vegan cheese questions

[boyjenius]

I'm a huge cheese person but i gave up actual dairy

Peta.org said that store.followyourheart.com is a great place to get cheese and its a reasonable price but the shipping price (must be 2 day shipping) is crazy!

Vons, the store around the corner from me, they are also expensive, just not as expensive as spending $26 for shipping for 2 things.

any hidden resources you guys can shed some light on? thanks! i have a costco card but i dont know if they have any vegan food, i havent checked yet.

thanks

[brimstoneSalad]

None of these commercial vegan cheeses are particularly good for you, and they're all overpriced. It's pretty easy to make your own for whatever you're looking for.

In most cases, involving a food processor and nuts (which should be available at costco, but also online in bulk).

What would you typically use dairy cheese for?

It's also worth noting that many of these commercial vegan cheeses are made from palm oil, which is probably worse than dairy for your health and the environment.
This kind of thing is bullshit.

[Knight of the Tempeh]

I only know a french brand for that, but if you can find lactofermented tofu in organic grocery stores, they're healthy and quite similar to feta cheese, as far back as my memory goes. Homemade nut cheese like BrimstoneSalad's suggestion is probably your best bet because it's cheap, healthy and fatty enough to satisfy your cravings.

It's also worth noting that many of these commercial vegan cheeses are made from palm oil, which is probably worse than dairy for your health

I always saw palm oil as no more than a source of saturated fat to keep low, but how would that be worse than dairy for your health, unless hydrogenated?

[brimstoneSalad]

I always saw palm oil as no more than a source of saturated fat to keep low, but how would that be worse than dairy for your health, unless hydrogenated?

Higher % of Palmitic acid. It's a little less saturated, but Palmitic is one of the worst ones. In a side by side comparison, I don't know which one would really be worse, but Palm looks worse in many regards on paper (of course there are a lot of factors to consider).

Coconut oil (and we might presume Palm Kernel oil, which is the same plant but a different part, so the same environmental problems) compares only slightly favorably to butter, due to the lower levels of Palmitic acid and higher levels of Lauric acid.

Don't get me wrong, dairy is really, really terrible for you. This is like the one 'natural' edible oil on Earth that may be worse (and that is not completely clear).

[boyjenius]

i guess i just wont eat it as often then, its not that big of a deal ive gone this long without dairylike products

[brimstoneSalad]

i guess i just wont eat it as often then, its not that big of a deal ive gone this long without dairylike products

Well, nuts are excellent. And as Knight of the Tempeh said, lactofermented tofu if pretty yummy too. You can also lactoferment your nuts, if you want. It's not too tricky.

[PrincessPeach]

Honestly I would wait a few month's before trying vegan cheeze you're taste buds will be disappointed now give yourself some time to change your pallet..
You can try and see if you can stimulate milk from your girl friends tit's that can happen

[BleuNoir]

Recently, a few small companies have figured out how to make vegan cheese by using nut milks instead of dairy milk. Instead of using chemicals with unpronounceable names to imitate the taste and texture of dairy cheese, these companies have created a totally new product, and the results are often pretty amazing. Nut cheese doesn't taste exactly like dairy dairy cheese, but if you've been plant-based for a while, you will probably find that it tastes better than dairy cheese ever did. Here is one store:

http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/

Each cheese is around $10, and shipping should be $9-10 to your location. The only problem I have with this company is that the cheese must be kept cold during delivery, which means a lot of environmentally unfriendly packaging. (They claim it's all recyclable, but in reality, most recyclable items don't actually get recycled. Even when they do get "recycled," they're in fact down-cycled.)

Another nut cheese, which I buy at my local health food store, is Treeline Cheese:

http://www.treelinecheese.com/

Finally, there is Kite Hill, which you may be able to find at your local Whole Foods.

http://www.kite-hill.com/

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome BleuNoir!

Here is one store:

http://miyokoskitchen.com/products-miyoko/

Many of theirs use coconut oil, which I wouldn't recommend, although it looks like they have some without coconut oil too. I'd be wary of the ash one (who eats ash? )

Another nut cheese, which I buy at my local health food store, is Treeline Cheese:

http://www.treelinecheese.com/

Finally, there is Kite Hill, which you may be able to find at your local Whole Foods.

http://www.kite-hill.com/

Those look great!

I didn't see any coconut or palm oil.