This post is about using my Bradley Smoker to make smoked cheese. If you want to see a how to on smoking cheese, see my post Smoking Cheese.
I love smoked cheese and make it a couple of times a year. Normally I use a smoke generator to cold smoke, but I have my Bradley P10 smoker and wanted to try it for smoking cheese.
The Bradley lets you just operate the smoke generator in the unit. That allows you to get smoke without turning the heat elements on. However, the smoke generator creates some heat itself, so I waited for a cold day.
Another thing about the Bradley, it generates a stronger smoke than my tube smoker, so I reduced the smoking time.
I cut old cheddar, Jalapeno Monterey Jack, gouda, Havarti, and Swiss cheese into blocks and put them on one of the smoker racks and into the smoker.
The temperature was -3 C (27 F) when I put the cheese in. I let the smoke run for an hour (3 pucks) and used apple pucks.
At the end of the smoke, the temperature in the chamber was 20 C (68 F). This is more than cool enough for a cold smoke. However, If I wanted to go longer, I would have to add some large blocks of ice to moderate the temperature.
The cheese didn’t discolour as much as it does at higher temperatures, and I was a little concerned about having enough smoke flavour.
However, I vacuum packed the cheese and let it sit for two weeks and tried some of the old cheddar. Just the way I like it. A nice mild smooth smoke hit.
The Verdict
The Bradley did great and I will do another batch at the end of the winter, but I may add a block of ice to see how it affects the smoke.
The Old Fat Guy
4 Responses
I have you book on the way but I have a question on cold smoking. Can I cold smoke a pork belly to make bacon in my P10. You mentioned adding an ice block, where exactly would you place it?
Thank you, Jon
Yes, you can make cold smoke pork bacon in your P10. Just turn the smoke generator on and not the heat element. However, if it is a warm day, it can still get warm enough to “cook” or hot smoke versus a cold smoke. You can lower the temperature with a block of ice. The trick is to make sure the ice doesn’t drip on the bacon as it melts. I freeze large plastic juice bottles full of water. I then put them in a pan and into the smoker. You can use several to lower the temperature more. The melting water stays in the bottles and any condensation stays in the pan. You will want to have several in the freezer to replace the ones that thaw as you smoke.
My P10 will not just smoke.
I cannot smoke cheese.
It will just smoke but the heater for the pucks does generate some heat. You can either smoke on a very cold day or add trays of ice to reduce the temperature.