Smoked Cheese

[Stan41]

Tried my hand at making mesquite smoked cheese today. Easy as falling off a log and delicious too.
Stan

[Papa Tom]

Remember the rules: If it ain't in pictures it didn't happen!!!!

[Stan41]

Yes, I had forgot that rule and now the cheese wouldn't make a good picture since I ate quite a lot of the block for supper. However it is so easy to do I plan to do some more in a day or two that will have pictures.

My method: I have a BBQ with an offset firebox. I cleaned out the firebox of ashes, etc. and set an electric hot plate in it. Then I took an ordinary frying pan, put just a very few mesquite chips it the pan and set it on the hot plate. Turned on the hot plate to get the chips to smouldering. Once they were smoking I turned off the hot plate to avoid unnecessary heat. When the chips started to go out, I would turn the hot plate on again until they were smoking again.

I placed a block of sharp cheddar in the cooking chamber on a rack as far away from the smouldering chips as possible. I smoked the cheese for about an hour and that was plenty. It tastes really smoky and delicious.
Stan

[Papa Tom]

Easy enough to do that way. I have one of those 20 lb. electric smokers and was always going to try smoking some cheese in it. They stay pretty cool if ya leave the damper open and crack the door a tiny bit.

[desert rat]

excellent idea! the cheese turned out great. i also did some raw almonds and cashews that way. the almonds were good the cashews were ok. and some dried chiles prior to making salsa rojo.

[ChileFarmer]

Rat, on your Chiles, did you dry the Chiles first or smoke and dry at the same time. Bill

[desert rat]

the chile's were already dry when i smoked them.

[Papa Tom]

I decided to make some chipotles so I went to the store and bought several lbs. of jalapeños and tossed them on the pit. It took forever (OK it was really just a long time) to dry the things but when done they looked and smelled the part but NO heat. I went back to the store and found out they were TAM jalapeños, what a waste. Haven't tried it again.

[DATsBBQ]

I decided to make some chipotles so I went to the store and bought several lbs. of jalapeños and tossed them on the pit. It took forever (OK it was really just a long time) to dry the things but when done they looked and smelled the part but NO heat. I went back to the store and found out they were TAM jalapeños, what a waste. Haven't tried it again.

What's a TAM? Wait, that's a TAZ

[Kalrog]

TAM Jalapeno = similar taste to a regular jalapeno but much less heat.

[Smoked]

I have had that happen to me as well. Heres a bit of info on them lil guys..


TAM Mild Jalapeño


The TAM Mild Jalapeño is a milder breed of jalapeño first cultivated at Texas A&M University (TAM).


Characteristics
The TAM Mild Jalepeño combines high yield, due to its multiple resistance to common disease viruses, with exceptional fruit characteristics such as mild, full flavor. The long, tapering fruits with medium wall thickness mature early from a bright green to a deep red. An excellent source of vitamins A and C, it is ideally suited for fresh consumption, "chile relleno," processing or drying and use as red chile powder. The TAM Mild Chile has proven to be well adapted to most areas of Texas, New Mexico, and California.


TAM Mild Jalapeño II
The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (TAES) is preparing to release a new jalapeño variety with superior fruit quality, and superior yield and virus resistance when compared to TAM Mild Jalapeño I. The TAM Mild Jalapeño II possesses numerous attributes, which should be desirable to both growers and consumers. The fruit is extremely large (7-8 cm) and heavy (30-35 g) with thick, dark green flesh, very little skin cracking or anthocyanin development (black color) and mild pungency. Plants are compact in size (40-50 cm), with dense foliage cover, preventing sunburn of the fruit. Additionally, fruit set is concentrated, allowing for fewer harvests. The plants are heat tolerant and will set fruit in temperatures above 30 C. Fruit matures 4-5 days before TAM Mild Jalapeño I and most hybrid varieties such as ‘Mitla’. Yields of TAM Mild Jalapeño II have been consistently superior to TAM Mild Jalapeño I and very similar to the hybrid ‘Grande.’

TAM Mild Jalapeño II is resistant to Texas strains of four common pepper viruses: TEV, PVY, PeMoV, and TMV. Resistance to multiple strains of both TEV and PeMoV has been confirmed by repeated experiments at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Weslaco, Texas. This makes this variety extremely valuable in regions such as south Texas where the potyviruses and the aphid vectors are prevalent. Resistance is provided by several genes from diverse sources verified by previous researchers in Florida, Brazil, and California. More than 12 generations of inbreeding have made TAM Mild Jalapeño II quite uniform in its virus resistance and plant characteristics. Experimental yield trials have demonstrated wide adaptability in south, central, and west Texas and New Mexico. Yields have been good on the silty soils of Weslaco, but even better on the sandy soils near Mission, Texas and in New Mexico. Plant size and yield have been superior when grown on plastic mulch as compared to bare soil.

[Stan41]

I made the mistake of planting TAM jalapenos in my garden one year. Kind of like alcohol free beer - what's the point.
Stan

[Smoked]

Kind of like alcohol free beer - what's the point.
Stan

Now thats funny...And true