I have been toying around with Mac & Cheese since I first got my smoker and think I've put together a pretty easy but solid recipe. I made three batches this week, one for home, another for a neighbor for snow blowing my drive while I was out of town and one for my wife to take to a girls weekend. Feedback all around was that it was amazing; so much so my neighbor asked for the recipe. I hadn't taken the time to write this down, but put it in an email. I thought I'd share it here as a sort of thanks to you all for what I've learned.
- 16oz box of elbow mac (I cook to 9.5 minutes)
- 16oz bag of shredded sharp cheddar
- 6oz of sliced Munster cheese (I prefer Kroger; less oily)
- Brick of cream cheese
- Stick of butter
- 1 pint of half and half
- Boars Night Out White Lightening Seasoning
Boil the noodles. While boiling, thinly slice squares of butter and the Munster cheese into around 1” squares. When done, strain the noodles and place them in a large mixing bowl. Immediately add the butter and Munster cheese and stir a bit as the butter will help with the stirring of all the cheese. Next, pour in the whole bag of sharp cheddar and stir more. Now, (I use a dinner knife) cut and put in 1”-ish “chunks” of cream cheese and mix lightly (lightly, as keeping the cream cheese chunky allows if to pick up great smoke flavor). Shake in a healthy amount of the seasoning and, again, stir lightly (I have tried a half dozen rubs (including Killer Hogs which was very good) and seasonings, and Boars Night Out provides the best flavor). Lastly, pour in the half and half and stir (I’ll usually add a bit more seasoning here). This will get it very creamy while still keeping the cream cheese chunks mildly intact. Pour the mix into a disposable tin (I use the larger Costco type).
I smoke this on a Green Mountain Davy Crocket Smoker using the Gold Pellets (I tried the Texas and like the mellower flavor of the Gold). I smoke this for an hour (20 minutes covered, 40 minutes uncovered and I rotate after 20 minutes uncovered to ensure the smoke is the same all around). I have tried 15/45 and 30/30 too. The 15/45 was a bit too smoky and 30/30 was a little light.