The Ultimate Guide to Cold Smoking Cheese on the Grill

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Cold smoking cheese is an easy way to add extra smoke flavor to blocks of cheese for charcuterie boards, sandwiches, or any recipe that includes grated or sliced cheese. This guide will teach you how to cold smoke cheese on a grill with just a few basic supplies, and answer some of the most common questions about making smoked cheese at home.

Let’s be honest… a little smoke flavor can take most recipes from good to great. But I’m not talking about that fake smoky flavor that you get from a few drops of a liquid smoke additive. I’m talking about real, wood-fired flavor that only comes from actual wood.

Whether it’s in the form of wood pellets or lump wood charcoal, you can’t beat the flavor of smoke – and I have yet to find a single food that I don’t like on the grill with a bit of added smoke flavor.

But one of the easiest things to smoke is cheese… and you don’t even have to turn on your grill!

Cold smoking cheese is a fantastic way to add extra flavor to blocks of cheese for charcuterie boards, sandwiches or burgers, smoked cheese ball appetizers, or smoked mac and cheese.  And with a few basic supplies and this simple guide, you can cold smoke your own cheese like a pro!

What is Cold Smoking?

If you have a pellet grill or smoker, then you’re already familiar with smoking meats. This typically involves setting your grill to a low temperature (about 200-275°F) and using some sort of wood pellets or charcoal as the heat source to produce smoke.

Cold smoking can also involve using wood pellets to create smoke, except the grill or smoker is not turned on so no heat is present in the grill chamber.  So you could say that hot smoking serves to both flavor and cook the food, and cold smoking just adds smoke flavor without cooking the food, making it perfect for cheese.

Since cold smoking is typically done at temperatures lower than 90°F, and most pellet grills or gas grills don’t have that low of a heat setting, you can cold smoke on a grill with a smoke generator device or a smoker tube with wood pellets.  A smoke tube is an inexpensive option, with most tubes costing about $20, so that’s my preferred method.

Supplies Needed to Cold Smoke Cheese

These are the supplies needed to cold smoke cheese with my method:

• Sheet tray and wire rack – I have a few baking sheets and wire cooling racks that I have designated just for using on the grill. That way I don’t expose my good baking sets to all of the smoke and ash from the grill.
• Smoke tube and wood pellets – These two items create a large amount of smoke without having to turn the grill on.
• Propane torch – I find that a propane torch, sometimes called a butane torch, is the easiest way to light a smoke tube so the pellets don’t burn out.
• Outdoor grill with a lid – It doesn’t matter what type of grill that you use, as long as it has a lid. The actual grill will never get turned on during the cold smoking process, so a gas grill, charcoal grill, or pellet grill will work.
• Plastic wrap – If you’re going to be using the cold smoked cheese for later recipes.  Wrapping the blocks of cheese in plastic wrap before refrigerating can help preserve the smoke flavor.

What types of cheese work best for cold smoking?

Most blocks of cheese work well for cold smoking, whether soft cheeses like cream cheese or brie, or harder cheeses like parmesan cheese or cheddar.  Here are some popular choices for cold smoked cheese:

• pepper jack
• swiss cheese
• jack cheese
• sharp cheddar cheese
• provolone cheese – You can have your grocery store deli slice a 1/2 to 1 pound hunk for you since provolone is often sold in slices not blocks.
• parmesan cheese
• cream cheese – Try sprinkling your cream cheese block with a bit of seasoning for appetizer dips or other recipes. For instance, you can sprinkle a block of cream cheese with barbecue seasoning and then use the smoked cheese in pig shots.

How long to cold smoke cheese?

The smoking time really depends on the amount of smoke flavor that you want and also the outside temperature.  

If you like a good bit of smoke flavor and the temperature is a nice mild 60-70°F, then you can smoke the cheese for a longer period of time, like up to 3 hours.  If you’re worried about too much smoke flavor or the outside temperature is super hot (like over 90°F), then you may want to go with a shorter smoking time of 1 – 1.5 hours.

I typically smoke harder cheeses like cheddar cheese blocks for about 2 to 2.5 hours.

What types of wood pellets work best?

For cold smoking cheese, I suggest using fruit wood pellets like apple or cherry for a lighter smoke flavor that compliments the delicate flavors of the cheeses.  You can also try hardwoods like hickory or oak for a more robust smoke flavor.  

Just be sure that your wood pellets are made for smoking food and don’t contain any fillers or artificial additives.

How to Cold Smoke Cheese – Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1:  Set up a pan of ice for the cheese blocks.

​Start by adding several ice cubes to the bottom of a sheet tray.  Place a wire cooling rack on top of the ice.  Unwrap the blocks of cheese, and place them on top of the wire rack, spaced out so that the smoke can circulate around the cheeses.

Step 2: Prepare the smoke tube with wood pellets.

Next, fill the smoker tube about 80% full with your choice of wood pellets.  Place the tube directly on the grill grates on the side of the grill, and light the wood pellets with a butane torch.

You will need to make sure that about 10-15% of the pellets are lit so that the pellet tube doesn’t burn out and stop smoking.  Allow the smoke to build for about 3-5 minutes, and then close the grill lid to trap the smoke inside.

*You can check out our full guide for how to use a smoke tube with wood pellets here for more detailed instructions.

​Step 3: Cold smoke the cheese on the grill with the smoke tube.

Add the sheet tray with the cheese blocks to the grill chamber with the smoke tube.  I typically place the sheet tray of cheeses about 18″ from the smoke tube.  

Close the grill lid, and allow the cheese to smoke for about 1-3 hours, depending on how much smoke flavor you want and what types of recipes you’ll be using the cold smoked cheese for.  

You may want to check on the cheese periodically to make sure that the smoke tube is still producing consistent smoke.

Step 4: Refrigerate the cold smoked cheeses until ready to use.

When the cheese has finished cold smoking, remove it from the grill, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate.  

If you’re using lighter colored hard or semi-hard cheeses like a block of pepper jack or mozzarella, then you will probably notice the surface of the cheese has a slightly darker color than the inside.  For more orange-colored cheese blocks like sharp cheddar, the smoke color may be a bit more difficult to see.

If you’re going to grate the smoked cheese blocks for different recipes, then it’s best to wrap the cheese in plastic wrap to maintain the smoky flavor and then refrigerate for about 2 hours. Refrigerating the cheese makes it easier to grate.

You can also plastic wrap the cheese blocks tightly and refrigerate overnight to use at a later time.

A Note about Temperature Danger Zones

When deciding what foods you’re going to cold smoke and how long to cold smoke, it’s crucial to remember food safety and temperature control.  

The typical “danger zone” for food temperature is between 40-140°F, though this range can vary slightly by state.  If non-shelf stable foods are kept in that temperature zone for more than 3.5 to 4 hours, then bacteria may start to grow making your foods harmful to eat.

If you’re cold smoking softer cheeses like cream cheese that require refrigeration, then be sure to monitor the smoking time so the cheese isn’t in the temperature danger zone for too long of a time period.

*This is also why I choose to use a pan of ice under the cheeses to help keep them colder on the grill.

Recipe Ideas for Cold Smoking Cheese

After you’ve cold smoked your cheese, what do you do with it?  Here are some serving ideas:

• Charcuterie boards – Smoked cheeses are perfect for slicing and serving alongside cured meats and fruit preserves on a charcuterie board.
• Sandwich cheese – Slice the cold smoked cheese for sandwiches or burgers to add a bit of smoky flavor.
• Grate the cheeses for different recipes – We’ve used freshly grated cold smoked blocks of cheese for a variety of dishes including a smoked Mexican street corn cheeseball and our favorite smoked mac and cheese.

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