Cheese and Eggs Smoked

4/23/2017 – A cool front blew through last night and we have the last really cool day of spring. When the wind began to blow about 1:30 AM I thought I should try cold smoking the cheese blocks still around and some hard boiled eggs. At 1:30 AM took the cheddar, Monterey Jack and Pepper Jack cheese blocks out of the refer to come to room temp. Also added a small square thin block of Parmigiano rigatoni cut from a piece of rhine. At 4:30 am boiled 5 eggs.

Cut the cheese into butter-stick size long blocks. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolk. Make a shallow “pan” with foil to hold the yolks in the smoker besides the half-whites.

7:15 – Put the tray or cheese and a 1/8 tray of 10 egg whites with yolk in an aluminum tray on the 2nd and 3rd grate in the MES. Ambient temp 55 and box temp is 61.5. MES is not on. Good movement and lots of smoke. View Through door window shows hazy white smoke.

8:15 – Ambient temp 56 and box temp is 60.5. Good movement and lots of smoke. View in door window shows hazy white smoke.

10:30 – Pulled eggs. Smoke has quit as the single row in the Amazen tray had burned out. Started another tray with two rows loaded.

Ate lunch with Kelley, Piper and Olivia of the 3rd pastrami cook in Rueben style sandwiches. Repaired the wires in the irrigation system from when the tiller hit them.

1:30 – Ambient temp 69 and box temp is 68. Good movement and lots of smoke with only the cheese.

2:30 – Ambient temp 71 and box temp is 70. Very slow lazy smoke coming from the top port. As the  temp difference between the ambient and box has grown closer they speed of the smoke has slowed down to almost nothing.

3:30 – Ambient temp 71 and box temp is 70. Very slow lazy smoke coming from the top port. Pulled cheese to rest inside. It has a similar musty smokey smell of the first cheese smoke with the other blend pellets rather than pecan as used in today.

5:30 – Smell has dissipated as it now has the house smelling like that. Cheese tastes fine as no creosote or nasty taste and not dry. But, nothing special. Before going to bed put it into a ziplock bag unzipped so it will breathe and not collect condensation. That is the advice from FoamHeart at SMF

4/29/2017 – 6 days later removed a block of cheddar and pepper jack and there was no condensation. Let it warm up then sliced. It still has some of the musty ashy taste. Not bad but not pleasant. Put open ziplock bag back into the wine refer.

5/7/2017 – Two weeks since the smoke – Still no condensation. Tried slices off the ends of a piece of cheddar and pepper jack. They were much milder and have lost a lot of the musty smokey smell and taste.  This could be worth the trouble.