Smokin' cheese

Well here in Colorado (and other states in this country as well) there is a lot of smoking going on - and I don't mean tobacco- but today I smoked my first cheese.

smoky golden color

 CoCo gives me enough milk each week to make a 2-3 pound wheel of Gouda cheese.  It needs to age at least 2 months to get a great flavor but it's my favorite goat milk product so far.  Now if I could just smoke the outside.
Cheese has to be cold smoked: creating smoke but not letting get higher than 90 degrees in the smoker or the cheese will melt.  So what better day to smoke than today

snowy February day

The cheese is formed in a mold with pressure and then soaked in a salt brine for 12 hours.  Then it "dries" tabletop for 5 days.  That hard rind on the edge of your cheese that you buy is just the dry part...same ingredients as the edible cheese

2 1/2 pounds of dried un-aged Gouda
I week of milk from one Mama

I sliced the cheese to be 2 inches thick and placed it on a SS rack 

Put the A-Maze-N smoker in the belly of my tiny Weber

And added the cheese

Two hours later:

A really smoky fragrance and a beautiful golden color.  Now I must wax it and let it age.  Ready in 2-6 months

Bon Appetit!