Smoked Cheese
Encyclopedia
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
that has been specially treated by smoke-curing. It typically has a yellowish-brown outer "skin," which is a result of this curing process. The tradition of flavoring cheese by smoke originated in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
making the only type of cheese that is solely a Danish invention.
Smoke curing is typically done in one of two ways: cold-smoking and hot-smoking. The cold-smoking method (which can take up to a month, depending on the food) smokes the food at between 70° and 90°F
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
(21° and 32°C
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
). Hot-smoking partially or completely cooks the food by treating it at temperatures ranging from 100° to 190°F
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
(38° to 88°C
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
). Another method of "curing" used in less expensive cheeses is to use liquid smoke
Liquid Smoke
Liquid smoke is a substance produced from smoke passed through water. Liquid smoke is used for both food preservation and flavoring. While some worry that liquid smoke contains carcinogenic compounds, research suggests that the concentration levels are well under the acceptable limit formed by the...
flavoring to give the cheese a smoky flavor and color, which gives the outside the appearance of having been smoked in the more traditional manner.
Varieties
Cheeses smoked by definition include ApplewoodApplewood cheese
Applewood, or Applewood smoked cheddar, is a round, white smoke-flavoured Cheddar cheese that is manufactured by Norseland Limited in Somerset, England. Smoked cheese, including cheddar is produced in other countries such as Canada and the United States.-Character:Applewood smoked cheddar is a...
and Rauchkäse
Rauchkäse
Rauchkase is a German variety of smoked cheese, known for being semi-soft with a smoky brown rind. The most famous variety is Bruder Basil, named for dairy entrepreneur Basil Weixler, whose dairy company is still in operation today....
, while others such as Gruyère, Gouda
Gouda (cheese)
Gouda is an orange cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, but its name is not protected. However, the European Commission has confirmed that "Gouda Holland" is to be protected...
, Mozzarella
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...
, Scamorza and Cheddar
Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese, produced in several countries around the world. It has its origins in the English village of Cheddar in Somerset....
are often available in smoked varieties. Most cheeses can be smoked to enhance the flavor.