Smoking cheese – Simply homemade smoked Gouda & Co.

Many of you can probably imagine that I love to experiment with food and love to try unusual ingredients and ways of preparing it. So I recently discovered smoking for myself and now I smoke just about everything. From ham and fish to eggs and tofu.

But why smoke only meat and fish when you can add a subtle smoky flavor to so many other ingredients?

That’s why I once tried smoking cheese. I’ll just say one thing: it’s super easy and the result has so far impressed everyone. Smoking cheese is actually the easiest way to do it and I have tested it.

What you need to smoke cheese and how to do it, I show you in this article.

Finished smoked gouda cheese, meat, egg, trout and tofu

Prepare the cheese for smoking

Basically, you can smoke almost any cheese, since the smoking process is called cold smoking. This means that by burning very fine wood shavings, the smoking flour, cold smoke is produced which coats the cheese and other smoked goods.

Because of the cold smoke, you don’t have to worry about the cheese melting. It is best to smoke outside at outside temperatures between 10-20°C. Fat and not so hard cheese such as Gouda, mountain cheese, Edam or Camembert is especially suitable.

Gouda sticks are on the grill for smoking

When preparing the cheese, you have the choice of whether you prefer it to be „natural“ or refined with spices. Halve the cheese or cut it into smaller pieces. Camembert and Co. I usually halve, Gouda and other firmer cheeses I prefer to cut into cheese sticks, as this gives the sticks a smoky taste.

If you like you can experiment with spices. Take a casserole dish (or any other bigger container) and rub it with your cheese sticks from all sides. For example, you can coat Gouda well with paprika powder and Camembert well with Mediterranean herbs.

Smoking cheese yourself – ready seasoned cheese

Preparation of the smoking process

What you definitely need is a sufficiently large „smokehouse“. I always use my ceramic grill at home for this purpose, which can be well ventilated from below, but at the same time keeps the smoke in the grill chamber. But you can also use any other gas or ball grill with a lid and cover the large gaps with an old towel if necessary.

Ceramic grill as smoking chamber

You also need a so-called Smoking Generator* and the above-mentioned Sawdust for Smoking*. The generator is a small metal construction, in which you fill in the smoking flour and press it firmly. If you light this smoking flour from one side with a small kitchen gas burner and make it glow, the flour in the generator will glow for about 12 hours and produce the cold smoke necessary to smoke the cheese.

Smoking the cheese

1. Take a baking tray and put the sparkling brandy on it. Now fill the smoked flour into the Smoke Generator and press it firmly. You will spill a lot of flour, but it will land on the baking tray and you can pick it up later.

2. Put the generator on the floor of your smoking chamber and light the flour with the gas burner. Sometimes you will need some patience because the flour always needs some time to glow. If you light both ends, you shorten the burning time to about 6 hours, so that your smoked cheese is not as intensive. This is always a matter of taste.

Place the filled generator in the grill

3. Put a grill rack on it and spread your prepared and seasoned cheese pieces on it. Leave some space between the cheese pieces so that the smoke can reach the cheese from all sides.

4. Close the lid of your smoking chamber and wait for 6 or 12 hours. By the way, I usually smoke overnight and only check at the beginning whether the desired smoke is formed and the sparkling fire is glowing well.

Seasoned cheese for smoking on the grill

5. After the smoked flour has burned through, you can let the cheese air out in the fresh air for about 1-2 hours. Afterward, your spiced smoked cheese is ready to serve.

Since the cheese can smell a lot of smoke, you should keep it in a well-sealed can in the refrigerator. The shelf life is about the same as with any other opened cheese.

Homemade smoked cheese

Smoking cheese yourself – My conclusion

Meanwhile, I have really found a lot of fun in seasoning and smoking new cheese creations myself. Especially if you cut the cheese into strips, you have a great finger food that will surprise your guests.

Smoking the cheese is really easy and you have only a little work with it. Just try some variations and write your results in the comments. More recipes to make yourself:

• Three delicious party dips
• Homemade Lime Chips
• Cheese-Pumpkin-Fondue – Autumn Fingerfood