Raw Vegan Cheese – How to make Vegan Raw Nut and/or Seed Cheese using acidophilus starter. Make a seed or nut cheese of your choice, or a blend of seeds and nuts.

Instructions for Almond Nut Cheese:

Do the first batch with only a small amount of almonds so that if it doesn’t turn out as you want it, it won’t be a great loss. The art of fermenting may take a little practice to get it right.

You will need:

Raw Almonds,
Acidophilus/lactobacillus
salt
clean water (preferrably distilled, filtered or boiled and then cooled to room temperature)

We use a vegan acidophillus powder, some people make their own by fermenting wheat in water for a few days and using that water called rejuvelac, but that can be dicey and unpredictable.

Soak raw almonds overnight and drain and rinse before blanching. (If you make almond milk you can use the strained solids to make nut cheese, almond milk is also best if you blanch the almonds).

To blanch the almonds pour hot water onto them, enough to cover them. This will loosen the skins and you can just pop them off by squeezing them. Use a small piece of napped cotton for grip if they don’t pop off that easy.

Blend (a high speed blender is the best for this) the almonds and about a half to one teaspoon of salt to each jarful with enough clean water that the batter will be liquid enough to blend.

Once it is blended into a smooth thick batter add 1/4 tsp of acidophillus/lactobaccillus powder and pulse for a few seconds.

Put this batter into clean jars with about 1/3 empty at the top to allow for expansion. Screw on the lid but do not tighten so that fermentation gases can be released.

Put these jars in a warm place, from 80 degrees to mid nineties Fahrenheit, no hotter. Mid eighties to ninety degrees is probably ideal.

Leave them for at least 4 hours then check to see if you see signs of fermentation. That will be tiny bubbles, and the batter will be firming up. If you remove the lid and smell, you should smell a pleasant yeasty smell. Remember to replace the lid straight away when testing. Depending upon temperature, they can be ready from 4-6 or more hours. The cooler the temperature the longer it will take.

Once the bubbles have populated the cheese at least 50% you can put them into room temperature and leave them for the rest of the day or overnight. (room temps of 55 to 70 degrees F). The cheese is ready when it is many tiny bubbles you can see through the glass and it has a pleasant smell and a delicious tang.

Once the cheese is done, tighten the lids and refrigerate. It will last a week or two in the fridge (and even longer depending on various factors). Some people even freeze it, but we haven’t. We have used this cheese in many ways.