I have read about people smoking cheese and decided to give it a try.
	I have done two batches so far.  The first batch was a small batch of cheese to test and see how things went.  Great results.  The second time I did a larger batch of cheese and everything turned out nicely again.
	While it was interesting to use charcoal and pieces of wood the next time I plan on using a hot plate with a pie pan of smoking sawdust. I think it will be much easier to control temperature and the smoke level.

Jump to the first batch: First Batch

Jump to the second batch: Second Batch

Click on any of the pics to see a bigger pic.

	Here are some observations.
	90*	Keep the temperature around 90*
	Fuel	2 or 3 pieces of charcoal and 2 or 3 thumb size pieces of wood.  Whether or not to soak the wood is your preference.  Soaked wood helps to prevent temperature spikes and will provide more smoke.
	Wood	Most people like to use a mild smoking wood.  Pecan was a popular choice.  The closest I had to a mild smoking wood was white oak and it worked for me.  However, availability and personal preference will determine which wood you use.
	Ice Water	Ice water helps to lower the temperature or stop a temperature spike.
	Water Pan	Don't fill the water pan all the way.  About 1/2 to 3/4 way at most.  If you need to add ice or ice water to maintain temperature and the water pan is full then the water could overflow or splash and kill the fire.  It wouldn't take much of a splash to kill this small fire.
	External Factors	Because of the low smoking temperatures, external factors will have a significant effect.  If your air temperature is 100* and the smoker is in direct sunlight; you will have a hard time maintaining a smoking temperature of 90*.  Wait until sunset and/or smoke in the shade.
	Preheating Smoker	This is tricky.  If you start with to much fuel then you will be waiting a long time for the temperature to come back down to around 90*. Too small an initial fire and it will take what seems for ever for the smoker to reach 90* because the mass of the smoker will absorb heat. As with anything else, experience is the best teacher and eventually the correct amount of fuel to start with will be discovered.  I'm still searching. :o)
	Patience	As with any smoking, a generous supply of patience is a must.  Since the smoking temperature for cheese is so low; it is very easy to add coals or wood beyond what is necessary.
	Previously used coals	For the second batch of cheese, I only added previously used coals to the fire after the initial fire was going.  I lit a pile of previously used coals on the Weber kettle then added coals to the smoker as needed.  The various sizes of coals provided the ability to add small amounts of heat and seemed to eliminate temperature spikes.
	Measuring temperature	A Polder type remote thermometer is very helpful.  Think about it, 90* is about 8* below body temperature.  It will take some experience to use the traditional method of checking temp by holding one's hand over the fire or vent when you are trying to hold a temp at 90*.
	Duration	The thread's consensus for the smoking duration was 2 hours. Worked for me.
	Size	Size of the wood pieces.
	Uses	Your imagination is the only limit for using smoked cheese.  Smoked Swiss and ham sandwich is a new experience.  I grated the Romano and used it on pasta and salad.  The Bleu Cheese was the most complex flavor of cheese and smoke.  The smoked Gouda and Cheddar were my favorites.

Pics and smoking record of the first batch of cheese
Reaching room temperature before putting it on the smoker	Cheese was just put on the smoker.	Cheese is done. 2 hours on the smoker . Note the grill marks and slight shiny appearance.

Time	Temp	Comment
5:30 PM	90	Air temperature is 74*
5:30 PM	90	Cheese is on.  Temperature is stable.  I used only dry oak for this batch of cheese.
5:35 PM	86	Check temp.  Toss in a small piece of oak for more smoke.
5:50 PM	87	The oak raises the temp a little and provides some smoke.
6:00 PM	86	Check temp
6:15 PM	85	I want to bump up the temperature to 90* so I add two lit coals. Temperature jumps immediately.
6:17 PM	89	Temperature is climbing
6:19 PM	93	Temperature is still climbing
6:25 PM	95	Remove one of the lit coals.  Amazing how much the temperature jumped with just two lit coals.
6:45 PM	96	The temperature held steady for a while but now is beginning to climb again so I add ice water to bring temperature down
7:05 PM	95	Steady temperature
7:29 PM	94	Take the cheese off

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Pics and smoking record of the second batch of cheese
Reaching room temperature before putting it on the smoker	Cheese was just put on the smoker	Cheese is done. 2 hours on the smoker. The cheese sagged a little more than the first batch

Time	Temp	Comment
4:05 PM	75	Slowly bringing the smoker up to 90*.  Air temperature is 64*.
4:15 PM	80	I'm getting impatient so the cheese goes on. Add two small lit coals and two pieces of oak.  One piece of oak was soaked and the other piece is dry.  A lot of blue smoke.
4:25 PM	82	Temperature is slowly climbing.  Smoke is lighter.
4:40 PM	84	Check temperature.  Add some small lit coals.
5:00 PM	87	Add some small lit coals and soaked piece of oak.  I think the lower air temperature and a slight breeze is contributing to the slow rise in temperature.
5:20 PM	89	Mild smoke.  Add some small pieces of lit coals.
6:00 PM	96	Temperature has slowly climbed from 89*.  I think using soaked wood and previously used coals has prevented fast temperature spikes.
6:15 PM	96	Take the cheese off.
		I don't know why the second batch of cheese sagged more than the first batch but it was still good.