By Dylan Clay
Gouda cheese has it’s own nutty flavor that pairs really well with hardwood smoke.
This recipe uses maple wood and the cheese is cold smoked so that it doesn’t melt.
You will need:
Optionally: A pan that you can fill with ice (like aluminum pans).
Use the aluminum pans and load them with a good amount of ice.
The goal of the ice pans is to help keep the ambient temperature down in your smoker as much as possible.
Meaning, if it’s winter where you live, skip this step. Most people who smoke cheese do so in the winter for this reason.
Place your Gouda Cheese on top of a wire rack and then place that on top of the ice pan.
Then follow the steps below.
Place your Gouda cheese on top of a cooling rack and then place that in your smoker.
Use either fine saw dust or pellets (I use maple or alder with cheese) and fill your cold smoking device. For this recipe, I used my A-MAZE-N smoker maze.
Use a butane torch and light both ends for around 30-45 seconds.
You’ll likely notice a small flame emerge, allow this to burn for around 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, blow the flame out and allow it to continue smoldering/smoking.
Place your cold smoking device in your smoker so that it’s below the cheese.
Allow the cheese to cold smoke for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
After smoking, take the Gouda out of your smoker and then wrap in parchment paper. Place in your refrigerator for 48 hours.
After 48 hours, vacuum seal the cheese and then place in your refrigerator for 2-4 weeks.
The reason for the parchment paper and vacuum sealing is to help aerate the cheese and to help temper the “cold smoke” flavor which can be quite bitter at first.
Over the course of the 2 weeks it will mellow out in the vacuum seal.
If you’re struggling to keep your cheese from melting or “sweating” it’s because your smoker is too hot, you need to use:
The reason the cheese is melting has to do with the melting point of the butterfat – which is around 90-95F.
Most smokers can’t smoke at temperatures below 160F. Even my Masterbuilt electric smoker can only go as low as 110F.
The result is either the cheese melting or “sweating.”