What is smoked cheese, manufacturing methods. Energy value and chemical composition of the product, benefits and possible harm to the body. How to use in cooking, recommendations for use.
Smoked cheese is a fermented milk product that has undergone heat treatment. Due to the vulcanization of the surface, its color changes - it becomes yellowish, ocher or brown. On the palate, there is a characteristic shade of smoke and resin, which gives pungency and special piquancy. Danish farmers were the first to smoke cheeses, and later this technology spread throughout the world.
Smoked cheese types
Heat treatment of cheese is carried out in a hot and cold way. Some varieties cannot be imagined without vulcanization.
This is exactly the kind of product that smoked sausage cheese belongs to. It is made by melting expensive varieties of hard cheese with butter, cottage cheese, eggs and flavors. Taste - from spicy to savory. It differs from all other types of fermented milk products in its characteristic shape and a shiny bright brown crust.
Another variety that is offered to consumers after heat treatment is Chechil or "pigtail". Farm options are often made from goat or sheep milk. Form - elastic thin fibers, woven or rolled into a skein. The taste is spicy, dryish, salinity is moderate.
Consumers are offered other types of smoked cheese processed with "cold" smoke:
- Perlini … For its production, several types of milk are necessarily used: from a cow, goat, sheep or buffalo. Form - balls, no larger than a walnut, taste - creamy salty.
- Scamorza … Italian variety of "filata pasta" type, extract cheese. The shape of the head is a pear with a bandage at the thin end. The taste is sweetish-creamy, the texture is reminiscent of condensed milk, and its color is baked milk. An oily aftertaste remains after consumption.
- Suluguni … Pickled cheese with a sour taste, no crust, layered texture. It is produced in the form of flattened cylinders weighing from 1.5 to 2.5 kg.
- Mozzarella … It is made from cow's milk or a mixture with buffalo, the consistency is elastic. After heat treatment, the fresh milky taste is replaced by a spicy one, the shape of the heads is small balls.
Hot smoked cheese varieties:
- Gruyere … The homeland of this product is Switzerland. It is produced in the form of tall cylinders weighing up to 14 kg. The texture is dense, without eyes, the taste is spicy, cheesy, nutty.
- English Cheddar … On its basis, many varieties have been developed. Hard, with a harsh taste and dense texture, yellow, intense color. For smoking, use heads with a ripening duration of at least 5 months.
- Dutch Gouda … Taste - delicate, nutty-creamy, sweetish, texture - brittle, dense, firm, color - caramel. It is produced in the form of cylinders with rounded edges, weight - 6-12 kg.
After heat treatment, the surface of fermented milk products becomes "ruddy", brown, and it is more difficult to distinguish one variety from another by its aroma - the smell of tar and smoke appears.
Cheese smoking methods
As already mentioned, there are 2 ways to heat a fermented milk product - hot and cold. To make homemade smoked cheese, you first need to make a smokehouse.
This kitchen device is a chamber with a built-in stove-type hearth or a heating element, a built-in grate or shelves. In an industrial unit, the furnace is located nearby, and smoke (combustion products) enters the chamber through a pipe. In a home smokehouse, most often the hearth (heater) is mounted (or installed) at the bottom level. You can make your own smokehouse from a metal or oak barrel, refrigerator chamber or from a specially welded box.
Hot smoking cheese technology
requires constant monitoring. The heating temperature is 40-88 ° C. The head of a hard variety is cut into pieces of no more than 200 g. Each of them is carefully wrapped in unpainted linen cloth and fixed with culinary thread. The smokehouse is installed over the fire (firewood is the wood of fruit trees). When smoke appears over it, rolls of cheese are spread on the grate. Take it out after 2 minutes, unfold it, transfer it to an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator. The pieces that have just been removed from the smokehouse are light, but after cooling for 3-4 hours they turn light brown. During "hot" processing under industrial conditions, hard cheese is not cut, but suspended in a smokehouse on special hooks.
Recipe for smoked processed cheese in the "cold" way at home:
- The product is cut into pieces as described and frozen in the refrigerator.
- It is desirable that the temperature outside does not exceed 15 ° C.
- Instead of a smokehouse, a smoke generator is used, pumping smoke into the chamber and maintaining the temperature no higher than 40 ° C. If you made a smokehouse yourself, then for cooling a plate of ice is placed in the chamber and the lid is not closed. A baking sheet with burnt wood chips, covered with a grate, is used as a heating element. The coals will have to be constantly changed.
- The cheese is not thawed until the end. Each piece is wrapped in cloth, as in the recipe already described, laid out on a wire rack and left for 30-40 minutes. To prepare soft cheese, 30-40 minutes is enough, hard and "pigtail" - up to 2 hours.
There is another way how to make smoked cheese - it is treated with the "Liquid Smoke" flavoring agent. The solution is diluted according to the instructions, the prepared dried cheese is processed. The aroma of the final product will be exactly the same as after being placed in the smokehouse - smoky and resinous, and the taste becomes even more piquant, sharper. The surface of cheeses processed with Liquid Smoke under industrial conditions is uniformly colored.
The composition and calorie content of smoked cheese
In the photo smoked cheese
Heat treatment does not affect the energy value of the fermented milk product. This parameter depends on its variety.
The calorie content of smoked cheese per 100 g is presented in the table:
| Variety | Calorie content, kcal | Proteins, g | Fat, g | Carbohydrates, g |
| Cheddar | 316 | 28 | 21 | up to 1 |
| Perlini | 223 | 17, 7 | 18 | - |
| Orichetti | 240 | 18 | 18 | - |
| Scamorza | 315 | 22 | 25 | 0, 5 |
| Chechil | 287 | 22, 6 | 22 | - |
| Suluguni | 256-267 | 19, 5 | 18-20 | up to 0, 1 |
| Sausage | 260 | 18 | 19 | 5 |
The chemical composition of smoked cheese is typical for fermented milk products of this type. It contains vitamins - retinol, tocopherol, calciferol, pantothenic, nicotinic and folic acid, thiamine, choline, niacin, pyridoxine and phylloquinone, as well as minerals - potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, sodium, iron, zinc. Thanks to the balanced vitamin and mineral complex of smoked cheese, you can quickly replenish the energy reserve and restore the supply of nutrients.
The benefits of smoked cheese
Heat treatment does not change the vitamin and mineral composition of the product and does not cause decomposition of organic compounds. Home-smoked cheese is stored longer; during heat treatment, the activity of harmful microflora that colonizes the surface during fermentation is suppressed. Due to the loss of moisture, the crust becomes denser, and the chances of penetration are reduced, the microbiological hazard is reduced.
The benefits of smoked cheese
- Replenishes calcium reserves, mineralizes bones and teeth, improves the quality of hair and nails.
- Increases the production of pancreatic enzymes and pepsin, prevents congestion in the stomach. Helps get rid of toxins and toxins accumulated in the intestines.
- People who are exhausted by prolonged malnutrition, physical exertion and emotional distress have an increased appetite, which helps to quickly gain weight and return to the desired parameters.
- Improves the work of the cardiovascular system, stabilizes the pulse rate, increases the overall tone, and prevents a decrease in blood pressure.
- Increases the production of hemoglobin and prolongs the life cycle of red blood cells.
- Accelerates neuro-impulse reactions, has a positive effect on the property of memory.
- Stimulates the dissolution of cholesterol.
- It has a mild diuretic effect and, despite the increased salinity, does not interfere with the withdrawal of fluid.
Processed smoked cheese is recommended to take with you on long road trips for those who suffer from motion sickness. A sharp and spicy bite that melts in the mouth, suppresses the urge to nausea and evokes pleasant emotions that distract from external influences.
In addition, the product helps to maintain youthfulness and beauty of the skin, reduces fluid loss, and stops the formation of wrinkles. Thanks to the pleasant taste, serotonin is produced, which makes, albeit temporarily, not think about troubles. If the problems seem less significant, they are much easier to deal with.
