Jump to content

Made it .....


Icefever

Recommended Posts

13 minutes ago, Justin said:

Nice idea and I will try that next time.  How long do you leave the cheese?  I am working on Wades idea do leave for 2 hours before vacpaccing and then 4 weeks minimum in fridge vacced.

It has 15 mins left in smoker for a 3 hour smoke, not wanting it too smoky

Depends on the quantity I have smoked. I did over 3 kgs and four different cheeses (not all for me), last time so left them loosely bagged but airtight overnight in a big plastic food container before vacuuming packing them next morning for minimum 3 weeks before starting on them and giving them out. 

I usually do 2 or 3 blocks though around a kg in total a time as they only last around 3 weeks before they are all devoured in my household, once ready to eat and as  it only takes 2.5 - 3 hours to smoke a new batch, not a real problem to keep on top of it as no prep needed. 

So for those smaller quantities I just either ziploc bag them for 3 weeks to settle or if they came in those resealable packaging you buy them in,  just stick them back in there, works just as well, I find and for my tastes smoked cheddar is at its best 3-6 weeks after smoking any longer it seems to get a little dry and hard for sandwiches. if keeping any longer I would probably vacuum pack them as less chance of mould developing over the longer period of time you want to keep them. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, sotv said:

Depends on the quantity I have smoked. I did over 3 kgs and four different cheeses (not all for me), last time so left them loosely bagged but airtight overnight in a big plastic food container before vacuuming packing them next morning for minimum 3 weeks before starting on them and giving them out. 

I usually do 2 or 3 blocks though around a kg in total a time as they only last around 3 weeks before they are all devoured in my household, once ready to eat and as  it only takes 2.5 - 3 hours to smoke a new batch, not a real problem to keep on top of it as no prep needed. 

So for those smaller quantities I just either ziploc bag them for 3 weeks to settle or if they came in those resealable packaging you buy them in,  just stick them back in there, works just as well, I find and for my tastes smoked cheddar is at its best 3-6 weeks after smoking any longer it seems to get a little dry and hard for sandwiches. if keeping any longer I would probably vacuum pack them as less chance of mould developing over the longer period of time you want to keep them. 

I left them for one hour outside, and just as the surface started to crack i vacced them individually and put in fridge. Will taste after 5 weeks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Raptor72 said:

So vac packing and the smoke stops it from going off ? 

It does not stop it from going off however both hard and medium hard cheeses have a "best before" date (not a "use by" date) and some of these can be several months. The harder the cheese the longer they will keep. The smoke will have a mild antibacterial effect and so will help to preserve it. It is important to allow the surface of the cheese to dry after smoking (the smoking process creates quite a lot of moisture) and if you vac pack it too soon it is more likely to grow a mould after a couple of months.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Smoked some cheese the other day and had some leftover red  babybels from the grandkids visit. So took the wax off let them get to room temperature and only let the babybels smoke for 45 minutes before removing them.

Had one on the evening that was really tasty. Left the rest clingfilmed in the fridge for another 48 hours and had them with some Italian ham and red onion chutney, and some gruyere cheese sticks with a nice glass of red, delicious. Definitely doing them again, nice bit of supper and bite size pieces. Shame I have to regulate how much I can eat now though as 7 or 8 are definitely doable in one go. 😀

Recommend trying i, especially if you see them on offer at your supermarket.

Edited by sotv
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...