Cold Smoked Cheese

There is a period of time following the end of deer, waterfowl and small game seasons, when spring and turkey season is still a little too far away, that I just don’t enjoy. My solution to that the past few years has been to head south and do some fishing. But when I’m back home in the Midwest, I take advantage of the cold weather and stock up on smoked cheese.

Winter is the perfect time to cold smoke some cheese to go with your summer sausage. All images by Michael Pendley

Cheese is good, but smoked cheese is even better. The problem with smoking cheese, though, is that it melts once temperatures get above 90 degrees or so. So how do you get smoke and keep temperatures low at the same time? There are several ways, but the easiest by far is jus to use a pellet grill and a smoke tube. It doesn’t even have to be a pellet grill, just any non-flammable chamber. Using the racks of a grill makes it handy.

Cold smoking is easiest when the outdoor temperatures are low.

What is a smoke tube? It is just a long, perforated metal tube that you fill with the same pellets you use in your grill. Once full, simply use a torch to light one end of the pellets so that they slowly smolder away, smoking the entire time without raising the temperature so much that the cheese melts. I have a couple from Pit Boss.

Smoke tubes make cold smoking easy by slowly burning pellets to create smoke without much heat.

The other is rectangular with a maze of dividers that force the pellets to burn in a slow back and forth pattern. They both work well and I use them both when cooking large cuts of BBQ like brisket or pork butt to add even more smoke flavor than I get with the grill by itself.

If you need longer smoke times, look into the maze shaped smokers that will smoke steadily for hours.

When the temperature drops below 40 degrees or so, you can run both tubes at once in your pellet grill, adding a ton of smoke flavor to your cheese. If you need to push the upper limits of outdoor temps for cold smoking, try putting a pan of ice under your cheese to keep temperatures down.

What kind of cheese can you smoke? The possibilities are almost endless. Any semi firm cheese will work. My favorites are cheddar, Swiss, provolone, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or anything along those lines. I like 8-ounce to 1-pound blocks so that the surface area grabs a lot of smoke flavor. Larger blocks don’t yield as much interior flavor once sliced. You can even smoke seasoned blocks of cream cheese to make the perfect dip for crackers or apple slices.

Just about any firm or semi firm cheese is a good candidate for smoking.

What do you do with smoked cheese? Snack away. My favorite is to put a slice on top of a piece of venison summer sausage on a cracker. Or just on a cracker by itself. It is also really tasty on a grilled burger, especially with some BBQ sauce and crispy bacon.

To smoke using the smoke tubes, simply place the unwrapped blocks of cheese directly on an upper rack on your smoker. Keep the cheese more or less centered. Fill up the smoke tubes with pellets and place to one side, or, if using a pair, on either side of the cheese, on the lower rack.

Use a propane torch to light one end of the smoke tubes until you see the end pellets start to glow red and smoke. Once you are certain the pellets are going, shut the lid and walk away. I like to let the cheese smoke for about 2 hours. You can adjust your time longer or shorter depending on just how much smoke flavor you enjoy. I usually check on the pellets to make sure they are smoking about 15 minutes in. If they aren’t, just relight. When doing multiple blocks of cheese, I usually rotate their placement on the grill after about an hour in so that all the blocks get a nice, even smoke flavor. Monitor your smoker temperature. I’ve found the cheese takes smoke flavor best between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. If your smoke chamber is colder than 40, increase your smoke times to four or even six hours.

Place the cheese in the center of the smoker with the smoke generator to either or both sides so that the heat from the smoking pellets doesn’t melt the cheese.

Once your cheese is smoked to your liking, remove it from the grill and allow it to rest at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight. To prevent mold during storage, I like to wear disposable kitchen gloves when handling the cheese, both before and after smoking. Oil and contaminants from your skin can speed mold while the cheese is stored, even in the refrigerator. For long term storage, vacuum seal the blocks and stash in the fridge for up to 3 months. You can freeze smoked cheese, but it will change the texture. It is still good for cooking, but doesn’t slice well after freezing. If you need longer storage time than 3 months, look into wax sealing for your cheese. The smoke flavor will intensify as the cheese ages. I try for 8-10 days of aging before I eat it.

Vacuum seal the smoked cheese and age it in the refrigerator for at least a week for maximum flavor.

Smoked cheese makes a perfect snack for an afternoon watching football, or in the ice shack while jigging for perch. I even save a few blocks and slice it up for an in the field lunch during turkey season.