The Best Cheeses to Smoke, and the Best Smoked Cheeses to Buy

Soft, fresh cheeses slump or sweat long before they taste smoky. If you would rather buy than smoke, start with smoked Gouda, smoked provolone, scamorza, smoked cheddar and Spain's Idiazábal.

Smoking cheese is mostly a temperature problem. Ontario's guidelines for licensed cheese plants keep the smoke below 84 to 90°F (29 to 32°C), the range where cheese starts to soften, lose its shape and oil off. That is far cooler than any barbecue, so cheese gets cold smoke instead: a smoldering fire kept away from the cheese for a few hours, then a rest in the fridge while the flavor evens out.

Best cheeses to smoke at a glance

The best cheeses to smoke at home have a firm body and a flavor that smoke can build on, and this table sorts them by what to buy and how to use them.

The best cheeses to smoke at home

The best cheeses to smoke at home are the ones that can sit in a cool, smoky box for hours without sweating or spoiling. A 2006 review from the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research recommended that pasteurized-milk cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, Muenster, provolone, Swiss and Parmesan, among others, be exempt from refrigeration rules at or below 86°F (30°C), because their acid and salt make them hostile to pathogens. That list lines up almost exactly with what smokes well.

Cheddar

Cheddar is the most forgiving cheese to smoke, because its tang and firm body take more smoke than milder cheeses before tasting harsh. Buy a medium or sharp block; at about 37 percent water in USDA data, it holds a clean edge on the rack. Cut a 2-pound block into bars about 1 1/2 inches thick so the smoke reaches more surface. Weak spot: a bland mild cheddar has so little flavor that smoke is all you taste.

Young Gouda

Young Gouda is the cheese most people picture when they hear "smoked cheese," and its sweet, buttery paste suits apple and cherry smoke. Cut off any wax first, since wax keeps the smoke out. Gouda runs softer than cheddar, about 41 percent water in USDA data, so give it the cool end of the range. Weak spot: it sags sooner than cheddar if the smoker creeps up.

Monterey Jack and pepper jack

Monterey Jack is an inexpensive way to learn to smoke cheese, and it is on the Wisconsin review's list of cheeses that tolerate warmth. Because it starts so mild, it tastes smoky after a short session, and pepper jack adds chile heat for quesadillas. Weak spot: at about 41 percent water, Jack softens quickly once the smoker passes the high 80s.

Provolone and low-moisture mozzarella

Provolone and low-moisture mozzarella are stretched-curd cheeses, both mild enough that an hour of smoke changes them a lot. For mozzarella, buy a whole-milk block labeled "low-moisture," which federal rules hold to 45 to 52 percent water, never the fresh balls in liquid, which can run up to 60 percent. Smoked, both are made for pizza, panini and baked pasta. Weak spot: mozzarella is not on the Wisconsin list, so give it the coolest day and the shortest session.

Swiss, Gruyère and Parmesan

Swiss, Gruyère and Parmesan are the hard, nutty end of the list, and they barely soften in a cool smoker: USDA puts their water at about 38, 33 and 30 percent. A mild fruitwood suits their nuttiness, and smoked Parmesan grated over pasta or eggs is the payoff. Weak spot: the outside of a hard wedge tastes far smokier than the center, so grate across the whole cut face.

How to cold smoke cheese at home

Cold smoking cheese at home needs only a smoldering smoke source in a closed box and a thermometer at cheese level. The steps below follow the cold-smoking procedure the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association wrote for small cheesemakers, scaled down for a backyard.

Prepare the cheese

Prepare the cheese by letting it sit out until it is close to room temperature, then wiping off any moisture. That sounds backward, but cold cheese collects condensation in the smoker, and the procedure warns that water on the surface hurts its ability to take up smoke. Peel off wax and space the bars on a rack so smoke reaches every side.

Keep the smoke below 90°F

Keep the smoke below 90°F at the cheese, not at the fire, and check it with a probe thermometer on the rack. The easiest days are below about 60°F outside, in the shade or early in the morning. Put the smoke source at one end of an unlit kettle grill and the cheese at the other, with a tray of ice under the rack on a warmer day. If the thermometer passes 85°F, open the lid or add ice.

Best wood for smoking cheese

The best wood for smoking cheese is a mild hardwood or fruitwood, and the Wisconsin procedure names oak, pecan, cherry, maple and apple. Ontario allows only hardwood, hardwood sawdust or liquid smoke made from hardwood, certified as food grade, and the rules for Idiazábal call for smoke from natural, untreated wood. Start with apple or cherry and move to oak, pecan or hickory if you want more. Never burn pine, scrap lumber, or painted or treated wood.

How the wood burns matters too. Smoke particles carry polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), compounds known or suspected to cause cancer, and Ontario's guidance limits them by keeping the fire cool: wood chips or sawdust with at least 30 percent moisture, so they burn below 350 to 375°C (about 660 to 710°F). At home that means a steady, thin smolder from a pellet tube or a few chips, never open flame.

How long to smoke cheese

How long to smoke cheese depends on how smoky you want it, and the Wisconsin procedure leaves the timing to the flavor you are after. A good first run is 2 hours for cheddar and Gouda, 60 to 90 minutes for mozzarella and Jack, and up to 4 hours for sharp cheddar or Parmesan. Turn the bars halfway through so every side gets an even share.

Rest smoked cheese before you eat it

Rest smoked cheese in the fridge for a week or two before you eat it, because the smoke needs time to spread from the outside in. The procedure recommends holding smoked cheese so the flavor penetrates evenly, then storing it the way you would store the same cheese unsmoked, so a smoked cheddar keeps like any cheddar. Pat the bars dry, vacuum-seal them or wrap them tightly, and date each one.

The best smoked cheeses to buy

The best smoked cheeses to buy were smoked over real wood, and the label on most smoky cheeses at the store tells you whether yours was.

Smoked Gouda

Smoked Gouda comes in two very different forms, and the label tells you which one you have. Natural smoked Gouda went into the smoker as cheese; buy it young for melting and older for snacking, as Gouda by age explains. A smoked Gouda labeled "pasteurized process" is made with emulsifying salts such as sodium citrate, and federal rules let it be smoked after mixing, made from smoked cheese, or flavored with condensed wood smoke (21 CFR Part 133). It melts like American cheese, the better pick for a smoky mac and cheese. Weak spot: on a board, it tastes more of salt and smoke than of Gouda.

Smoked provolone

Smoked provolone has a federal blessing: provolone is the only natural cheese whose US standard says outright that it "may be smoked." The same standard caps its moisture at 45 percent, firm enough to slice thin for subs. On pizza, keep it to about a quarter of the cheese. Buy sharp smoked provolone if you want cheese flavor under the smoke; provolone, mild and sharp explains the two. Weak spot: some deli versions get their smoke from flavoring, so read the label.

Smoked mozzarella and scamorza

Smoked mozzarella and scamorza are the same stretched cheese in US law, where the federal standards treat "scamorza" as another name for mozzarella, fresh or low-moisture. The firm, low-moisture smoked kind melts with a good pull on pizza, baked ziti and grilled sandwiches. Smoked fresh mozzarella is wetter and more perishable, so eat it within a few days. The Italian original is covered in scamorza, smoked and plain. Weak spot: heavy smoke can bury a delicate tomato sauce.

Idiazábal

Idiazábal is the smoked cheese with a rulebook. Under its protected designation of origin, it is made only from the raw milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep in Álava, Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Navarre (excluding the Roncal Valley) and aged at least 60 days. Smoking is optional and happens a few days before the cheese leaves the dairy; a smoked rind can run to dark brown, and the rules call for a smoke aroma of only weak to medium intensity. Slice it thin with quince paste; the Idiazábal guide has more. Weak spot: it is a raw-milk cheese, which the CDC advises people who are pregnant, 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system to avoid.

Smoked cheddar

Smoked cheddar is where real smoke and smoke flavoring share a shelf. In a survey of smoked and smoke-flavored cheddar and Swiss sold in Wisconsin, the amount of smoke deposited varied widely from product to product. Look for "naturally smoked" or a named wood such as applewood or hickory, and buy sharp so there is cheese under the smoke. Use it as a third of the cheese in mac and cheese. Weak spot: smoke flavoring can hide a dull cheese.

What most smoked cheese advice gets wrong

Most smoked cheese advice treats smoke as a single thing, but where the smoke came from and how hot it burned change what you eat.

The label may not mean a smokehouse. Federal rules let process cheese contain condensed wood smoke, and Colby slices treated with liquid smoke must add "with added smoke flavoring" to the name. Liquid smoke can also go into the milk, the curd or the brine, the Wisconsin procedure notes, or be sprayed on finished cheese. Read the ingredient list, not just the front.

Thick white smoke is a defect, not a bonus. Spanish researchers who analyzed smoked cheeses found PAHs mostly in the outer zone, with the rind the most contaminated part (Guillén and Sopelana, 2004), and hotter fires make more of them. A thin smolder flavors the cheese without coating it, and trimming the rind of a heavily smoked wedge removes the part with the most.

Smoke is not what makes Idiazábal. Its official specification explains that shepherds' huts had no chimneys, so hearth smoke drifted over the ripening cheeses, which is how smoke and Idiazábal came to be wrongly treated as one thing. Today more unsmoked Idiazábal is sold than smoked.

Questions about the best cheeses to smoke

These short answers cover the questions people ask most about the best cheeses to smoke and the smoked cheeses they buy.

What is the best cheese to smoke?

The best cheese to smoke for a first batch is a block of medium cheddar or young Gouda, because both are firm, inexpensive and flavorful enough to balance the smoke. Monterey Jack is the milder alternative.

Are smoked cheeses bad for you?

Smoked cheeses carry traces of PAHs from the smoke, which is why cheese plants keep the fire cool. In a 1992 survey of smoked and smoke-flavored cheddar and Swiss sold in Wisconsin, benzo(a)pyrene, a potential carcinogen in smoke, was not detected in any sample at a sensitivity of 0.1 parts per billion. If you are concerned, cut away the rind, where these compounds collect.

Is 2 hours long enough to smoke cheese?

Two hours is long enough to smoke cheese for a clear but gentle smoke flavor on most firm blocks, once it has rested a week or two. Go to 3 or 4 hours only for sharp cheddar or Parmesan.

Can you smoke cheese on a pellet grill?

You can smoke cheese on a pellet grill only by using it as a smoke box: leave the grill off and burn pellets in a smoke tube on the grate, because a lit pellet grill runs far hotter than 90°F.

Can you smoke cream cheese or brie?

You can smoke cream cheese or brie, but as hot-smoked dishes rather than cold-smoked blocks, since both are soft cheeses that slump in a warm smoker. Score a block of cream cheese, season it and smoke it at about 225°F until it turns into a dip; brie works the same way in a small baking dish.

What is the best smoked cheese in the world?

The best smoked cheese in the world is a matter of taste, but smoked Idiazábal makes the strongest case: a protected raw-milk sheep's cheese whose rules allow only natural, untreated wood and a light hand with the smoke.

Your first batch of smoked cheese

For your first batch of smoked cheese, buy a 2-pound block each of medium cheddar and young Gouda, wait for a cool, still day, and smoke them over apple or cherry for 2 hours with a thermometer on the rack. Vacuum-seal the bars, date them, and taste one at one week and one at two. While you wait, buy a wedge of smoked Idiazábal to learn what a light, natural smoke tastes like.