This smoked mac and cheese will wow you with its smokey and delicious tastes, leaving you speechless. If you've never tried cooking smoked mac and cheese in a smoker, you're in for a delicious surprise! This easy smoked mac and cheese dish is taken to a new level of taste thanks to the addition of hearty, summery flavors that are imparted by the smoker. It's perfectly OK if you don't have anybody in your household that smokes.
We have devised a method wherein you may enjoy the same delicious taste directly in the comfort of your home oven. You may make this smoked mac and cheese for tonight's supper, or you can bring a scorching hot pan to your next backyard BBQ or potluck, and it will be the highlight of the event.
Advice on Making the Absolute Best Smoked Mac and Cheese
Use cast iron instead. A pan with a diameter of 12 inches may be used on a cooktop, in a smoker, and at the dinner table with little effort and without producing an excessive number of dirty dishes. In addition, it will provide you with a substantial amount of surface area on which the mac and cheese may absorb smoke.
Maintain a low temperature within the smoker. Anything over 225 degrees Fahrenheit will cause your noodles to overcook, resulting in a dry mac and cheese.
Make use of softwood. Cherry, apple, maple, or pecan wood comes highly recommended by me.
Feel free to shake things up a little! This easy smoked mac and cheese is an excellent foundation for the addition of a variety of additional flavors, such as bacon, green chilies, lobster, pulled pork, etc. Get creative! When I want that traditional barbecue taste, my favorite way is to add some of my Signature Sweet Rub to the panko topping.
Best Smoked Mac and Cheese
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The World's Greatest Smoked Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni noodles (cooked according to package instructions)
1/2 cup butter
4 Tablespoons flour
1 Tablespoon mustard powder
2 cups half and half
4 oz cream cheese
3 cups cheddar
1.5 cups gouda
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Bread Crumb Topping
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup butter
2 Tablespoons Signature Sweet Rub
Instructions
Start by bringing a big pot of salted water to a boil, then add the macaroni noodles and cook them until they are al dente, which means they still have some bite and texture (not too soft).
Prepare a light hardwood in your smoker and get the temperature up to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Cherry or apple is my flavor of choice.
Bring to medium heat a cast iron skillet about 12 inches in diameter. To make a smooth, runny paste, start by melting a half cup of butter and whisking in the flour. After that, incorporate the mustard powder with a whisk.
After adding the half-and-half with caution, bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly. Turn down the heat and slowly whisk in the cream cheese until it is completely incorporated.
After thoroughly incorporating the cheddar cheese and the gouda cheese, continue stirring until the cheeses have melted. After the heat has been turned off, add the macaroni noodles that have been cooked. Gently stir the mixture until the cheese sauce is evenly distributed over the noodles.
Mix the melted butter, sweet rub, and panko bread crumbs in a low-sided bowl. Throughout the top of the smoked mac and cheese, sprinkle.
Put the skillet in the smoker, make sure the cover is tight, and let it smoke for an hour. If you want a stronger smoker taste, you can smoke for up to two hours, although the noodles will take on quite a bit of smoke. You may smoke for up to two hours.
Serve your smoked mac and cheese when it is still warm, and the cheese is lovely and melted so that it may be enjoyed to its fullest potential.
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Smoked Mac and Cheese Dish & Its Amazing Combination of Flavors
DECADENT. Indulgent. Creamy. Perfect.
Quick smoking time: Once the ingredients have been mixed, the mac will be ready to smoke in only one to two hours, depending on how smoky you want your mac.
Begin by combining the noodles with the cheese sauce in the kitchen, and then bring the dish to a close on the barbecue.
This recipe for Million Dollar smoked mac and cheese is one of the best. Everyone in your family, as well as any visitors, will like it. It has a fantastic smokey flavor and is wonderfully cheesy and creamy at the same time. It gives the meal an additional flavor and takes it to the next level of deliciousness.
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Conclusion
There is a plethora of different smoked mac and cheese recipes available- from traditional dishes that have been passed down through generations in your family to innovative new recipes. Some people even put truffles or lobster in their macaroni and cheese, which is not a terrible thing to do, by the way. Everyone has their version that they've produced at home. There's probably one dish that you go to time and time again since it's your go-to recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. To what end would you put Barbecue Rub in your Mac & Cheese?
To alter the taste, try sprinkling some BBQ spice with the panko bread crumb topping. To spice things up, sprinkle on some chopped jalapenos or crumbled smoky bacon.
Q2. Smoking Mac and Cheese at 225 degrees F for how long?
Using the Traeger, you can prepare smoked mac & cheese with gouda in only a few hours. After 45 minutes to an hour, the macaroni and cheese are ready to be served, melted, and gooey. As a result, it's a very forgiving smoked appetizer or side dish to leave in the smoker while waiting for other BBQ dishes to complete cooking. That's great to know when planning a party or trying to perfect the timing of my go-to burger recipe. The longer it spends in the smoker, the more pronounced the smoky flavor will become.
Q3. If you want to smoke some Mac & Cheese, what kind of wood should you use?
Overcooking the noodles and drying out the mac and cheese will occur at temperatures over 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Try using softwood. You can't go wrong with cherry, apple, maple, or pecan wood. Feel free to shake things up a little bit!
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