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One of my birthday gifts this year was The Big Vegan Cheese Kit from TheVeganKind and I was so excited to try it out. I had been thinking about this cheese making kit for a few months now as I’ve wanted to make my own vegan cheese. I’ve tried making cheese from cashews previously to combat the cost of living so if I needed vegan cheese in a recipe I wouldn’t have to spend extortionate prices in the shops, however it did not go as I anticipated.
The vegan mozzarella was the first one I tried as I could think of a few meals to make using that and the ingredients I already had in the house. Not only that but I used to love mozzarella pre vegan days, particularly on pizza and in butternut squash pasta. I have tried a few vegan alternatives from various brands before but none of them really hit the spot. The closest was probably the Green Vie Mozzarella but at £2.50 for a small block it hasn’t been worth paying that price. Hence attempting to make the vegan cheese from cashews as I mentioned earlier.
The Experience
I wasn’t holding high expectations for how the vegan mozzarella would turn out due to my previous attempt. However, I wanted to make sure I followed the instructions perfectly so it would turn out as intended by the creators so the first thing I did was read them several times over.
Thankfully I had read through the pages in the booklet so I knew what I needed and prepared the cashews by soaking them overnight. I popped all the ingredients and equipment needed on the counter making sure everything was out and ready so as to not mess about half way through the process. This part of preparation and re-reading the instructions was possibly the longest part of the making of vegan mozzarella.
I went on to combining the ingredients and heating them all on the pan. This bit probably only took about 10 minutes if that, however, I did find the heating part relatively stressful. Even though I had made sure to read the instructions several times over, I still forgot the next step. At this point I was supposed to be continuously stirring and checking the temperature of the vegan mozzarella, but I had put the instructions behind me so I couldn’t read them easily enough. I recommend if you get The Big Vegan Cheese Kit that you have the instructions nearby so you can glance over and read when needed.
I chose to roll my vegan mozzarella into balls as I was about to make a pizza with some of the balls. However, you can shape the mozzarella into whatever you desire.
How did it taste?
The vegan mozzarella was honestly tasty in it’s own way. Not your standard cheesy flavour but also not the terrible flavour of certain vegan cheese alternatives. The flavourings in the cheese managed to mask any nutty flavour so perfect for anyone who doesn’t like a nutty cheese. It had enough flavour to make it taste nice to eat, even so that my three year old enjoyed it.
How did it cut?
Cutting the vegan mozzarella was so satisfying. It had the same texture as mozzarella with a smooth, soft cut. I didn’t try grating the vegan mozzarella as it was quite soft
How did it melt?
The vegan mozzarella did not melt as non vegan mozzarella does. It would be best to describe the vegan cheese as looking baked rather than melted.
Was it stretchy?
Part of the process of making the vegan mozzarella involved stretching it out so that it would be stretchy in the final stage. Unfortunately the vegan mozzarella I made wasn’t as stretchy as I had hoped. However, I think this was due to the event I mentioned earlier where I forgot the next step and had to turn around to read the instructions. To be honest I was partially expecting something to happen along the way and I’m surprised it did work out as well as it did.
It was extremely enjoyable making this vegan mozzarella and even more so making delicious food with the vegan cheese. I would highly recommend getting this kit if you are into cooking or trying out new things. The Vegan Cheese Making Set would also make a great gift to your vegan loved ones for their birthdays or Christmas.
I am intrigued to try out the rest of the cheeses in the kit as the vegan mozzarella has set good expectations for everything else in the set.
