How To Smoke Cheese On Any Grill? [A STEP BY STEP GUIDE]

A well-smoked cheese can add a savory kick to sweeten any meal, especially when you smoke it from the comfort of your kitchen. Fortunately, you can smoke your cheese using any grill as long as you have all the requirements and the procedure is at your fingertips. So how do you smoke cheese on any grill?

The first step in perfectly smoking your cheese on any grill is ensuring you have all the essential supplies. With that, you can proceed to:

• Prepare the Cheese
• Prepare your smoker
• Smoke your cheese in cooler temperatures while rotating it regularly
• Seal the cheese and allow it to rest for sometime

If you want a super-easy way to smoke a delicious cheese at home, read on for details.

What You Need To Know When Smoking Cheese

While knowing how to smoke cheese is critical to making your cheese tasty, other important details will aid your efforts. Such details include;

• Different types of cheeses have different tastes and flavors
• The best way to smoke your cheese is using the cold method
• You will need to be patient to smoke great cheese
• Firm cheeses such as the pepper jack, cheddar, gouda, and hard mozzarella are great.

The Best Cheese To Smoke

The quality of the cheese that you purchase will always have a significant impact on your final products. Therefore, always ensure that you have the best cheese for your smoker.

Generally, any firm cheese that does not slip through your smoker grates is excellent since you can cold smoke for the best result.

Soft cheeses are quick to absorb smoke; this makes them a bit challenging to smoke. Moreover, they can melt quickly, which explains why you need to avoid them.

Essentials To Smoke Your Cheese

While wintertime is the best season for cheese smoking because you will be cold smoking, anytime can do fine. The critical point is that you should maintain your grill below 90 degrees. Some of the tools that you will need to make the process smooth are:

• A good smoker or smoke tube – A smoke tube will be helpful if your grill is not designed for cold smoking.
• The thermometer – the thermometer is essential because you will use it to set the right temperature.
• A tray of ice
• Wood chips
• Ziplock baggies

How To Smoke Cheese On Any Grill

Step 1: Prepare the Cheese

Once you have purchased your cheese, the next step is to prepare them ready for smoking. For instance, if your cheese comes in a huge block, you should consider chopping it down into smaller pieces. This is necessary as it enhances the even distribution of smoky flavor.

The next step is to place your cheese in the fridge to dry out and deter bacteria from finding their way to the cheese while smoking it.

Step 2: Prepare Your Smoker

Ensure your grill is clean to prevent infecting your cheese with bacteria and maintain its hygiene. In addition, to make sure that your cheese remains cool during the cooking process, prepare a baking sheet full of ice and put it under the grate that holds the cheese you are smoking.

Step 3: Smoke Your Cheese In Cooler Temperatures

Maintaining cooler temperatures is vital in ensuring that you smoke mouthwatering cheeses. Hence, it is essential to check your thermometer regularly to ensure that the grill/smoker maintains temperatures between 68 – 90 degrees.

The ice will prove helpful in maintaining steady cool temperatures during the smoking process. It takes an average of one to four hours to complete smoking.

It is important to note that smoking for a longer time gives you a more robust flavor. Therefore, how long you want to wait for your cheese highly depends on the preferred flavor intensity.

Step 4: Rotate Your Cheese

To guarantee even smokiness, you need to ensure that you rotate your cheese after every 30 minutes.

Step 5: Seal the Cheese and Let it rest.

The last step is to seal your cheese in a ziplock baggie and leave it in your fridge. Most people prefer leaving it in the fridge for two weeks to facilitate the settling of the smokiness evenly throughout the cheese. Nonetheless, if you did not smoke your cheese for a long time, 48 hours will be fine.

How Long To Smoke Cheese

If you want to smoke a delectable cheese, you should be patient. Cheese is not a type of meal that you smoke for thirty minutes and is ready to serve.

The actual cheese smoking period ranges between 1 – 4 hours. However, the bad news is that you will need to seal and leave the cheese in the refrigerator for two weeks before it is excellent to eat.

The rest period in the refrigerator is necessary as it allows it to mellow and develop. Further, the long resting time also helps to get rid of the acrid and harsh taste that you will notice immediately after finishing the smoking.

How To Smoke Cream Cheese

Smoking a block of cream cheese has recently become very popular. Who doesn’t love malty, creamy, cheesy dips?

To smoke cream cheese, you need simple ingredients, including cream Cheese and dry rubs. With your ingredients ready, the next step is to smoke your cream cheese by doing the following:

• Place your cream cheese on foil and put it in the freezer for ten minutes
• Determine the wrap that will be the most appropriate for your smoking
• Make lovely slits on the top of the cheese; the slits offer an excellent presentation
• Smoke the cream cheese on the available grill. A pellet grill or a smoker with wood chips will work well for you.

How To Cold Smoke Cheese

The richness and the complexity that comes with smoked cheese complements nearly everything. It can be excellent on nachos, burgers, pizza, or an appetizer platter. To perfectly cold smoke your cheese, temperature control is critical.

Since solid milk in cheese starts to melt at 90 degrees, keeping the internal temperatures on your smoker below 90 degrees is essential. Additional top tips that you should keep at the back of your mind when cold smoking your cheese includes;

• Smoking when it is cool outside makes it easier to maintain temperatures below 90 degrees. Nonetheless, if the weather is warm, you can use a foil of ice above and below the cheese to reduce the temperature.
• Ensure that the cheese is at room temperature before you can start smoking
• Cut the cheese into small pieces to facilitate even distribution of smoke.
• When smoking, constantly monitor the temperatures and keep them low.
• Turn the cheese after every thirty minutes.
• Maintain constant smoke; you can use wood chips or pellets regularly.
• Wrap your cheese and refrigerate them before eating.

How To Smoke Mac And Cheese

A good mac and cheese is a doozy to many, which explains why many people want to learn to make their own. To make great mac and cheese, you need the following tips;

• Use cast iron.
• Keep your smoker temperatures low to avoid overcooking your noodles and making your mac and cheese dry. The best practice is to keep the temperatures below 225 degrees.
• Use mild wood such as pecan wood, apple, or maple.
• Use flavor additions such as green chilies, bacon, lobster, and pulled pork to make your efforts notable. In other words, there is nothing wrong with being creative.

Conclusion

Smoking the best cheese on any grill should be an exciting process. All you need is to maintain the cool temperatures and ensure that you adhere to the procedure. In addition, paying attention to issues such as the type of smoking wood and being alert throughout the entire smoking will see you make a great meal. Other essential tips are keeping the smoke and light constant, turning your cheese regularly, and maintaining low temperatures.