"smoked cheese" news and stories

Smoked brie. Photo: Erica George Dines Photography

Part of a continuing summer series by grilling expert Gena Knox.

Whether you are having guests over for a grill-out or just cooking for the family, start up your grill a few minutes early and smoke your own cheese for an amazing yet easy-to-prepare appetizer.

Plank grilling is a familiar concept when it comes to cooking salmon and other types of fish, but you can also use wood to smoke brie, cheddar, Gouda and mozzarella in just 10 to 15 minutes.

When you purchase cheeses like "smoked Gouda" from your supermarket, the taste is oftentimes artificial, with a strong aftertaste. By using cedar, maple, alder or other flavors of wood, you can add an all-natural smoky taste to almost any cheese.

Oregon is known for its smoked meats, fish, and cheddar cheeses. Now there is something new and smoky to add to the list. Rogue Creamery which has been making its Oregon Blue Vein cheese since 1956 has come out with a fantastic new cheese, Smokey Blue. This is a handmade cheese that is aged for six months to develop the delicious blue veins, then it is cold smoked for a full day over a mix of woods that include Oregon Hazelnut shells. After the smoking process, the cheese is further aged for a month to allow the smoke cure to spread throughout the cheese, mellowing out and balancing the bite of the blue. This is a sweet, creamy, slightly smoky, blue cheese that even people who normally don't like blue cheese really appreciate and enjoy. Rogue Smokey Blue has such an interesting depth of flavor that you can make a fantastic and elegant dip for vegetables by whipping it with heavy cream, or put a nice pat on a grilled burger or steak to take your seared and smoky beef up to a whole new level of gustatory revelry.

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