In this post, we would discuss how to smoke cheese In Traeger to make the best-smoked cheese at home. It is pretty easy to do, so you will not have any issues following this recipe.
The supermarket cheese is enough for most people to go with the other food on their table. However, there is even a better way to make your cheese better for eating.
Smoking cheese is a popular way of making your cheese flavourful. It creates a lovely unique, rare flavor that comes with the entire block of cheese.
While it is pretty easy to do, some people often make mistakes by using the wrong type of grill or smoker, or they do not know at what setting they should put the grill on to smoke the cheese.
Since Traeger grills are one of the best grills that can smoke any food you want, it is pretty easy to do it in them. You need to know the proper technique and master it for the smoked cheese.
Here, we will teach you how to smoke cheese on a Traeger grill by showing you the step-by-step process and all the specifics that you need to know to smoke cheese perfectly.
Setting Up The Grill
This is the first part of the process, and you need to make sure that you have everything ready for cooking. Setting up the Traeger grill is pretty easy, but it also depends on the model.
For most, you will just need to fill up the pellet hopper with the best wood pellets to smoke cheese. You can even match the flavors of the cheese that you have with the wood pellets available.
The best wood pellets to smoke cheese with are the ones with a mild or sweet flavor. Using hardwood smoker pellets can overpower the flavor of the cheese so get ones with milder flavors like apple and pecan pellets.
Just fill-up the pellet hopper of your Traeger grill with the best wood pellets to smoke cheese and set the temperature to the lowest setting. If possible, go with low temperatures under 90 degrees Fahrenheit for smoking the cheese.
If your grill has it available, then turn the Super Smoke feature on. We will talk about this feature, later on, to see what it can do and bring to the cheese that you want to smoke.
Although the Traeger cold smoker has been discontinued, you can still get other cold smoke attachments aside from the Traeger cold smoke accessory since most will fit on the grill.
There is also a unique way to smoke cheese on the Traeger grill to not necessarily let the cheese melt. We will be following this recipe to see if it smokes the cheese perfectly.
Traeger grill is the best smoker for cheese but you do need to make sure that you set it up properly.
Remember that this process has a learning curve, so you will most likely get it wrong the first time. However, it would be really helpful if you do it frequently to adjust and cook it easily.
Smoking Cheese On A Traeger Grill
Traeger grills are known for being very powerful when it comes to cooking so can you smoke cheese on a Traeger grill? Yes, you definitely can smoke cheese on a Traeger grill with this simple guide.
Make sure to go to the grocery store on a cool day and get the important things you need for smoking cheese like disposable aluminum pans or tins, smoker tubes, mild, hard, or semi-hard cheeses, and more.
Step 1: Prepare The Pans
In this process, you will need two aluminum pans or tins, or if you have a deep tray, that will do. This process is called cold smoking cheese, so it is not the usual smoking technique that you know.
First, you need to fill up the larger tray with ice or put it halfway, and then you can add some water into the process. Put the smaller pan on top of the ice and then place the cheese on it properly.
For this part of the process, I often prefer to put some barbecue sticks on the pan before putting the cheese on it, so it does not stick to the aluminum pan you have for smoking.
Just cut some BBQ sticks in half and then place them on the bottom of the pan. Place the cheese on top of the sticks and then make sure that you place the cheese in the center of it.
Step 2: Prepare The Traeger Grill (Super Smoke)
Once you get the right temperature on the grill, turn the Super Smoke on if it is available. This is a feature that some Traeger grills have to enhance the smoking capabilities of the grill.
The Super Smoke feature is also one of the reasons why the Traeger grill is the best smoker for cheese. May it be hot-smoked cheese or cold-smoked cheese, the Traeger grill can do it.
Super Smoke is a feature that releases pure smoke from the pellets or wood that you use as fuel. This makes them perfect for creating thick and flavorful smoke to induce into the cheese.
If this feature is available with your Traeger grill, then you need to take advantage of it and use it. It will help coat the cheese with smoky flavors without using too much heat in the process.
Step 3: Smoke The Cheese
Place the tray of ice on the grill grate and then put the tray with cheese on top of the other tray. Close the lid of the grill and then allow the cheese to smoke for at least an hour.
Check the cheese after an hour and see if it has changed its color a little bit. The outer parts will have a deeper orange color and some hints of yellow in the middle for yellow cheeses.
Close the grill again and allow the cheese to smoke more. On average, smoking cheese on the grill usually takes more than 2 hours and will even get up to 4 hours to get the right texture.
Step 4: Let It Rest
Since you elevate the cheese slightly from the pan or tray, there is no need to flip the cheese over during the smoking process. Just let it smoke for the time being until it is done.
Once it is done, get it out of the grill and wrap it immediately in parchment paper. Let it rest for about 5 minutes at room temperature to cool it down a little and then place it on a plate.
Once it is cool enough, place the cheese in an airtight container and then put it inside the fridge and rest for up to 3 days. After two to three days, bring it out of the fridge and then cut it into smaller pieces before serving.
How To Eat Smoked Cheese?
It is easy to learn how to eat smoked cheese are you barely need to do anything. You just need to cut the cheese into smaller pieces and then serve them on the table.
For softer cheeses like smoked cream cheese on Traeger or pellet grills/smoker, you can serve them as a dip or as garnish on some of your favorite snacks.
Smoked cream cheese on pellet grills/smoker or Traeger grills are a little bit harder to manage because of the super soft texture. So make sure that you have a plate ready for serving or storing it in the fridge.
Can You Go With Higher Temperatures?
Most grills do not have the temperature range to go as low as 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the temperature that you need to cold smoke the cheese properly to melt easily.
One of the most-asked questions on the website is whether or not they can smoke cheese at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This is possible, but you will need to smoke it for a shorter cooking time.
Hot-smoked cheese is possible in the best smoker for cheese like Traeger but you will need some accessories or features like the Super Smoke to perfect it.
Unlike the four-hour smoking or cooking time at 90 degrees, you will need to smoke the cheese faster. Smoking the cheese for two hours or even less will be enough for higher temperatures.
If you decide to make hot-smoked cheese, make sure that you use the right type of cheese and that you do not do it for a long time.
What Cheese Is Good For Smoking?
You can smoke almost any kind of cheese, but you need to know their melting point. For smoking cheese, I prefer using cheeses with high melt temperature so they turn out great.
Such are Gouda, Cheddar, Swiss, and sometimes Mozzarella. These are my favorites, and you can also easily practice smoking cheese with them as they are relatively cheaper than most.
There are also other cheeses that you can smoke. Refer to your cheese expert and ask for a harder cheese to smoke so you do not have to deal with low melting points.
Some people can also do smoked cream cheese on pellet grills/smokers. If you want smoked cream cheese on the Traeger grill, make sure to check if it is possible and get the right accessories.
The main thing you need to remember is that you smoke the cheese at the right temperature. That way, you will not let the cheese melt during the smoking process.
The icing technique above is one way to smoke cheese and make sure it does not melt easily. The water and ice counter have too much heat so the cheese is perfectly smoked.
Aside from the Traeger cold smoke accessory, you can also get smoke tubes if you are having a hard time finding the Traeger cold smoker as it has been discontinued.
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