www.sausagemaking.org

My cold smoker set up is still in my office space (typically unheated, flue pointing out of window, typical temp of 7C or less.

Is the smoke colour slower to change based on cold temps from the fridge, whilst resting & subsequent cold room for smoking?

burns are full load(s) on the CSG, & whilst the brie is naturally slow to change hue the edam & emmental are being equally stubborn.

Currently on the second full load, & the camembert has taken nicely, rack heights swapped, but still s-l-o-w, will bang out a 3rd full load of smoke (beech & oak mix) however the edam has previously taken far more positively than the past 24hrs have shown.

Weather? moisture? ...sage advice would be appreciated.

Perhaps this may help:
http://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/1 ... y-research

I played with smoking cheese for a bit, then came to the realization to get the real bark and deep flavor was going to require some other techniques that just cold smoking. I believe a lot of the commercial smoked cheeses are using brining and additives or flavorings in the curd to achieve a lot of the consistency. Consistency has a lot to do with humidity, so that could be a factor for you. I got good enough results cold smoking for home use, but not for consistent quality for sale, plus the profit margin was not that good, as I was not buying large enough quantities of the cheese, so pretty much gave it up.

Thanks for the link Rod!

Yup, thanks Rod ..I'll read up on that as soon as I can.

By the end of the second burn nice colour all round, but a still white lid on the camembert despite turning periodically (randomish turns admittedly).

The ripe brie looks divine but is in for a 3rd & final burn of beech.

For this 3rd & final smoke I cleared out the csg & cleaned it thoroughly wash & scrub, ditto the cooling racks, as the cool nature of the temp has, compared with summer & autumnal smokes left slight dark lines (not bark) in the brie, which unless correctly informed, i'm assuming is a cold tar based on low box temperature possibly? ..the faithful temporary smoker is sitting in very chilly environs so i'd consider air moisture & lower combustion to be culprits? (please feel free to put me out of my misery).

So as the house is cold, the smoke room is cold, I'm microwaving my 3rd batch, 3 lots of 3 minutes full power on a thick plate with lots of piling & spreading over that period, still very minimal visible moisture if any, kitchen is around 12 degrees so steam will show regardless, just the merest wisp.

I do have a fairly professional moisture & temp meter, should I utilise it over winter to determine natural absorpbtion in storage? ..it can also be set according to species, but is designed for resistance to wood, not dust naturally so needs to be used as a gauge not a measurement.

Right, off to read Rods link & probably experience a "doh" moment.

I think the moisture of the season is a hard & fast prime suspect, either that or the Lidl cheese is made of something else! ..4 full loads later & compared to previous batches only a matter of slight colouring, ..i'm flummoxed & loathe to vac seal it, as I am to simply bash out more loads of smoke, / set some more of the same off currently.

Can't take any photo's to compare currently as camera has gone awol.

Last camembert took nicely (imho) but bries look worlds apart.

confused.