OK, so it’s not barbecue, but it is another cool thing you can do with the Bullet. It takes virtually no fuel– a great use for leftover briquets– and one small chunk of smoke wood.
I used a bottomless tin can as a miniature charcoal starter chimney. I crumpled some newspaper and set a few leftover coals on top. This didn’t work so well, as the coals fell away from eachother as the paper burned. I ended up using a high-temperature torch-type cigar lighter to get one of the larger briquets started. When the coals started getting hot, I set a piece of pecan wood on top and waited for the smoke to start.
I built a platform for the cheese out of a rectangle of doubled heavy foil, and the rack from a small Nesco roaster. I figured if the cheese softened, it wouldn’t drip thru the grate and make a mess. The rack allowed smoke to circulate under the cheese. You can see the piece of pecan wood I used sitting next to the rack.
I smoked three different cheses, using approximately a half pound slab each of mild cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. I kept them refrigerated until the smoke started, at which time I placed them on the rack.
I had to monitor the cheese frequently (Notes), as the idea here is to make a lot of smoke, but not a lot of heat.
I used the Polder thermometer to monitor the temp, inserting it in the special tube I had installed last time. I wanted to try to keep the Bullet under 90�, but it ended up running around 98 to as high as 114. It didn’t seem to matter– nothing melted, and the cheese was cool to barely luke warm to the touch.
After ninety minutes, with the fuel exhausting, I removed the cheese and placed it in the refrigerator. I took the cheese to a party later that night. The general consensus was that it was a little too smoky. The mild cheddar was the best; the Swiss was just OK; the provolone didn’t benefit from that much smoke. Next time, I will try just 30 minutes and see how that does. Clean up was fairly easy– nothing to do but empty a little ash from the bowl.
Update: The following day all the cheeses developed an unpleasant taste due to the overly long smoke. 90 minutes was definitely overkill.
Next time, Christmas Day Turkey.