Why Test Cherry Against Oak
Most cold-smoked cheese advice tells you to reach for a “mild” wood and stop there. I wanted an actual answer, not a guess, so I ran the same cheese through the same process one week apart — the only variable was the pellet. This batch was a Cracker Barrel variety pack from Sam’s Club: Extra Sharp, Sharp, and Vermont White.
For the cold smoke, the idea is smoke only, no flame. It was cold for TN that morning, below freezing. I used my Amazen pellet tube loaded with cherry pellets — my go-to, though I ran the second batch a week later with oak to see if there was a real difference.
Getting the pellets started reliably takes a bit of technique — the goal is smoldering, not flaming. I use my old decommissioned Weber gas grill, setting the tube right next to the burner to get it going.
I placed the cheese on and let it run, planning on about 4 hours or until the pellets stopped smoking.
About two hours in, it was picking up good color.
After the full 4 hours, I pulled it and transferred it to a cool oven to rest.
I let it rest about an hour, then wiped off the oil that had come to the surface before sealing. It was labeled, vacuum sealed, and set to rest for 3 weeks.
The Verdict I Forgot to Record
What Did the Test Prove?
Here’s the frustrating part: I smoked these two batches specifically to compare cherry against oak, waited three weeks to taste them, and never wrote down the final comparison. Nearly ten years later, I can’t honestly reconstruct exactly what I noticed between those two batches.
I continued experimenting with different pellets afterward. I’ve used cherry, oak, and hickory successfully, and lately I’ve been smoking my cheese with hickory. My wood choice has evolved over time rather than producing one permanent winner. The original side-by-side test deserved a better recorded verdict — and that’s one lesson I carried forward from these early cooks.
For the full process — equipment, timing, resting, and troubleshooting — see The Complete Guide to Cold-Smoking Cheese.