I’d like to start offering a vegan pizza this summer Ideally topped with a vegan cheese. Several years ago I tried some vegan cheeses but they didn’t melt and/or brown in a desirable manner. Perhaps there are better vegan options at this point. Has anyone found a vegan cheese they were satisfied with?
You might look into Galaxy Nutritional Foods out of Orlando, Florida. They have a pretty decent soy based cheese that performs similarly to Mozzarella. You will need to see if it qualifies as vegan.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Expensive though, I think it was over $5/lbs when we looked into it last year. It melts very soft, not a lot of “bite” to it. Overall, we liked it and seriously considered adding it to the menu but didn’t want to deal with charging for a “premium” topping once we knew the price.
Do to some chemotheropy I have had some periods of lactose intolerance and found out there are basicly two ways soy cheese melts the first is not really melting at all just softens up and browns when it cools it becomes solid the second would be the kind mentioned buy brad it melts very soft and really dosent firm back up after cooling no bite my answer was actually blending the two types together I got the mouth feel I wanted and some good melt I was quite happy with results!
Last I checked, several years ago, the Galaxy was NOT vegan. It contained some lactose-related things.
Last I checked, several years ago, the Galaxy was NOT vegan. It contained some lactose-related things.
The Daiya product doesn’t really get the texture, no, but it has decent (to me, not great) taste. As far as “premium” pricing, why not do the Vegan on a gluten-free crust only? That way, you’re selling an organic product to start with (well, most g-f crusts are organic, maybe some aren’t?) and don’t have to worry about an upcharge. But, heck, even on a normal crust, it’s no big deal in most POSs to make a special price.
There is so much fear in this industry, fear of trying something new that the “big 3” either don’t do, or do so much cheaper. Going gluten-free is not a choice for anyone, it’s a necessity. Vegan is, usually, a choice. But, the one similarity is, those populations WILL pay for a product that is quality.
Something that was recently brought to my attention in another trade magazine: Not all cane sugar is vegan as some of it is filtered through charcoal made from animal bones. All beet sugar is okay. I was pretty surprised to find that out and it is something to watch for when you make your own dough.
If you can’t find a decent vegan cheese, one thing to consider is offering to substitute a topping for the cheese. You’ll still come out ahead on the food cost and vegans really appreciate the gesture.
LOVE love love Teese Cheese out of Chicago Soy Dairy. It tastes really good, looks a bit odd when melted (stays really white) but the flavor is worth it. I prefer it over Daiya (sp?). It is completely dairy free and vegan.
The cost is about the same as our regular mozzarella, so we don’t do an upcharge if it’s being substituted for regular cheese.
A search of their website tells me that my local co-op grocery carries that cheese. I’m going to go try some, thanks for the info.
I tried the Teese side-by-side with the Daiya.
The Teese didn’t really melt and was bland. Daiya melts better but it had an unappetizing “dry” look to it and an odd color. Both Kris and I preferred the taste and texture of the Daiya. Maybe the Teese needed to be seasoned in some way?
If you wanted to do a Vegan Pizza Margherita with circles of cheese on it, the Teese would work really well. For just having a shredded/diced cheese substitute, I would prefer the Daiya.
Saw a tweet from Pizzamarketplace about vegan pizzas: http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/article … gan-pizzas
That hotlink requires a login for some reason, I searched around and found the original page: http://www.peta.org/features/best-vegan-pizza.aspx Some interesting ideas. The “mock duck” on the Pizza Lucé really caught my eye.
Por favor, me gusta una pizza de 40.5 (quarenta y media) centimetros . . . con mas salsa, salchicha, espinaca y ajo. Y tambien pimienta . . . un poco.
New vegan convert personally (6mos now) - looking to bring some options to my stores.
LOVE field roast chipotle sausage sub and LOVE veggie shreds mozzarella sub … check them out!
Has anyone tried this yet? If so what sugar did you end up using and did it change the characteristics or flavor of the dough?
Yes, and no.
I am betting that 80% of my “No Gluten” customers do not have Celiacs nor do they have a sensitivity to gluten.
Many just think gluten is bad for you, even if you do not have Celiacs disease. They go to health food stores, they see gluten free products and naturally think because they are in a health food store, and they sell a buttload of products marked as “Gluten Free” that it must be a healthier option for them. Plus the booming market for “gluten free” products is big freaking money right now, they are mostly feeding off of peoples fears and profiting largely from it.
We can happily accommodate people avoiding gluten with our BBQ side of the biz, but I will not use that for marketing, especially when we are doing pizza now too. I cannot account for every molecule of flour dust in here.
The latest studies show that avoiding gluten is actually harming people who do not have Celiacs.
Here in boulder we have alot of people who request the Gluten Free crusts. But i make sure to stress to every single one, that yes we do provide a Gluten Free crust, but it is made in the same environment. So anyone with a true allergy still can not eat our pizza.
In 2.5 years i have only lost one customer. So yes, this is a fad. And yes i will gladly make money off of it.
We use Daiya Cheese as our Vegan option. It is carried at the local Whole Foods store and has good brand name recognition within the community. One of our customers told us we were putting too much of the Daiya on the pizza and to use only half the normal portion. We did this and the pizza’s taste much better.
Is it wrong that I find it very funny that less fake cheese helps the pizza taste better?
After test cooking a few I noticed the same thing. I’m only putting 2.5 ounces on a 12" pizza some olive oil to compensate the cheese drying up and extra sauce to drown out the tast of the cheese. I was almost tempted not to offer any cheese on it but some people get an aquired taste for it.