TentHunter
Moderator
I wanted to do something special this year for Christmas gifts so we made up a Large batch of Beef Summer Sausage sticks and my own smoky version of a cheese spread known as Kentucky Beer Cheese.
The Summer Sausage was stuffed into 1 1/2" diameter unbleached muslin casings and smoked to an Internal temp of 150°. Here they are cooling and blooming.
After cooling overnight in the fridge they were cut into mostly 10" sections. Some were cut into smaller sections.
The Cheese Spread
What better to go with Summer Sausage than a good sharp cheese spread? I looked at least a dozen recipes. One that caught my attention was called Kentucky beer cheese. I found a few different recipes and here's what I came up with.
Ingredient amounts (per batch):
2 lbs. extra sharp Cheddar Cheese
Paprika (to coat the cheddar)
2 lbs. Cream Cheese
1 12 oz. bottle Beer at room temp.
3/4 - 1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1/4 tsp. Ground Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp. Granulated Garlic (or powder)
We made 10 lbs. (2 1/2 batches). I started by coating 5 lbs. extra sharp cheddar cheese with paprika then cold smoking it for 1 hour (apple smoke).
We softened 5 lbs. of cream cheese and set it aside.
The apple wood smoked cheese was shredded into a tub.
The cheddar, beer & other spices were put into a food processor and blended until very smooth. The Beer/Cheese mixture and cream cheese were placed in a big bowl and blended into a creamy consistency.
The cheese mixture was packed into 8 oz. deli containers and refrigerated overnight. When chilled it was very smooth and spreadable with a smoky sharp taste that went very well with the summer sausage on some multi-grain crackers.
Everyone got a pack of Summer Sausage, Smoky Beer Cheese and a sleeve of multi-grain club crackers. These went over very well well as gifts at the Christmas Eve service as well as sample at Church this morning.
Thanks for sneeking a peek!
The Summer Sausage was stuffed into 1 1/2" diameter unbleached muslin casings and smoked to an Internal temp of 150°. Here they are cooling and blooming.
After cooling overnight in the fridge they were cut into mostly 10" sections. Some were cut into smaller sections.
The Cheese Spread
What better to go with Summer Sausage than a good sharp cheese spread? I looked at least a dozen recipes. One that caught my attention was called Kentucky beer cheese. I found a few different recipes and here's what I came up with.
Ingredient amounts (per batch):
2 lbs. extra sharp Cheddar Cheese
Paprika (to coat the cheddar)
2 lbs. Cream Cheese
1 12 oz. bottle Beer at room temp.
3/4 - 1 tsp. Dry Mustard
1/4 tsp. Ground Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp. Granulated Garlic (or powder)
We made 10 lbs. (2 1/2 batches). I started by coating 5 lbs. extra sharp cheddar cheese with paprika then cold smoking it for 1 hour (apple smoke).
We softened 5 lbs. of cream cheese and set it aside.
The apple wood smoked cheese was shredded into a tub.
The cheddar, beer & other spices were put into a food processor and blended until very smooth. The Beer/Cheese mixture and cream cheese were placed in a big bowl and blended into a creamy consistency.
The cheese mixture was packed into 8 oz. deli containers and refrigerated overnight. When chilled it was very smooth and spreadable with a smoky sharp taste that went very well with the summer sausage on some multi-grain crackers.
Everyone got a pack of Summer Sausage, Smoky Beer Cheese and a sleeve of multi-grain club crackers. These went over very well well as gifts at the Christmas Eve service as well as sample at Church this morning.
Thanks for sneeking a peek!
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