I was on the phone talking to my friend Alexandra today and we got on the topic of smoked foods. This led to smoked cheese, which meant I had to try it immediately. I have tried to make smoked cheese before using liquid smoke stirred into the liquid with less than stellar results. The liquid smoke caused the cheese to become an unappetizing beige color that I found unacceptable.
Since there was some vegan mozzarella in the refrigerator I thought why not toss it into the smoker and see what happens. I was expecting the cheese to melt again since I assumed the interior of the smoker would reach at least 185degrees long enough for the agar to melt. That is exactly what happened, the cheese melted but not completely and did solidify again. The resulting flavor reminded me very much of smoked dairy mozzarella. Here is what I did.
Smoked Vegan Mozzarella
Serves 10 (4 ounce servings)
Ingredients:
½ cup of wood chips, soaked in water for one hour
1 recipe of vegan mozzarella
Directions:
Drain the wood chips and place them in the bottom of your smoker. Put the mozzarella in a glass container and place in the smoker on top the tray. You don’t want it directly on the wood chips.
Put the lid on the smoker and heat on high for five minutes to get the wood smoldering. After 5 minutes turn the heat to medium low and cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the cheese to cool and refrigerate. The cheese will become firm again once it cools.
Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving
Calories - 170.76
Calories From Fat (15%) - 25.72
Total Fat - 2.95g
Saturated Fat - 0.42g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 452.35mg
Potassium - 571.46mg
Total Carbohydrates - 35.05g
Fiber - 3.49g
Sugar - 1.85g
Protein - 5.74g
Comments:
The cheese absorbed some of the smoky flavor, but it wasn’t overpowering. If you like a very smoky cheese leave it in the smoker for an addition 15 minutes. The exterior of the cheese became a light beige but the interior remained white. Overall I was quite pleased with how well this worked. Since I have smoked food three days in a row I think it is time to retire the smoker for a few weeks. I don’t want my husband to think that is all I do is smoke food.
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What a great idea...I used to love Applewood cheese. I've also seen TV chefs smoke stuff in a pan with rice and tea at the bottom to produce the smoke. Must try this someday.
ReplyDeleteThis is so great! What else do you use your smoker for?
ReplyDeleteRose,
ReplyDeleteWe really are on the same wave length. I make a green tea and rice smoked tofu that I need to post someday. Smoking food becomes sort of addicting once you start. At least that is what happens to me.
Alicia
Oooh that sounds great...please post it. Your posts are so interesting; I'm slacking off at work with all this blogging!
ReplyDeleteJanelle,
ReplyDeleteI smoke tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, tofu, seitan, nuts and other things I have forgotten to list. As you can tell, I love my smoker probably a little too much.
Alicia
Rose,
ReplyDeleteI need to make or buy more tofu before I make the green tea and brown rice smoked tofu so I can get a photo. However, I will try to do that in the next week. Please remind me if I forget.
Alicia