy cheese that’s been sitting in your fridge.

What Is the Best Cheese for Smoking?

Any hard or semi-hard cheese is fair game for smoking.

My personal faves include cheddar, gouda, Monterey Jack, and Swiss. They hold up well to heat without turning into a gooey mess.

Start with your favorite hard cheese. This way, you’ll be more familiar with the base flavor and better appreciate the added smokiness.

How to Smoke Cheese

You can smoke cheese on any smoker or grill, but I’m partial to my Big Green Egg.

The key is keeping your smoker low and slow—between 90°F and 100°F—to prevent the cheese from melting. Use an infrared thermometer for an accurate reading of your smoker’s temperature.

And always smoke in the shade and when it’s not too hot out. I only smoke when it’s 60 degrees or below.

Now, for the main event:

  1. Begin with an empty firebox.
  2. Fill your pellet tray smoker with your choice of wood pellets. (I like the milder woods like apple, cherry, and maple—or hickory if I want something stronger.)
  3. Light the pellets using a butane torch and let them burn to a smolder.
  4. Place the tray at the bottom of your Egg, then position the plate setter, legs up.
  5. Arrange the cheese on the grate above the plate setter. Leave an inch or two of space between each piece for the smoke to reach all those sides.
  6. If smoking a large batch, add a stacking grid. Optional: Use a non-stick grill mat to lay your cheese and keep it from your greasy grates.
  7. Check every 15–20 minutes to ensure the pellets haven’t caught fire.
  8. Smoke for 2–4 hours, flipping the cheese after one hour for even smoke.

No plate setter and pellet tray smoker? Another method is to set up your Egg (or any kamado grill) for two-zone cooking using a half-moon griddle.

To do this, burn a few pieces of used charcoal and one wood chunk on one side. Place the griddle on the opposite side, put the grill grate back in place, and smoke away!

Cooling and Aging

After your cheese has soaked up that delicious smoky flavor, it’s time to cool and age it:

  1. Remove the cheese from the smoker and let it cool at room temperature for an hour.
  2. Blot any sweat with paper towels.
  3. Wrap the cheese in parchment paper, then place it in a Ziploc bag or vacuum seal it.
  4. Store it in the fridge for at least two weeks to allow the smoke to mellow and the flavors to fully develop.

Can You Smoke Cheese in a Grill?

Absolutely! Your regular grill works just as fine.

If you have a tube smoker (you can buy one cheapo online), great! Fill it with wood pellets and lay it on one side of the grill. Torch the pellets until they’re burning, and start smoking.

You can also cold-smoke cheese without a fancy gadget:

  1. Pick any wood flavors you like, as long as they’re smaller chips. You want more smoke and less heat.
  2. Soak the chips in water for 45 minutes.
  3. Get a small pan or tin plate and heat your hardwood lump charcoal.
  4. Once your coals are white-hot, set the charcoal plate as far away from the grill grates as possible, on the opposite side from where you’ll put your cheese. This way, the cheese stays on the indirect side of the heat.
  5. Add a couple of chunks of your favorite wood to the burning charcoal, then throw in a handful of the soaked wood chips.
  6. Shut the lid and keep the vents wide open for a good smoke flow.

What if you cannot adjust the level of your grill grates or coal pan? Here’s a hack using ice and aluminum pans:

  1. Fill one aluminum pan with ice, place a wire rack over it, and assemble your cheese on the wire rack.
  2. For more distance from the heat, you can place another aluminum pan on your grill and stack the ice tray on top of it.
  3. Follow the previous steps on how to get your coals burning.
  4. Check every 30 minutes to ensure the ice is still good and there’s plenty of smoke going.
  5. Add more ice or wood chips as needed.

Final Thoughts

Remember, smoking cheese is all about experimentation. Play around with different woods and cheeses until you find your perfect combo.

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