Smoked Mac and Cheese

Step 1

First, add your 1/4 C butter to a medium saucepan and melt, then whisk in your 1/4 C flour and cook for about 2 minutes until it starts to get bubbly and you'll notice it has turned a bit brown. Once you've reached this stage whisk in your 3 C milk and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. After it has thickened add in your 8 oz of cream cheese cut in small chunks and stir until it's smooth.

Step 2

In a large heat-resistant bowl, add all of your 24 oz of cheese. Combine with the cream sauce we made earlier and mix until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed.

Step 3

If you haven't done so already, cook your 1 lb of macaroni according to the box instructions. Once done drain and combine with your cheese sauce. (All of these steps can actually be done in advance of a few hours to even a full day ahead.)

Step 4

At this point you can get more frisky and add anything that sounds good. If you want to add some heat you can add fresh jalapeños or hot sauce. If you want to add some crunch you can add bacon or breadcrumbs. If you want something more savory you can go with garlic and herbs. Go crazy!!

Step 5

Once you have everything mixed together to your liking spray an 8x8 aluminum tray with cooking spray and spoon in your mixture and even it out. Cheap aluminum trays are fantastic for recipes like this that you want to toss on the smoker since you won't want to stain a nice pan with smoke.

Step 6

Throw it on the smoker on indirect heat at 225 F for about 2 hours until its crisped on top but still nice and gooey on the inside.

Step 7

So that's it! Once it's done dish it out and enjoy.