The Homestead acquired a new appliance a few weeks ago.
An electric Smoker. We should have bought one at least 25 years ago, I probably spent as much money as a smoker on store bought smoked gouda over the years.
By now you can guess what was the first thing that went into the smoker, yup, CHEESE.
I love cheese. Who doesn’t love cheese? (If they don’t, they are weird) So I googled how to smoke cheese and its pretty darn simple; add some wood chips (we used Apple) set the temperature for NO HIGHER than 90F (32C) and leave in the smoker for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours. We did have a heck of time keeping the wood chips going as the low temperature selected meant the heating element wasn’t hot enough to light the wood chips. The solution was to open the little exterior drawer where the chips were and light them with a propane torch.
I smoked two types of cheese, Gouda and Swiss. The Swiss cheese we tried out on Montreal Smoked Meat Sammies, which reinforced and highlighted the “smoked” flavour in the sandwich title. We will definitely be using the smoked Swiss in those sammies from now on.
As for the gouda ~ I haven’t had a taste yet, but I am planning a smoked gouda “white pizza” very, very soon, so will report back afterward.
Meanwhile, the next item smoked was salmon (oh so yummy) as well a chipotle rubbed pork tenderloin, both of which turned out AMAZING! We will definitely be getting a lot of use out of this new appliance, the possibilities are endless!
I have been cruising websites looking for different ideas and recipes that will certainly get tested out over the summer. If you have been sitting on the fence about getting a smoker, I highly recommend you get off the fence and get one! You won’t regret it.
Deborah
Deb, my dad was known for his smoked cheese. Every year at Thanksgiving time, this was an activity that he always did. Tons of smoked cheese and then vacuum packed. He was known for this and all family members were the happy recipients of his cheeses. Along with friends and neighbors. After he died, my brother and I kept the tradition alive and well and this past year we smoked, Gouda (one of our favorites), Swiss, hot pepper, cheddar, provolone, jarlsberg, and a white cheddar. Probably about 20 pounds total. All cut to gift/snack sized bars and sent home to all kids and family members. I absolutely love home smoked cheese. Good choice on the chips too. We use Apple and cherry and sometimes a combo of both.
Oh Anne Thank you for the info! I absoloutely LOVE smoked cheeses (although my cholesterol count doesn’t) 😉 I want to branch out into different cheeses over the course of the summer :)Great to hear of your love of smoked cheese!