{"id":64058,"date":"2017-12-15T11:51:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T16:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uncommongoods.com\/?p=64058"},"modified":"2018-01-04T15:51:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T20:51:25","slug":"gift-lab-vegan-cheese-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uncommongoods.com\/blog\/2017\/gift-lab-vegan-cheese-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"Gift Lab: Will Our Dairy Free Cheesemaking Kit Impress this Curd Connoisseur?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Beloved Marketing Analyst Morgan warms up to vegan cheese… or so it seems.<\/p><\/div>\n

Product<\/h5>\n

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Dairy Free Cheddar, Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit<\/a><\/p>\n

Research<\/h5>\n

As a self-proclaimed cheese connoisseur, I knew the moment I saw the Dairy Free Cheddar, Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit<\/a> that it had to be mine. Melty mozzarella, creamy ricotta, tangy cheddar: say no more, you had me at melty. (Editor’s note: Morgan loves the Fondoodler<\/a>, so her predilection for meltiness comes as no surprise to us.)<\/em> I\u2019ve dabbled in the realm of vegan cheese before, but as a non-vegan, I\u2019m much more familiar with the dairy varieties of my favorite delicious treat. I decided to go to my local grocery store and sample their vegan wares and I was a little disappointed. The consistency and flavor just didn\u2019t meet my exceptionally high cheese standards. Alas.<\/p>\n

This is when I decided I was up for the challenge of creating a vegan cheese even the most dairy-loving person could enjoy.<\/p>\n

Hypothesis<\/h5>\n

As a former research scientist, I hypothesized that my laboratory skills could help me concoct this vegan cheese masterpiece. I knew there were challenges, based on my prior vegan cheese sampling and dislike for its odd texture, but the images on the box of this kit looked delightful and I decided to judge a book by its cover.<\/p>\n

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Experiment<\/h5>\n

Once I opened the box, there was a direction sheet for each different kind of cheese (with cute illustrations!) and I decided to choose a personal favorite: cheddar. I quickly realized that while a good amount of the ingredients are included in the box, there are some you have to provide yourself. The main one I didn\u2019t have was almond flour, so I ended up grinding my own in a food processor which MAY have lead to some issues down the vegan cheese road. You will need some sort of food processor or blender to make these cheeses, too!<\/p>\n

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The mixing of ingredients was really easy\u2014<\/em>you just put them all in the food processor and if you want a solid cheese (yes, you can also make amazing liquid cheese sauces with this kit!) you add in a bit of the provided agar. After it was all good and mixed, I realized that I needed to peel my almonds before making the almond flour. BIG MISTAKE. My mix had millions of tiny almond peel bits, but I decided to continue and pretend this would add a fun flavor.<\/p>\n

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The mixing of the cheese in the pot was my absolute favorite part. First, it turned into a glistening, beautiful molten liquid. Then, it quickly started getting solid and even had REAL CHEESE STRINGS. I was in cheese heaven. I decided to sample my wares at this point and was pleasantly surprised that it was smooth and actually tasted a lot like white cheddar! The \u201csharp\u201d taste came from adding apple cider vinegar\u2014<\/em>which also wasn\u2019t provided. I then poured it into a \u201cmold\u201d (AKA a random small container I found in my kitchen) and put it in the refrigerator to set overnight. The next morning I tried it. While the consistency was a bit off, most likely due to my mass amounts of almond skins I inadvertently added, the flavor was actually great! I ate the entire block before breakfast and had absolutely no regrets.<\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/h5>\n

My vegan cheese was a success! I\u2019d recommend using the cheddar as a sauce because the liquid consistency was amazing. Even though I may still be partial to my dairy milk cheeses, I\u2019m less wary about their animal product-free counterparts. I\u2019d definitely recommend this kit for vegans and non-vegans because vegan cheese just means there\u2019s an entire other world of cheeses to eat and love\u2014<\/em>and that\u2019s the best news I\u2019ve heard in a while.<\/p>\n

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Obtain your own REAL CHEESE STRINGS, no dairy required \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n

Save<\/span>Save<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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