Saturday 31 October 2009

Smoked Cheese On The WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain)

Cold Smoked Cheese - The Easy Way!


I love cold smoked cheese and my WSM (Weber Smokey Mountain) hasn't been used for a really long time, so I went out and bought 2 types of Cheddar and some Red Leicester cheese.


Cheese loaded onto the top grill, I used the lower grill to rest the ProQ Cold Smoke Generator on and also left the water pan out.
Cheese is in the smoker, lid on and I'm just waiting for the candle to get the dust smouldering in the smoke generator.

Dust is smouldering, so into the smoker goes the Cold Smoke Generator (luckily the door on the WSM is large enough for it to go through).

Now comes the hard part...
What to do for 2-3 hours while the smoke works it magic??? I decided to set up the Scalelectrix, so I could play with 2 of my boys.
The ProQ Cold Smoke Generator will run for up to 10 hours on a full load of dust (100grams), but on this occasion I only needed a max of 3 hours, so once it was all done, I just moved some of the dust away from the smouldering bit, this I will use on the next batch.

Cheese is ready to come off after 3 hours.

I just have to pat it dry with some kitchen towel, wrap it in cling film and leave it to rest overnight in the refridgerator (some people suggest resting it for up to a week, but I can't wait that long).That's it, SIMPLE!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Smoked Foods

There are 2 types of smoking, Hot and Cold. These processes are 2 completely different methods for preparing food. Hot smoking cooks the food, whilst Cold smoking is a part of the process designed to cure food that will, in most cases, be cooked at a later stage. No one can be sure of when it all started, but it was probably discovered, by accident, sometime during the Stone Age. In the case of Hot Smoking, you can imagine a group of hunters bringing meat back to their cave and hanging it above the fire they used for warmth. Cold Smoking/ Curing may have been discovered in this manner... picture freshly caught sea fish, being filleted on site and then left to soak in a rock pool for a few hours, before being returned to the cave where it was hung further away from the fire, possibly nearer to the roof, where the smoke gathered. In both scenarios, man might have been pleased with the resulting flavour (he may even have been given a hearty smack on the back, known as a pat, from the people sharing the meal, to show their approval). He may have also noticed, in the case of the fish, that the food lasted a lot longer, without spoiling. As with most men, he more than likely got impatient, whilst waiting for his meal and ended up by first moving the meat closer to the fire (Barbecuing) and finally, by throwing meat directly onto the fire (Grilling).