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Lump o' chili smattered cheddar based (I think) fromage went in last night.
(Mexicana, tesco deli brand regular strength).

You can smell the heavy chili presence within the cheese so I expect it'll need a good smoke sousing to mellow it into something more palatable & less overwhelmingly fiery "blokey" cheese.

Anyone wish to hazard a guess as to how many smoke dunks it needs, I can't tell whether this is proper cheese or adulterated, there is a lot of differing colour including the cheddar which makes me think it's a messed around blended cheddar, Mexicana are part of the Norseland company (Norwegian) ..but no-one picked up the phone to talk about their products.

it's quite a moist cheese so I'm curious as to how it'll stand to smoke.
usual 50/50 oak beech mix.

Due to the chopped chili pieces I've given this 2 full loads of smoke & wrapped it for fridge maturation.
Even in very low winter temperatures the speckling of chopped chili (prolific) degrades, so it's a case of two bursts & no hanging around.
(Daytime temps: 4.8 c in smoke room, cooler within smoke chamber).

Unwrapped for a teasing taster, ..it fell out of the fridge into my hands ..honest (should sit for at least a few more days but what the heck)!

Took the smoke well, very enjoyable, smoke all the way through, very distinctive, ...& with the obvious chili bite.

"football match bloke cheese" nacho cheese layer maybe? ..I can't place it into a food menu formula i'm not a poncey chef ...I still prefer my chili pickled eggs, however when smoked this mexicana has some clout others may appreciate.

Will try it with some poached & scrambled eggs for bit of morning bite & see if it shines through.
As a blended cheese it seems to hold it's original texture without noticeable change (or rubbery squeak).