smoked cheese
-
johnsbrewhouse There was a bit of oil but I loosely wrapped them in parchment paper and refrigerated for 24 hours. Dried them up real good. Forgot to mark the two white cheeses so had to sample to decide which was the horseradish. Not fond of the fresh smoked taste, though. It’ll mellow well I think.
wdaly Try wrapping them in plain butcher paper next time. Parchment paper has silicone in it to make it water resistant as well as non-stick. Sometimes it won’t absorb oil as well as just plain old butcher paper. Freezer paper will work to, just turn it over to the non shiny side when you wrap it.
-
Finally had time and could temps so smoked some cheese. Now the hard part… Waiting three weeks to sample. Thanks glen for the advice on cold smoking in the Masterbuilt. Used a Wedge and apple wood pellets. Color on the cheese is great.

wdaly Ahhhhhhhh! Yep, that’s a great look on that cheese and don’t peek for 2-3 weeks. I just finished all of my smoked cheeses. Time to get out there in the cold weather and do some cold smokin’ once again.
-
I usually do several types. It is so hard to not eat them before 2 weeks of mellowing.
-
wdaly Try wrapping them in plain butcher paper next time. Parchment paper has silicone in it to make it water resistant as well as non-stick. Sometimes it won’t absorb oil as well as just plain old butcher paper. Freezer paper will work to, just turn it over to the non shiny side when you wrap it.
johnsbrewhouse Thanks. As I was getting the parchment paper out, I thought “Why not use butcher paper?”. Then went ahead with parchment paper. Next time it’ll be butcher paper for sure.
-
Finally had time and could temps so smoked some cheese. Now the hard part… Waiting three weeks to sample. Thanks glen for the advice on cold smoking in the Masterbuilt. Used a Wedge and apple wood pellets. Color on the cheese is great.

wdaly great looking product there.
-
Finally had time and could temps so smoked some cheese. Now the hard part… Waiting three weeks to sample. Thanks glen for the advice on cold smoking in the Masterbuilt. Used a Wedge and apple wood pellets. Color on the cheese is great.

wdaly Good looking cheese. I’ve smoked up about 57 lbs so far this Fall & Winter. Still have about 15 lbs. more to go. I usually just plastic wrap and then vacuum pack. Ready to go in about 15 days. Gotta luv smoked cheese it’s easy to make and enjoyed by almost everyone.
-
Finally had time and could temps so smoked some cheese. Now the hard part… Waiting three weeks to sample. Thanks glen for the advice on cold smoking in the Masterbuilt. Used a Wedge and apple wood pellets. Color on the cheese is great.

-
samspade said in smoked cheese:
I usually do several types. It is so hard to not eat them before 2 weeks of mellowing.
That’s my problem as well.
-
wdaly Good looking cheese. I’ve smoked up about 57 lbs so far this Fall & Winter. Still have about 15 lbs. more to go. I usually just plastic wrap and then vacuum pack. Ready to go in about 15 days. Gotta luv smoked cheese it’s easy to make and enjoyed by almost everyone.
Bob Stehlik Just out of curiosity. Why do you wrap in plastic before vac sealing. I’ve always just vac sealed mine. Does the plastic wrap help with the aging?
-
Bob Stehlik Just out of curiosity. Why do you wrap in plastic before vac sealing. I’ve always just vac sealed mine. Does the plastic wrap help with the aging?
wdaly Don’t wrap in plastic wrap with cheese. But, do wrap when I make burgers if I don’t freeze first. With meat, it keeps more of the moisture with the meat while vacuuming. Will wait for the reasoning. Maybe, it’s just preference.
-
Bob Stehlik Just out of curiosity. Why do you wrap in plastic before vac sealing. I’ve always just vac sealed mine. Does the plastic wrap help with the aging?
wdaly said in smoked cheese:
Bob Stehlik Just out of curiosity. Why do you wrap in plastic before vac sealing. I’ve always just vac sealed mine. Does the plastic wrap help with the aging?
I wrap in plastic wrap as well. The reason is I usually let it set in the fridge to make sure it’s good and cold before I vac seal. I wrap for that step to protect the cheese from any odors/flavors from the fridge. Then when I seal, I just put it in there still wrapped.
-
Bob Stehlik Just out of curiosity. Why do you wrap in plastic before vac sealing. I’ve always just vac sealed mine. Does the plastic wrap help with the aging?
wdaly I use the plastic wrap because I use a new vac bag each time I vac the cheese, therefore the plastic wrap will help keep the bag clean so it can be reused for veggies etc. If you reuse a vac bag for your cheese, you may introduce something that may cause mold. Plus after you take the cheese out of the vac bag you can re-wrap a couple of times. I never freeze my cheeses ( except for Mozz). We’ve eaten the plastic wrapped/vac wrapped cheese after a year and the only thing noticeable is some of the salt on the surface. This method has worked well for me for many, many years.
-
wdaly I use the plastic wrap because I use a new vac bag each time I vac the cheese, therefore the plastic wrap will help keep the bag clean so it can be reused for veggies etc. If you reuse a vac bag for your cheese, you may introduce something that may cause mold. Plus after you take the cheese out of the vac bag you can re-wrap a couple of times. I never freeze my cheeses ( except for Mozz). We’ve eaten the plastic wrapped/vac wrapped cheese after a year and the only thing noticeable is some of the salt on the surface. This method has worked well for me for many, many years.
Bob Stehlik said in smoked cheese:
wdaly I never freeze my cheeses ( except for Mozz). We’ve eaten the plastic wrapped/vac wrapped cheese after a year and the only thing noticeable is some of the salt on the surface.
This is interesting. So you’ve kept cheese like this in your fridge for a year without mold, etc? I don’t love freezing it, but am always worried it will go bad.
-
Bob Stehlik said in smoked cheese:
wdaly I never freeze my cheeses ( except for Mozz). We’ve eaten the plastic wrapped/vac wrapped cheese after a year and the only thing noticeable is some of the salt on the surface.
This is interesting. So you’ve kept cheese like this in your fridge for a year without mold, etc? I don’t love freezing it, but am always worried it will go bad.
Midwest_kc That’s correct. We have a small fridge that’s just for cheese. I let the cheese cool before plastic wrapping and the vac-pac a few days later. We are very careful about the surfaces we work on so as not to contaminate the cheese with any spores. In fact, if we give someone smoked cheese, we tell them to change the wrapper every other time they open it and to always slice the cheese on a clean surface with a clean knife.
However, I do have to say I do a heavy smoke on my cheeses. -
Bob Stehlik said in smoked cheese:
wdaly I never freeze my cheeses ( except for Mozz). We’ve eaten the plastic wrapped/vac wrapped cheese after a year and the only thing noticeable is some of the salt on the surface.
This is interesting. So you’ve kept cheese like this in your fridge for a year without mold, etc? I don’t love freezing it, but am always worried it will go bad.
Midwest_kc Bob Stehlik Re: Freezing Cheese. The guy in charge of Grandpa’s Cheese Barn (Ashland, OH) and another cheese monger in Middlefield, OH (just can’t remember the name) both stated all cheese can be frozen. Just remember to place in the fridge (&only the fridge) for at least 3 days. It will come out perfect.
-
Finally had time and could temps so smoked some cheese. Now the hard part… Waiting three weeks to sample. Thanks glen for the advice on cold smoking in the Masterbuilt. Used a Wedge and apple wood pellets. Color on the cheese is great.

wdaly You’re welcome! Looks like a great outcome
-
Midwest_kc Bob Stehlik Re: Freezing Cheese. The guy in charge of Grandpa’s Cheese Barn (Ashland, OH) and another cheese monger in Middlefield, OH (just can’t remember the name) both stated all cheese can be frozen. Just remember to place in the fridge (&only the fridge) for at least 3 days. It will come out perfect.
zbigjeff Thanks for the good info on freezing
-
Midwest_kc Bob Stehlik Re: Freezing Cheese. The guy in charge of Grandpa’s Cheese Barn (Ashland, OH) and another cheese monger in Middlefield, OH (just can’t remember the name) both stated all cheese can be frozen. Just remember to place in the fridge (&only the fridge) for at least 3 days. It will come out perfect.
zbigjeff thanks never thought about freezing cheese. That opens up some options for me.
-
Midwest_kc Bob Stehlik Re: Freezing Cheese. The guy in charge of Grandpa’s Cheese Barn (Ashland, OH) and another cheese monger in Middlefield, OH (just can’t remember the name) both stated all cheese can be frozen. Just remember to place in the fridge (&only the fridge) for at least 3 days. It will come out perfect.
zbigjeff That is good to know.
-
Midwest_kc Bob Stehlik Re: Freezing Cheese. The guy in charge of Grandpa’s Cheese Barn (Ashland, OH) and another cheese monger in Middlefield, OH (just can’t remember the name) both stated all cheese can be frozen. Just remember to place in the fridge (&only the fridge) for at least 3 days. It will come out perfect.
zbigjeff Thanks for that info. I’ve always had problems with yellow and aged cheeses when I froze them. They would tend to be crumbly. However, I don’t think I was thawing them out properly. (I tend to be impatient sometimes; well MOST of the time!)
I’m definitely going to try the 3 day fridge routine.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
