Smoking cheese on a pellet grill is an easy way to make delicious and flavorful grilled cheese sandwiches. Knowing how to smoke cheese on a pellet grill will help you save money by avoiding overpriced ones at the grocery store and enjoying deliciously cooked food every time you need it.
The process of smoking the cheese helps to develop complex flavors and tones in the sandwich and can be done with little effort.
In addition, you can also try a smoked cheese sandwich (recipe mentioned). A perfectly smoked grilled cheese sandwich needs nothing more than some bread, butter, grated or sliced cheddar cheese, tomato slices, salt & pepper.
Let’s get started on how to smoke cheese on a pellet grill!
A Step-By-Step Guide: How to Smoke Cheese on a Pellet Grill
List of Ingredients
To smoke cheese on a pellet smoker, you will need:
- A few pieces of cheese
- A wood chip box.
- Pellets from your favorite brand of pellets.
- Grill gloves to keep the heat away from yourself while opening and closing the smoker door.
Follow the below-mentioned steps to Smoke Cheese on a Pellet Grill:
Cleaning and Preheating
Clean the grill thoroughly to avoid any contamination and turn it on after cleaning.
Place the wood chips into your chip box.
After putting in wood chips, cover it with a lid made of foil so that you can catch all the liquid while smoking your cheese. Make sure to keep checking up regularly because if this liquid gets dry, it could burn down which would not be good.
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Put Your Cheese into the Grill
Now open the smoker and put your cheese on a small tray which you can find at any grocery store near the meat section. Then, close the lid.
Now you will have to wait for an hour before opening your smoker, don’t forget to wear grill gloves while doing so. If you open the lid without wearing grill gloves it could burn your hands and that is something nobody wants to happen. Because after all this work; we want to eat cheese and not get rid of burned hand skin.
Flip the Sides After an Hour of Smoking at Low Temperatures
After an hour, open the lid, flip the side down, and make sure that all your wood chips are still in the smoker. Because if they fell out while smoking it would be a major problem.
Put some more smoke on by adding pellets into your chip box and putting its cover back on top of it. Now, wait for another half an hour to an hour.
Make sure You Have Attained the Desired Results by Opening the Lid
After the time has passed, open your lid again to see whether the cheese is ready or not because if it isn’t, you will have to wait some more.
If cheese needs extra smoke put in one more batch of pellets. Make sure to check up regularly after half an hour while smoking so that you don’t end up with burnt smoked cheese instead of a perfectly cooked one.
Now you have successfully smoked your first piece of cheese on the pellet grill.
If it tastes good, go ahead and smoke another batch but if not then keep practicing until you get the best taste out of every single piece!
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Now let’s take a look at how a smoked cheese sandwich is made.
How to Smoke a Cheese Sandwich on a Pellet Grill
List of Ingredients:
- Bread (sliced)
- Butter (unsalted and softened)
- Cheddar cheese (grated or sliced)
- Tomato slices
- Salt & pepper to taste.
Step One:
Prepare the grill to an optimal temperature for smoking. The ideal temperature is around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which you can achieve by keeping your pellet smoker’s hopper at full capacity and setting it to smoke mode.
You also need to adjust your vents so that they are partially closed, making sure there is enough airflow around your designated cooking area.
Step Two:
Once you have set up your smoker, add a few balls of hardwood pellets to make sure the grill is running hot enough for smoking.
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Step Three:
While the grill is heating up in smoke mode, butter one side of each slice of bread and then place them on a cooler part of your pellet cooker that has been covered with grill mats or parchment paper.
Place a slice of cheese on each piece of bread and then top it off with the other buttered side to make grilled cheese sandwiches.
Step Four:
Place your tray of sandwich ingredients in between two layers of aluminum foil within the part of your pellet cooker that you have set up for smoking. Make sure to line the tray with parchment paper if you are using a gas or charcoal smoker.
Step Five:
Close your pellet grill lid and wait until all of the pellets have burned out, leaving behind a nice layer of smoke.
This should take around 30 to 40 minutes depending on how vigorously you have set up for smoking. The more fuel in your hopper, the more smoke you will get.
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Step Six:
Once your pellets have burned out completely and left behind a layer of fragrant smoke, remove the tray from inside your smoker and serve alongside tomato soup for dipping or as is with some pickle slices on the side.
Enjoy!
A perfect smoked grilled cheese sandwich needs nothing more than some bread, butter, grated or sliced cheddar cheese, tomato slices, salt & pepper with preference over rye bread as that has a stronger taste profile compared to white or wheat.
What Is the Best Temperature to Smoke Cheese?
It is very important to keep the temperature of your grill between 80 °F and 90 °F. If you are unable to maintain this low temperature, it would be better not to smoke cheese at all as it will melt away completely.
Melted cheese has its own taste and flavor, but it is certainly not something you would love to have when all you want is smoked cheese.
Read Also: How To Make Snack Sticks in a Smoker?
Final words
The process of smoking cheese gets rid of excess moisture and oils from the cheese and helps to deliver a smoky flavor. When smoking cheese on a pellet grill you will get crispy skin and melted smoky goodness inside every bite!
It’s like having two different things in one smoked cheese experience that everyone loves!!
Hope this helps with your next smoking session for sure. Enjoy!