Did a Cold Smoke of Gouda, Cheddar and Red Leicester today! (Beginning to feel a bit fitter!)
I've photographed the process for anyone who is uncertain as to what it is!
This is a photograph of the set-up I have using an old coffee maker, a small aquarium air pump, a couple of lengths of tube and a plastic box.
Smoking is underway because I can't see the cheese inside the box and on a freezing cold day the temperature probe is showing 29*C. The probe is inside the coffee maker where I use about 4cm of water to form a water-trap and prevent smoke from escaping.
The next photograph is of the amount of smoke entering the plastic box. I use an oak and apple mixture to produce the smoke and usually smoke for no more than an hour.
The temperature probe has risen to 43*C which indicates that the coffee-maker is still generating smoke. (It becomes harder to see the smoke as the box fills up with smoke.) The water bath temperature may get as high as 80*C before the end of the smoking period.
The finished product. All I have to do is wrap each block in cling-film, label it so that I can recognise the difference between the Gouda (top three) and the Cheddar before opening it and leave it to mature for about a week before using it! (The maturing process is critical as it allows the smokey flavour to penetrate throughout the cheese and reduce the bitterness that can occur.)
I couldn't resist pouring myself a pint whilst I was keeping an eye on the smoking process so I pulled a jug full from a Newkie Brown that I had put into a 10 litre keg in January last year! If anything, it tastes even better than it did a year ago and (of course) now that I've breached the keg and opened up the top to the air (I ran out of CO2 about a month ago and can't get a replacement without breaking "Lockdown Rules") I will have to drink the rest of it PDQ!
Enjoy!
I've photographed the process for anyone who is uncertain as to what it is!
This is a photograph of the set-up I have using an old coffee maker, a small aquarium air pump, a couple of lengths of tube and a plastic box.
Smoking is underway because I can't see the cheese inside the box and on a freezing cold day the temperature probe is showing 29*C. The probe is inside the coffee maker where I use about 4cm of water to form a water-trap and prevent smoke from escaping.
The next photograph is of the amount of smoke entering the plastic box. I use an oak and apple mixture to produce the smoke and usually smoke for no more than an hour.
The temperature probe has risen to 43*C which indicates that the coffee-maker is still generating smoke. (It becomes harder to see the smoke as the box fills up with smoke.) The water bath temperature may get as high as 80*C before the end of the smoking period.
The finished product. All I have to do is wrap each block in cling-film, label it so that I can recognise the difference between the Gouda (top three) and the Cheddar before opening it and leave it to mature for about a week before using it! (The maturing process is critical as it allows the smokey flavour to penetrate throughout the cheese and reduce the bitterness that can occur.)
I couldn't resist pouring myself a pint whilst I was keeping an eye on the smoking process so I pulled a jug full from a Newkie Brown that I had put into a 10 litre keg in January last year! If anything, it tastes even better than it did a year ago and (of course) now that I've breached the keg and opened up the top to the air (I ran out of CO2 about a month ago and can't get a replacement without breaking "Lockdown Rules") I will have to drink the rest of it PDQ!
Enjoy!
!? I'm quite partial to a chilli vodka, and I love heat, but not sure I'd use those evil things (2 million ish scovilles?)!!!
