Follow Your Heart Vegan Cheese Question
Posted by mitchmred on Jul 30, 2007 · Member since Mar 2006 · 8 posts
Question:
I love the Follow Your Heart Gourmet Cheese Alternative (block). But, it is quite expensive. Well, my sister was coming to visit and I bought 2 blocks of it to make her a few recipes. Now, she cannot make it. I was wondering...has anyone ever frozen it for use later?
My internet darling is coming to visit in 3 weeks so I thought I would save a few $$ by freezing it until he arrives. But, sometimes freezing changes the texture and/or other aspects of foodstuffs (example: tofu).
Anyone done this before? Thanks in advance for your replies!
Michelle
if it remains sealed (original package) in the fridge i don't think it'd go bad... god knows how long the store keeps them... is there an expiration date?
Nope...no expiration date. But, if it is anything like the soy yogurt it may be good for 11 months...lol. I know once you open the cheese your are VERY limited...but sealed...your right, it may keep for quite some time. I guess I could throw one in the freezer and leave one in the fridge and report back later in 3 weeks. ;D
It would be nice if it did freeze well. That was I could catch it on sale.
i freeze the mozzerella flavour all the time. i have to travel to get it, so i buy it in bulk and freeze what i don't use before the best-by date. while its not an expiration date, i treat 'best- by' as meaning 'most likely to be yucky soon-after'!
it freezes ok, but freezing it does change the texture slightly- when you defrost it, it'll be slightly crumblier and release a little moisture, but i've found it to be fine for later use if cooked or melted- say, on pizza, in lasagne, etc- when cooked or melted it tastes exactly the same to me as never- frozen stuff does. i've not used it uncooked, but i have a feeling it'd be a bit spongy and watery and oily tasting that way after having been frozen.
i'd advise you to grate it before you freeze it- (it doesn't matter so much if grated cheese crumbles, right?!) as doing so means it'll be easier to handle it when its defrosted. their website says the same thing. i grate mine and freeze it relatively flattened out, in a ziplock bag, then snap off frozen grated chunks as i need them. you could also freeze it by cupfuls in little pots, if you know you'll need it in set quantities later.
i know that some people who freeze the whole block, and grate it from frozen as required, but after peeling frozen bananas, and grating frozen ginger, and learning know how much hassle it is messing about with frozen stuff, i'd rather do the grating when its not flipping finger-numbing freezing, slippery as anything, and rock hard, and therefore not so challenging. ;D
I tried Follow Your Heart for the first time, the Cheddar flavor. It got moldy after I opened it, kept it in the refrigerator in aZiploc bag for like 3 weeks.
I didn't eat it up fast because it just didn't meet my expectations. The texture was soft. The taste was bland. And its melting qualities were poor. It was more expensive then the other vegan cheese brands too.
I'm trying to figure out what went wrong after all the great reviews I've read about it.
Is there a better vegan cheddar cheese brand?
Has anyone else had any bad experences Follow Your Heart cheeses?
Or can you offer up any suggestions on how to actually enjoy it, get it to melt right?
Is there a better vegan cheddar cheese brand?
Has anyone else had any bad experences Follow Your Heart cheeses?
Or can you offer up any suggestions on how to actually enjoy it, get it to melt right?
It has a higher melting point than dairy cheese. if you are making mac & cheese or a casserole with the cheese mixed in, you may need to bake it at a higher temp and/or cover it. If you are making a grilled cheese sandwich, cover the pen to keep the heat in. If you are making pizza or something else with a layer of cheese on top in the oven set it to broil for a couple minutes. It still won't get stringy, but it does get creamy.
as far as I know, its the only vegan cheese that actually melts
the other stuff just gets warm....eugh, yuck
Thank you so much, lisaanddini, mdvegan.
I didn't know that about melting the cheese. No wonder my grilled cheese sandwich was such a failure. Will check out those other vegan cheese brands, too.
Yeah, I noticed that too. Open it and it goes moldy quick. There isjust me in the house so I always feel like I am on a cheese marathon...got..to.........eat..it...all......before...it.....goes.....bad!!!
Great, thanks guys. I will freeze it and buy bulk when on sale...lol!
Notice: When making pizza...remember that you will need to broil for "several" minutes. Do not start the broiling when the crust is already done...unless you like it charred. :o