Stay with me on this one! Trust the process of this Smoked Cream Cheese. It's a great appetizer for when friends stop by, enjoying by the pool and catching up.
Smoked cream cheese is the perfect appetizer all year long! You literally throw it together within 3 minutes, let the smoker do it's thing for about an hour and the end result is a soft and gooey cream cheese that's smooth and packed full of flavor.
Fair warning: this shit is addicting!
What To Served Smoked Cream Cheese With
I typically serve smoked cream cheese with ritz crackers. However, you can also serve it up with celery, carrots, salted chips, pita chips, bagels slices, tortilla chips or any of your families other favorite crackers.
How Long Do I Smoke Cream Cheese For?
I've smoked a lot of cream cheese over the last few years. I've smoked it alongside ribs, wings, brisket and hamburgers.
The cream cheese doesn't care what temperature you smoke it at. The lower the temperature, the longer you'll need to smoke the cream cheese.
If you are smoking below a 200° you'll need to wait about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for the cream cheese to be softened. If you want a little bit of a crust, you'll have a longer wait time for the top of the cream cheese to dry out a bit as it does contain a lot of moisture.
Ingredients Needed To Make A Smoke Cream Cheese Recipe
- olive oil
- garlic salt
- steak seasoning
You can also make a dry rub. I make one for wings that's pretty good:
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
Mix all that together for a delicious dry rub.
How To Make Smoked Cream Cheese
Preheat your smoker to about 225-250°.
Start by running a sharp knife under super hot water. You want to get the blade hot so that it basically melts through the cream cheese. With the hot knife (you may have to do this several times), cut cross marks diagonally into the cream cheese. You don't want to cut all the way through, just X marks so that the smoke can get into the cream cheese.
Once you've made the cross marks, drizzle with olive oil across the top.
Next, top with garlic salt and either your favorite steak seasoning or the dry rub recipe above.
Place the cream cheese into the smoker. I typically keep it in the tin foil or will place 2-3 on a small serving sheet if I'm serving a lot of friends.
Smoke for about 45-1 hour, remove and enjoy!
