Cold Smoked Cheese Easy Brie Appetizer

Name: Cold Smoked Cheese Easy Brie Appetizer
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 80 min
Total time: 110 min
Ingredients: 21 ounces Brie cheese wheel ((brought to room temperature)); Crackers ((optional)); Toppings ((optional))

Modified: Jun 9, 2025 · Published: May 19, 2020 by Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy 178 Comments

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Cold Smoked Cheese Easy Brie Appetizer might just be the hit of your next party. Take your wine and cheese party in a whole new and very interesting direction.

Wood pellets, a cold smoker box, and some great brie produce the best smoked cheese you have ever tasted. You might also want to make this easy cheese log too.

Slices of smoked brie cheese on a wooden board.

When I first tried cold smoked brie at one of the many grilling classes we have attended, I was hooked. Even my husband (who is not a brie lover) thought the smoked cheese appetizer was REALLY good.

I am so glad I can convert those taste buds of his to enjoy the good things in life. Have you tried smoked apples?

Cold Smoked Cheese Easy Brie Appetizer on a cheese board, cheese knife on the side.

Have you tried smoked cheddar? We often have it in the house, especially when Costco puts it on sale.

RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for this smoked cheese recipe are at the bottom of the post.

Once we found out how to make it ourselves, there is no need to buy it anymore.

It is easy to do and gives you the option to try lots of other cold smoked cheese recipes. The different combinations of paring woods and cheeses are endless.

Picture of the KEG charcoal used to make cold smoked cheese.

Totally different than pit smoking. If you know anything about hot smoking, controlling the temperature is vital. My husband loves his Flame Boss 300 WiFi.

What Is Cold Smoked Cheese?

If you have ever bought smoked cheese at the store you know it can be expensive. Flavour is added to cheese with the help of wood chips or pellets using a low temperature.

The cheese is not cooked but infused with a smokey flavour from the outside. What a great way to add some personality and elevate the taste of humble cheese. Take ordinary cheese and make it extraordinary.

For this cold smoked cheese recipe, we re-created the originally smoked brie appetizer we had at our cooking class.

Did you know that Canada has some fantastic cheese? Look for the Dairy Farmers of Canada logo next time you shop for your selection of cheese.

There are several methods to cold smoke cheese. You can use a gas grill or charcoal grill. My hubby is a BBQ fanatic (yup he has all the toys).

For this brie appetizer, he used a KEG charcoal grill (minus the charcoal). When we smoked cheese in class it was done on a gas grill (minus the heat).

Image of container used to make cold smoked cheese.

So, you may ask if there is NO HEAT involved, how do you smoke cheese? You use a container called a smoker box.

Some can be tubes, others can be DIY foil pouches. In both our cooking class and our own cheese smoking, we used a cold smoking tray by *(affiliate) *A-Maze-N.

Overhead shot of the pellet maze for smoking.

The Cold Smoking Process

choose your cheese (bring it to room temperature prior to smoking)
choose your wood pellet flavour (we used apple, more info below)
fill your smoking container with the pellets
place inside the grill and light
close lid (for several minutes) to start the smoking process
add the cheese on the rack (not too close to the smoker box, you don’t want the cheese to melt from the heat)
monitor the heat inside the grill (you want to keep it under 90 degrees F)
continue to smoke till you reach your desired level of flavour (hard cheeses will take longer than soft cheeses)

Close of how the cheese looks on the grill as it gets cold smoked.

Cold smoking on a cool day is ideal. It makes it much easier to control the temperature inside the grill. The day we smoked our cheese it was a million degrees outside.

How long does it take to cold smoke cheese? Hubby cold smoked the brie for 80 minutes. Depending on the outside temperature, and the type of cheese you choose, you can cold smoke anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Can you freeze smoked cheese? Yes, but I would only freeze HARD cheeses. Make sure they are wrapped REALLY WELL (vacuum sealing is ideal) to prevent freezer burn. You can usually keep it for about 2 months in the freezer.

Close up of Smoked Brie right off the grill, on a cheese board.

Can you eat smoked cheese right away? The flavour of the cheese right off the grill will be milder than when you store it in the fridge. In fact, just like fine wine (and women LOL) if you can let it sit for a week or so, the flavour will be over the top fantastic. Be sure to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.

Of course, when you smoke brie, how can you not eat it right away? Warm, gooey and delicious the absolute BEST time to eat it!!

Best Cheese To Smoke

This is the fun part (along with choosing the wood flavours). Just about any cheese that will not fall apart will work. Large blocks of cheese should be cut into smaller pieces (but DO NOT cut the brie). That would be a tragedy!

Brie
Mozzarella
Monterey Jack
Gouda
Swiss
Gruyere

As for the best wood for smoking, there are lots of flavour profiles to choose from.

You can go from mild (like apple and cherry) to strong (like hickory and mesquite). The choices are ALL personal preference. Lots of tasty options for your eating pleasure.

This home smoked cheese was our Sunday afternoon appetizer. Paired perfectly with wine (who would have thought LOL). Who would have thought of making cheese on the grill?

Sliced nice and warm, runny wedges of goodness, put them on some crackers (or straight to my mouth). Piled on some spicy wine jam, added some charcuterie meats, and called it dinner.

If you like warm cheese, mini stuffed peppers make a GREAT party starter. Have you ever tried Grilled Shishito Peppers? They have a nice smokey flavour, and totally addictive. You won’t be able to eat just one.

This easy cheese appetizer would be perfect with roasted eggplant slices. Easy finger food for bbq parties.

Close up of a slice brie, topped with spicy wine jam.

From appetizers like Strawberry Bruschetta to desserts like Watermelon Pizza or Grilled Balsamic Strawberries, cheese seems to be a common denominator in many recipes. Have you ever tried baked feta and strawberries? So good!

Cold Smoked Cheese Easy Brie Appetizer certainly will be happening a few more times (all year long).

Want more appetizers cooked on the grill? Here are a few to try this summer for your bbq parties!

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