This guide on how to smoke cheese on a Pit Boss Smoker is something that you should learn.
This process is a way to upgrade the flavor and texture of your favorite cheese.
Smoking cheese is not like the usual process of smoking meat on an electric, vertical, or horizontal smoker.
But can you smoke cheese as you risk melting the cheese at a high temperature, and the result will not be as pleasing as you would expect it to be?
The problem with this is that not many appliances can go as low as the temperature required to smoke cheese.
Unfortunately, the temperature is too low for cooking food.
Pit Boss Smokers are known to be powerful and can get up to high temperatures like electric and vertical smokers of other brands.
While this is beneficial for smoking meat or cooking other foods, can you use it for smoking cheese? Well, not really.
However, the same smokers are also known for their amazing heat-retaining properties and temperature control.
So with a few tricks, can you really let it go down to the required temperature? Yes, but you will have to practice a lot.
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So if you are trying to learn how to smoke cheese or already know how to do it but are unsure whether can you do it with this powerful smoker, then we have a guide for you.
Setting Up The Smoker
The first thing that you can do to get the electric vertical smoker’s temperature as low as you can is to set it up properly. You can do this by placing the smoker under a shade before smoking.
If you have a patio, that is great, so you can always keep the heat balanced.
Setting up the electric vertical smoker under a shade ensures that it does not gather heat from the outside.
This is especially important when the weather outside is pretty hot.
That is why it is better if you cold smoke cheese during colder weather or the winter months.
The setup of the cooking grate is pretty basic, and you do not have to change anything.
You just need to add something to lower the temperature inside the cooking chamber.
See, even at the lowest setting, the temperature that a Pit Boss smoker releases is still too high for smoking cheese. That is why you need to apply some tricks to lower the heat.
One common thing that you can do is to set the smoker in the settings.
This means that you will not be using heat too much, instead, the smoker should produce only smoking inside it.
You can also use a smoke tube, a smoke tube is a small accessory where you can put the charcoal in and burn it slowly. This is a cold smoke attachment that you can buy separately.
It really is not that hard to use a smoke tube and it actually helps in lowering the temperature. See, a smoke tube does not really heat up as it will only ignite the wood for it to produce smoke.
Pit Boss also has a side cold smoke attachment that you can get separately. The cold smoke attachment is great but it does cost a lot more than just a simple smoke tube.
We will also take a look at the tricks that you can do during the process.
So let us get straight to it and smoke the cheese that you want with the help of this easy-to-follow guide.
Smoked Cheese In A Pit Boss Grill
Step 1: Prepare Everything You Need
For this process, you will need some things that you do not usually use when smoking food.
First, you need to get two trays, one large, and one smaller than the other tray.
You will also need a lot of ice for this process as it will help keep the temperature below the recommended temperature for smoking. Get some barbecue sticks as well for the cheese.
The cheese is pretty much easy to find, and you can smoke any type of cheese you want.
Get some parchment paper as well as you will need those to wrap the cheese later when done.
Step 2: Preheat The Smoker
Once you have everything prepared, set up the electric vertical smoker or grill and put the wood pellets on the hopper.
You can go with any type of pellet you want but I suggest something mild and fruity.
Wood pellets made from apple, cherry, and other fruit-bearing trees go well with cheese.
However, I do not suggest getting hardwood pellets as they will most likely overpower the flavor of the cheese.
So once you have your pellets, set the smoker to preheat and put the temperature to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is still too high, but it does not matter as it is only the preheat stage.
Close the lid of the smoker and allow it to preheat for about 15 minutes. This is not that long so make sure you have prepared the things you need long before you set up the smoker.
This will make sure that the heat is distributed evenly throughout the interior of the smoker.
After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and then let the smoker cool down.
This might take longer, but it is necessary as you need to go to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 3: Prepare The Cheese And Ice
While the smoker is preheating, prepare the cheese and the ice by first filling the larger tray with ice.
Make sure it goes all the way to the top of the tray so you will not have to refill.
Prepare the other tray and place the barbecue sticks on it.
The sticks will prevent the cheese from sticking to the tray, so make sure that you do not place the cheese directly.
You can also use a wire mesh cooking grate so you can get as much smoke as you want in the cheese.
Another trick you can do is to slice the cheeses into smaller pieces for more flavor.
Step 4: Smoke The Cheese
Once the temperature of the Pit Boss smoker reads between 90 degrees and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, place the large tray of ice on the cooking grate and then put the tray of cheese on top.
Close the lid of the smoker and then let it smoke for an hour. After the 1-hour mark, check if the cheese has a golden brown color on the outside and hardened a little bit.
Close the lid once again and let the cheese smoke for another hour. Adjust the ice or the pellets accordingly, make sure that the temperature does not go over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 5: Let It Rest
After a long 2 to 3 hours, check the cheese and see if it has attained the desired color. If so, remove them from the smoker and place them on a plate with parchment paper.
Wrap the cheese with the parchment paper but do not fully close it. Make sure that there is enough space for the moisture on the surface of the cheese to be released.
After the cheese has cooled down, wrap the parchment paper around and close it. Palace the cheese in the fridge for 2 to 3 days before consuming it for the best results.
Vacuum-sealed Storing The Cheese
You can just leave the cheese to rest in the fridge with the parchment paper or you can use the vacuum-sealed technique. This is a better way of storing the cheese in the fridge.
First, grab a zip-lock bag and a vacuum sealer, place the cheese inside the bag and then use the vacuum sealer to remove all the air. Next, place the cheese in the fridge.
If you do not have a vacuum sealer, then you can use the parchment paper method or make sure that you get as much air out of the bag as possible before storing it in the fridge.
This method is better since you can ensure that other foods will not contaminate the cheese in the fridge. However, the cheese gets better in time, so I suggest resting for at least two weeks.
Conclusion
Smoking cheese is a little tricky, especially if you use powerful cooking devices. The secret behind it is to always ensure that the temperature does not go over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
That can be hard with the Pit Boss smoker, but you will be able to reduce the temperature with some tricks. As you can see in the guide, a tray of ice will get you to lower the temperature.
You can get the cold smoke attachment if you are willing to spend extra as the cold smoke attachment from Pit Boss is one of the best accessories I have and it is a worthy investment.
You will also need to choose some hard types of cheese as they will be easier to manage since they do not melt easily. Follow the guide and you will have the best smoke-flavored cheese!
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