Apple Smoked Cheddar and Bacon Cheese Ball

With the football playoffs beginning, and both NCAA,  and pro basketball in full swing your going to have watch parties. May I strongly recommend this for a crowd pleaser.

I’m just going to be candid here, this is GOOD! Stomp your foot on the ground GOOD! Leave your wife kind of GOOD! What makes it good is a simple technique that may very well change the way you eat cheese. Cold smoking. This was my first foray into cold smoking. It’s a simple process that you can use for many other things. Store bought “smoked” cheese will never be the same to you after you try this.

What you will need:

About 2 hours for cold smoking your cheese and another 1/2 hour for assembling the cheese ball.

1 large apple wood chunk

1lb sharp cheddar cheese

1lb of bacon (normal slice)

2 8oz pkgs of cream cheese

3 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of parsley

3-5 green onions

salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp)

1-2 jalapenos (optional)

How we did it:

(Note the pictures will show 2 piles of charcoal and  2 wood chunks this proved to make it too hot on a day that the temperature was around 20F. We reduced it to one pile but failed to get pictures.)

Begin by lighting only about 5 lumps of charcoal and placing them to one side of the grill.

Then place a large chunk of your preferred wood on top of the coals and let catch fire.

Then simply place your cheese on the grill and let it gently smoke for about 2 hours. Keep an eye on the temp. your not going to want it to go over 80f.

While your cheese is getting it’s smoke on, fry you bacon to the crispy stage, and coarsely chop.

Bring your cream cheese up to not quite room temperature. (You want it mixable but still slightly firm)

Finely chop your garlic, parsley, green onions and jalapenos if using.

Once the cheese is done getting it’s smoke on, finely shred it.

Then place all your ingredients in a mixing bowl, reserving 1/2 the bacon, and mix well.

Now simply form your mixture into a cheese ball and cover with the remaining bacon. If your mixture is too soft, place in the refrigerator for about 15-30 minutes until firm enough to work with.

So break the norm for the playoffs, game day, or office party and try this cheese ball out.