How to Smoke Cheese on a Barbecue Smoker
If you’ve got a barbecue smoker, you should learn how to smoke cheese with it. Smoked cheese is a special treat, and it’s really quite easy to do.
There are many ways to serve and enjoy smoked cheese, such as sliced with crackers and in sandwiches or shredded in a lettuce salad. Follow these 6 easy steps and you’ll discover how fun and easy it is to smoke cheese!
The idea is to generate a light smoke while keeping your smoker temperature under 90 degrees F to avoid melting the cheese. You can use your offset smoker like I did, or a variety of different contraptions. In fact, even a cardboard box would work if you’d hook it up to a smoke generator and have vents for the smoke to exit the box.
You will smoke the cheese for a certain amount of time, not until it reaches a certain internal temperature. The kind of wood you use and the density of your smoke also affect the flavor. This is where you will need to experiment and adjust to match your preference. It can sound complicated, but it’s actually quite easy.
Smoking Cheese Instructions
Get the cheese. You can smoke about any kind of cheese, including colby, swiss, provolone, mozzarella, cheddar, and muenster. Swiss is my favorite.
Cut the cheese into blocks about 4” x 4” x 2”. Some people say to use 1” blocks, and some even use large blocks. I think somewhere around 2” thick is the perfect size for a short smoke period and consistency throughout.
Let your cheese adjust to room temperature for at least one hour. This is optional, but putting cold cheese in a warm smoker can attract condensation, and you’ll get the best results if your cheese surface stays dry during the smoke.
Load the grate. Put the cheese on the grate, spaced at least one inch apart.
Smoke the cheese. If you maintain a steady moderate smoke, three hours should do it. You can always adjust it the next time to suit your taste. Keep the smoker under 90 degrees F so the cheese doesn’t melt.
See my cold smoker suggestions below.
Refrigerate the cheese. Once it’s done, vacuum seal each piece individually or place them in freezer bags. Refrigerate the cheese for at least a week to let the smoke mellow and equalize in the cheese. If you have the patience, you can leave it in the fridge for two weeks or longer; I’ve heard it gets even better.
Smoke Generator Options
If you want the easiest way to hold a steady smoke, check out the nifty cold smokers from A-MAZE-N or Smoke Daddy.
Review of the A-Maze-N Smoke Generators
When I told Todd, owner of A-Maze-N Products, that we wanted to test their products, he immediately dropped a box of gadgets in the mail for me. I have the 5×8 AMNPS (A-MAZE-N-PELLET-SMOKER) and the 6” and 12” AMNTS (A-MAZE-N-TUBE-SMOKER).
So why would you need a smoke generator like this? They are made for adding smoke when you’re cooking and the equipment you are using is not making enough smoke, or perhaps none at all (for example, a pellet smoker at high temperatures or a gas grill). The other use for these is when you are cold smoking (cheese, nuts, etc), and you need to make smoke without raising the temperature above 90 degrees.
The A-Maze-N Maze Smoker is made of perforated stainless steel with a simple and sturdy design and should last for many years. It is designed to burn either dust or pellets.
The A-Maze-N Tube Smokers are also well-built. They are designed to burn pellets only.
The Torch
You’ll need a small hand-held propane torch to light the pellets.
Testing the AMNPS (5×8 Pellet Smoker)
I had expected to light the AMNPS, walk away, and come back 3 hours later to smoked cheese. However, it wasn’t that easy, and it’s been a bit of a challenge to figure this out.
I did a trial run with a whole block of Swiss cheese on my offset smoker, using the 5×8 AMNPS. I lit the pellets as instructed and set the box in my firebox. It started out fine, but within the first hour, the fire died. I relit the pellets with my torch and let it sit in the breeze for 10 minutes until it was nice and hot. Then I blew out the flame and set it back into the firebox; it made a nice smoke for probably 30 minutes, but soon there was hardly any visible smoke coming out of the stack. I blew on and jiggled the pellets to get it going again and opened the firebox vents all the way. It started smoking nicely again, but within about 20 minutes, it was down to barely a fizzle again.
Todd suggested putting the AMNPS into the main chamber of my smoker, so I tested it that way too. I have done a couple runs with the AMNPS now, and I can’t get it to burn right on its own. Usually it burns a portion of one row before it fizzles out.
When I smoked the cheese, I made the mistake of only lighting one end, so the smoke was very light. I smoked my cheese for close to five hours, thinking the extra time in the smoker would make up for it, but the smoke flavor is still very pale. This can easily be fixed by lighting both ends and even the middle, to double or triple the smoke level.
Even though I didn’t figure out what caused the fire to die, I think this was more of a user error or possibly from the pellets I was using. Anytime you are playing with fire, there will be variables and challenges. As for the construction of the product, I would highly recommend it.
Testing the AMNTS (Tube Smoker)
I have tested the AMNTS 6” on two empty runs with the tube on the cooking grate, just like my latest tests with the AMNPS. So far it is working great, and keeps going until the pellets are all burned up.
The tube has a slick, cool-looking design. I love how compact it is and even the shorter 6” tube makes smoke for about two hours. One possible disadvantage I can see is that you can’t “burn the candle at both ends” for double the smoke because one end is closed, however, in my testing it makes enough smoke that it shouldn’t be a problem.
So far it is working as expected and produces a nice amount of smoke. The 6” tube provides around two hours of smoke. If you’re going with the tube, I’d recommend an expanding one, such as the 7–12″ or 12–18″ ones.
I hope you’ll try your hand at smoked cheese this winter. It’s a great feeling to know you’ve mastered smoking cheese, but also to enjoy those delicious snacks of crackers, cheese, and sausage, or some sweet-glazed sliders with ham and cheese. The goodness is endless!
If you find this article helpful, please leave a comment below to let us know how it went.
Sizzling regards,
Lavern Gingerich
PS. Meadow Creek’s offset barbecue smokers are perfect for cold smoking cheese. And they make it easy and fun to cook some of the most amazing barbecue you have ever tasted or imagined.
Disclaimer: The smoke generators in this article were given to me by A-Maze-N products, but the opinions in this article are completely my own.
Updated: February 22, 2020
December 9th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
This is AWESOME!
December 9th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
I hope it goes well.
Lavern
December 9th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Can’t wait to try it. I love smoked cheese. Thanks for the recipe.
Judy
December 9th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Thanks for your feedback!
Lavern
December 9th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
Lavern,
Thanks for a GREAT way to be able to smoke cheese! Not having a way to “cold smoke” this is a wonderful way for the rest of us to enjoy smoked cheese!
John
December 10th, 2010 at 5:25 am
Sounds great and appears to be easy enough. I plan to try it this week!!
December 10th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
What is your recommendation on wood chip types? surely certain types are better than others.
July 29th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Use Locust it works GREAT!!!!!
August 1st, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Do you mean locust wood?
December 27th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
@Dave Miller,
My suggestion is to simply experiment with different woods until you find a combination you like between the type of cheese you’re smoking. This is similar to pairing a wine with a meat (i.e. Chardonnay with poultry or Merlot or Cabernet with beef). However, I’ve had great success with apple, cherry, peach and almond. Good luck!
August 22nd, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Do you have a method for this fabulous cheese using a smoker? It’s difficult to get the temperature low enough not to melt the cheese. My thought was to put the cheese in some cheesecloth to contain it. Any thoughts?
August 22nd, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Yes, as we explain in the recipe, you can make a small fire “can” to constrain your fire. Or you can buy a smoke generator or use another smoker to make your smoke and connect the two with a dryer hose.
June 20th, 2016 at 7:51 pm
@Lavern,
To help keep the temp down. Try putting ice in a pan below the cheese, if possible in your smoker.
June 23rd, 2016 at 2:18 pm
Great idea, Larry! Thanks. 🙂
October 7th, 2011 at 9:12 am
I have a TS 60 and have done a little cold smoking–I like your method of using the small can fire box. I would also reccommend filling the water reservoir–this really helps to hold the heat down, I actually added ice periodically to mine–Worked great !
October 7th, 2011 at 9:53 am
Hi, Mark! That is a great idea. I never thought of that.
Lavern
November 17th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Thanks for suggestions. Perfect cheese! Greetings from Poland
January 17th, 2012 at 9:22 am
TRY HAND RUBBING IN SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SPICES. I RUB THEM IN AFTER THE CHEESE GETS TO ROOM TEMP.
February 11th, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Just got done smoking some cheddar and put it in the fridge. Looks great and smells great. Hopefully it tastes just as great. Thanks for this.
February 13th, 2012 at 11:47 am
You are very welcome.
February 27th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
I’m stoked…..gonna work on it this weekend. Have u tried Gooda or ….. I cant remember…its a buttery cheese? Anyway thanks for the tips
February 28th, 2012 at 10:29 am
Great! No, I haven’t tried that kind of cheese. Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Have fun!
Lavern
March 14th, 2012 at 9:07 pm
@scott, I use a grill with a smoker off to the side for my Gouda. About 4 or 5 briquettes will keep the temp down around 75 degrees which works well for this cheese. Try AppleWood!
July 26th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
I don’t have a smoker but I got a 50gal drum style charcoal BBQ, could I get it to work in that???
July 28th, 2012 at 8:34 am
Does it have an offset firebox? I don’t know, but I would say try it if you think you can keep it cool enough.
September 1st, 2012 at 8:34 am
I have an off-set smoker, but my smoker has bar-type racks. After seeing the picture of your racks made with expanded metal, and angle iron, complete with corner handles, I am going to fabricate some of my own in the same fashion. Do you have your smoker set up with multiple shelves or just the single row? Resisting temptation of eating the cheese for at least a week will be hard. Once or twice a year, I make several kinds of Jerky and Kippered meats, which I give for gifts to my friends and relatives. The addition of smoked cheeses will add a nice touch to my gifts. I can’t wait to try it out!
September 1st, 2012 at 8:51 am
I meant to add the make of my smoker it is a Brinkman with a charcoal/wood fire box. I also have a H2O Electric Smoker by Char-Broil.(which I use as a low temp oven when doing meats because the thermostat allows me to maintain 225-240degrees for long periods of time} I’m going to try it also with cheese because it has the water pan and it quite a bit smaller. I may have to use your idea of piping the smoke to it, and just use it as a smoke box….Thanks…Rich
September 6th, 2012 at 12:47 am
You are very welcome. Thanks for sharing your story. Great idea to give smoked cheese as gifts! —Lavern
September 13th, 2012 at 10:40 am
Do you have a printable version. I realize reading this is easy, but I’m researching this for my husband, who is dying to smoke some cheese in his new smoker. A printable recipe would be easy to hand to him. Thanks! It does sound easy!
September 13th, 2012 at 6:25 pm
It should work fine to simply print it from your web browser (ctrl+p on a PC).
November 11th, 2013 at 11:36 am
Ok, been wanting to smoke ssome cheese since I got my EGG. It is on now with some cheddar. Last minute threw some string cheese on. Using indirect cooking, trying to keep heat down. Will let you know outcome. 🙂
November 11th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Great work, Duane. Let us know.
November 19th, 2013 at 6:50 am
I’m going to give this a whirl this weekend, thank you for the tips.
Also it is nice to see people leave comments and get replies, so many time the moderator doesn’t reply.
Thumbs up !
November 30th, 2013 at 8:18 am
Follow up:
I did smoke several different types of cheese, Gruyere, Colby Jack, Asiago and Gouda Cheese and I cheated and tasted a little of all and Yummy ! I vacuum sealed the cheese and am going to wait until next weekend to open.
I smoked two batches, first batch was with 20% Hickory and 80% Pecan, the second batch I used all apple wood.
On the early taste the apple seemed to be less bitter with a much smoother flavor and the harder cheese like the Gruyere and Asiago had a awesome flavor.
On the batch with Pecan wood I smoked everything for 3 hours and the soft cheese seemed to be a bit bitter.
On the Apple smoke I smoked the harder cheese for 2 hours and the softer only one hour the soft cheese was very good this time, not sure if it was due to the type of wood or the time I smoke it..
At this point I believe I will smoke mostly the harder cheeses and with apple.
Again thank you for all the tips I wish I could post a couple pictures as I think I did OK
Have a Great Day!
January 17th, 2014 at 10:28 pm
My 17 year old grandson, who is into serious smoking of meats and fish just tried his hand at smoking cheese about a month ago. Tasted them for the first time today and they were absolutely incredibly delicious. He did Colby, mozzarella, and cheddar – all with Applewood.
January 20th, 2014 at 7:48 am
Great to hear! Thanks for posting.
May 4th, 2014 at 11:06 am
I took a small stainless steel sauce pan and punched holes in it and then soaked wood chips in water and alcohol (Spiced Rum) then placed it in a cold grill and let it smoke, kept checking on the wood and added some as I went along. the soaked wood smoked and burned slowly and gave the cheese a great flavor
May 4th, 2014 at 11:08 am
I used mesquite wood chips by the way.
May 8th, 2014 at 2:06 pm
I was great reading up on smoking cheese WITH A SMOKER. I just use a Weber 22″ and 10 charcoal bricks (5 on each side of grill)…pan of ice between bricks and smoke full blocks for an hour. I like to use Hickory and only for about an hour…but very dense smoke. Prefer dry chunks over soaked chips. Have tried all sorts of cheese. Favorites are Horseradish/Cheddar and Provolone. Great reading up with fellow cheese smokers
May 24th, 2014 at 8:25 am
I have a smoke hollow brand smoker that I use for smoking everything. To keep the heat down, I use 5 NATURAL ( no starting or lighter fluids allowed) bricketts. The bricketts are placed in a can with holes in the bottom to light. Once the charcoal is grey, I place it in an aluminum pie pan (with 5 small holes in the bottom, about 1mm in diameter). Cover with chips/pellets/chunks (I use chips and/or pellets) I have used pecan, apple, mesquite, alder, hickory and cherry. I have smoked all cheddars that I can find as well as Mexican farmers cheese, gouda, parmesan, Swiss, Monterey jack ,pepper jack , rumano and any odd specialty cheese. All have been delicious. Remember, use a water or ice resivoir to help cool the smoker. With enough ice you can smoke cheeses during the summer.
July 22nd, 2014 at 2:57 pm
Where do people get the idea that you soak your smoking wood?!!! This is an extreem NO NO!! It makes your smoke smell like garbage burning. No experienced smoker soaks his wood. If you want to add humidity to the mix, place a pan of water into your smoker. The Doctor
August 24th, 2014 at 7:09 am
Made a UDS have had some excellent results with meat,struggled with fish as it cooked to quickly,tried to compensate that with more smoke;result bitter aftertaste.After reading the posts here i realise i have a lot to learn.will try the small can method of heat and try to smoke cheese.Have been using beech but have now started using bay as found on the internet it was similar to pimento,as i have my own bay tree i am just throwing leaves twigs on to my fire basket.any feedback especially criticism would be appreciated.And a quick thumbs up for this informative site 🙂
September 2nd, 2014 at 7:57 am
Excellent article. One thing worth mentioning is that cold smoking in hot weather or in a smoker that’s difficult to get down to a low temperature is very easy with a simple cold smoking device, such as the ones sold at smokedaddy dot com. They’re very well made, inexpensive, they’ll work with any smoker, and they produce loads of cold smoke. You don’t even have to build a fire in your smoker at all!
September 23rd, 2014 at 11:01 am
I love smoking meats, haven’t done any cheeses yet, but since I just got into making homemade goat cheese and the weather is turning cooler I can’t wait to try it. Might try it with some cheddar and maybe some brie while my next batch of chèvre is aging.
Oh, and it’s a jalapeño/Serrano pepper cheese made with habenero salt and coated in the ash from some white oak we used to smoke a brisket. If anyone has any suggestion for what kind of wood to smoke I’d appreciate it, we usually use applewood for pork shoulders (we smoke A LOT of whole shoulders, year round). Maybe hickory?
Anyway, can’t wait to see how this little experiment turns out!
November 5th, 2014 at 12:13 pm
I keep it VERY simple–a Flat “Kippered Herring/Sardine can, on a flame-proof surface or inside your outdoor grill, with $8, 60 watt soldering tool, laying inside it, on a heap of Apple chips from grocery store, under any type of propped-up cooking rack at all, for your cheeses, offset from the smoke source and appropriately-sized bowl-shaped aluminum foil “hat” over the whole thing. It’s minutes to set up, when you notice a cool day and have the cheese on hand; and all you have to do is occasionally add to the heap of wood chips. The aging period in refrig is very important, because immediately after smoking, the surface of the cheese is too sharp, with smoke flavor, and it hasn’t yet permeated the whole slabs of cheese. A week or 2 in refrig makes it all blend perfectly. We ALL hate to wait, so we should just do it a little more often, a week or 2 before our last batch is used up!
November 15th, 2014 at 3:45 pm
We built a cold smoker out of a mini fridge and a hibachi grill. Did cheese, butter, olives, cherries and nuts. Too smokey on the cheese. Any suggestions? Fridge never goes over 50 degrees
December 12th, 2014 at 1:49 pm
It’s hard to tell without knowing more about your process, but it sounds like you might just want to cut back on your smoke density or the length of time the cheese is in the smoke. Either way, make sure your smoke is not a thick white smoke. Any questions, feel free to ask.
December 10th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
I literally turned my charcoal into a smoker for $1.79. I bought the can of green beans and smoked some mozzarella last night. I am waiting for it to age a few days. very excited. just have to master the tweaks for the temp control.
December 28th, 2014 at 5:22 pm
@Jeremy, one way I’ve control temp with my gas smoker is with dry ice
December 14th, 2014 at 10:34 am
Instead of messing around with regular charcoal go online and find a place that sells self lighting disk for hookas or incense, they work fantast and can be lit with a match or lighter, burn longer and are cleaner with no charcoal taste. I just put them in the bottom of a tuna then fill with pellets and just add a seacond can if needed.
December 26th, 2014 at 1:59 pm
A tip: I include seveal small pieces oe each cheese and test every hour for smokiness.
I recently bought a Srmokai cold smoke generator from New Zealand and it is the answer to smoking anything–hot or cold.
I attached it to my gas BBQ and can hot smoke ribs, poultry, beef or I can cold smoke salmon, cheese, bacon, ham. It eliminates having to maintain a slow, smoky combustion going over a long period.
December 27th, 2014 at 10:18 pm
If you smoke cheese and not like the color can you try to re-smoke the cheese again?
December 30th, 2014 at 1:33 pm
I don’t know why you couldn’t smoke it multiple times, but I’d be more concerned about flavor than color.
January 10th, 2015 at 10:51 pm
I just tried your smoke idea using my gas grill using a coffee can for my heat and smoke. One block of Sharp Cheddar and one block of Pepper Jack. Now it is in the refer for a week….boo-hoo. Seems like that is too long for my lack of will power to hold out!
April 1st, 2015 at 9:20 am
How did it taste?
March 31st, 2015 at 2:25 pm
You can also cold smoke year round with the right type of smoker. I use what looks like an outhouse just a 4x4x8 wooden box up on 2 tiers of concrete block. I have an external hot box lower than the cold smoker with the smoke pipe run to the bottom of the box. You can do cheese and jerky and sausage all year in this style smoker keep it at 50-60 degree and just vent the smoke thru the box most heat is dissipated along the smoke pipe. I have the hot box 10 ft. away from the smoke house.
May 11th, 2015 at 3:15 pm
get yourself a cold smoker like a big daddy cold smoke generator
and it works awesome for smoking cheese and meat use half cherry and half hickory chips
I smoke lots of cheese with the big daddy generator and the taste is out of this world
meats turn out just as good but have to use heat to smoke meats
I converted my smoker into a propane with a 10000 btu burner at bottom just to smoke meats
google big daddy smoke generators I bought the big kahuna it puts out lots of smoke more than enough
have to turn down most of the time to much smoke but want to make sure enough smoke save lots on wood chips cost
I swear this cold smoker can be used for a refrig size smoker if not bigger
October 25th, 2015 at 7:21 pm
It’s fall now and starting to cool off in Iowa. It’s nice enough to be outside but cooling off to where you still want to grill. An easy way to cold smoke even on a weber grill is with the A-Maze-N pellet smokers. I like smoked cheddar, but I am going to experiment with Swiss cheese tomorrow. I’ve used apple pellets in the past but tomorrow I will try cherry wood. Have fun and enjoy.
December 23rd, 2015 at 8:43 pm
I have a Masterbuilt electric smoker and I use a A-Maze-N pellet smoker for generating the smoke for my cheese. I can use the A-Maze-N pellet without any other heat source. After 3-4 hours of smoke remove the cheese and cool in a refrigerator. Then seal in freezer proof containers for at least a week. The wood pellets I use are apple, cherry, pecan and some hickory.
April 13th, 2017 at 5:24 pm
@Richard Gilmore, thanks for your reply, I too have a Masterbuilt electric smoker and wanted to smoke some cheese. With your reply I can smoke some now.
January 6th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
My boys and I are just getting into smoking and tried this recipe. BEST ONE ON THE INTERNET.We love it, great advice!
January 8th, 2016 at 8:25 am
Thanks, Steve!
February 10th, 2016 at 8:38 am
I use a hot plate with a pie pan with wood chips in my offset smoker. It works very well and it does not get too hot.
February 22nd, 2016 at 10:00 am
Great idea!
September 28th, 2016 at 12:07 pm
I’ve used the A-maze-N tube and pellet smoker in my offset smoker for smoking cheese and nuts. The dust can be challenging to keep lit but I like the more subtle smoke, the tube smoker stays lit with lots of good smoke. I want to try fish next. Thanks for the article.
November 20th, 2016 at 2:21 pm
I used the Amazen 5×8 with Traeger apple pellets for my 1st batch. I lit both ends with a propane torch in my propane grill, unlit.
The device worked perfectly, didn’t go out at all.
I smoked the cheese for 3 hrs & the Amazen burned for another couple of hrs.
The cheese turned out great. The Amazen was a good investment & I look forward to using it frequently!!
December 14th, 2016 at 4:35 pm
Lavern,it is likely that you weren’t getting good performance with the AMNPS 5×8 because of your altitude?
I live at 6500′ abv sl and the maze won’t stay lit. Tubes work great though. The owner (Todd) says the tubes will work to maybe 8000′. At my altitude the 12″ tube runs almost 7 hours!
I get great results with cheese in my weber kettle or camp chef smoke vault using the AMNTS and your technique.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:47 pm
I liked your article. I have a 6 inch tube from amazen and a smoke hollow vertical propane smoker. I have used the tube in the vertical smoker with the propane off, just the tube smoker for cheese twice. I used the apple pellets from Amazen as well. The thing works great! However the flavor is harsh. I am getting a ton of smoke and wondering if I should try to dilute the smoke somehow. Any ideas?
Greg
December 16th, 2016 at 3:11 pm
I have paired my old electric vertical smoker (element removed) with the amnps and had a similar problem keeping it lit. Once I let it burn for a few minutes, it stayed lit the rest of the time. My question is wheather there is an ideal temperature say
in the 60’s or colder? I use frozen water bottles to keep the temp down even on cold( less than 50deg) days.
December 19th, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Works great. Anything above 75 degrees and sunny (Florida weather) will get too hot without shade over your smoker.
December 29th, 2016 at 2:12 pm
Try a WEDGIE. Uses pellets like an AMNPS and puts out great smoke. Very popular right now.
March 7th, 2017 at 3:38 pm
I have a similar product to the AMNPS, the problem you are having with keeping it lit and the smoke density is because the pellets need more heat to burn. try using a saw dust instead.
August 20th, 2018 at 2:46 pm
@smoke doctor,
Nuke your pellets for 3 minutes and you’ll have no problem keeping them smoking.
September 15th, 2017 at 5:35 am
After my first attempt of smoking cheese I was a bit sceptical as I melted a couple of pieces. But i had another go.. used wedges and bought myself a smoking puck. It worked wonders. And I have 5 pieces of smoked cheese to get through now.. happy days..
September 28th, 2017 at 9:03 am
All I have is hickory, will that ruin the cheese?
September 29th, 2017 at 12:44 pm
No, people use hickory, and you can control the flavor by density of smoke and time in smoke. It really is subjective.
October 23rd, 2017 at 8:43 am
i use a Pro Q cold smoker… works brilliant! Gives a steady stream of cold smoke for about 12 hours… purchase of there website!!! The best cold smoker on the market! 🙂