Agar Agar

ElKavo

Hey Guys, Looking to make some cheese. Only new to the vegan thing and the two things I'll miss the most are cheese and eggs. I've found loads of vegan cheese recipes but I need some agar agar powder... Anybody know where I can get some near dundrum or Maynooth? Or a suitable substitute that is readily available in supermarkets? cornflower perhaps?

TIA

henryporter

Cornflowers not really a good substitute for agar agar. Normally health shops sell it (theres a Clearspring Brand). You could substitute with Carrageenan powder but that may be equally hard to get and gives a different texture.

Agar makes excellent 'Jelly' too :-)

garbeth

You can get some in the health food shop in avoca.

ElKavo

Success, I had mailed the the health store in dundrum... They have the flaked variety so Ill just grind that for the powder. I will update on my garlic and herb cheese when I make it... Oh so excited to make it all.

I have my first Vegan dinner party on Sunday and I'm only new to it all as I say but I am really looking forward to the challenge I have a few meat eaters coming along so I'll say nothing and see if they like it!

Thanks again for suggestions and tips.

New Home

You should be able to find some vegetarian rennet* in health food shops too - I bought one a while back called VegeRen, and as far as I can remember there wasn't any need for agar agar with it.

Also, I've used agar agar for other things before, and to be honest there's no need to grind it into a powder - it's necessary to let it simmer with some liquid for at least 2 or 3 minutes to get 'activated' properly, and it does dissolve very easily once it's been boiled. If you don't boil it it'll have a very rough, sandy consistency and won't set well.

Good luck!

ElKavo

New Home wrote: »

You should be able to find some vegetarian rennet* in health food shops too - I bought one a while back called VegeRen, and as far as I can remember there wasn't any need for agar agar with it.

Also, I've used agar agar for other things before, and to be honest there's no need to grind it into a powder - it's necessary to let it simmer with some liquid for at least 2 or 3 minutes to get 'activated' properly, and it does dissolve very easily once it's been boiled. If you don't boil it it'll have a very rough, sandy consistency and won't set well.

Good luck!

Thanks New home, I don't think I did it 100% correctly as I have more of a cream cheese. I was hoping for more of a cheddar type consistency. I'll know better for next time out. It still tastes amazing and I'm going to use it on pizza too so should be fine. Made some vegan cheesecakes and prep for a queso dip and pizza for tomorrow. I'll fill you all in after the meal...

ElKavo

Made everything here bar the salami and chirozo all vegan. Super tasty!!



Fresh made tortillas which I made a quesadilla tower out of using fresh made queso and fresh made salsa Spicy of course! This is possibly one of the nicest things I have ever tasted. Soooooooooo good, the queso is Amazing.

and to finish!

Vegan cheese cake,

Vegan mini cheese cakes! Only down side here was I couldn't get hold of vegan Ice cream So I had to go for a dairy variety... Says on the tesco website they have dairy free ice cream but I nor the staff onsite could find any . I'll n=know better for next time and maybe make my own.

I am going to adapt the queso recipe and try to make a firm cheese out of it as it was soooooo tasty.

Oh I loved the queso, can you tell?

Grrrrrrr images wont embed.

New Home

ElKavo wrote: »

Made everything here bar the salami and chirozo all vegan. Super tasty!!

Fresh made tortillas which I made a quesadilla tower out of using fresh made queso and fresh made salsa Spicy of course! This is possibly one of the nicest things I have ever tasted. Soooooooooo good, the queso is Amazing.

and to finish!

Vegan mini cheese cakes! Only down side here was I couldn't get hold of vegan Ice cream So I had to go for a dairy variety... Says on the tesco website they have dairy free ice cream but I nor the staff onsite could find any . I'll n=know better for next time and maybe make my own.

I am going to adapt the queso recipe and try to make a firm cheese out of it as it was soooooo tasty.

Oh I loved the queso, can you tell?

Vegan cheese cake,

Hi ElKavo, congratulations, sounds like a great success!

Unfortunately the link you posted doesn't work (I get a 404 error), could you post it again, please? I'm curious, now. Also, could you post the recipe for that cheese you made, please?

Thanks!

ElKavo

Ok I had to attach them so. Here is the recepie for the queso and the cheesecakes!

http://minimalistbaker.com/7-ingredient-vegan-cheesecakes/ Cheesecake.

http://minimalistbaker.com/cashew-less-vegan-queso/ Queso