Cheese for long shelf life stores?

[GillyBee]

I think it might be time for me to buy in some nutritional yeast and test a couple of vegan "cheese" sauce recipes. Looking at them they should be possible to convert to storecupboard fodder.
And have another go at paneer and mozarella with the dried milk. Last time I could not get the mozarella to string properly although it was quite edible.

https://eatplant-based.com/creamy-vegan-cheese-sauce/
https://www.inthekitchenwithmatt.com/mo ... ilk-powder

[Arzosah]

I think it might be time for me to buy in some nutritional yeast and test a couple of vegan "cheese" sauce recipes. Looking at them they should be possible to convert to storecupboard fodder.
And have another go at paneer and mozarella with the dried milk. Last time I could not get the mozarella to string properly although it was quite edible.

https://eatplant-based.com/creamy-vegan-cheese-sauce/
https://www.inthekitchenwithmatt.com/mo ... ilk-powder

Aha! I bought some nutritional yeast online recently, to experiment with, this looks tailor-made, thanks GillyBee. I could stock up on dried milk at Asda too I definitely feel an Asda order coming on

[jennyjj01]

I've just done a comparison of 3 sachets of cheese sauce mix.

Colmans Classics Comfort Cheddar Cheese Sauce ( 60p Sainsbury's Nectar )
Bramwells Cheese Sauce Mix 39p from ALDI
Newgate Cheese Sauce Mix 39p from LIDL

TLDR: The Colmans is well worth the extra.

I was looking for something to take essence of cheese into a post SHTF world. My prefered cheese is cheddar, though if any of these emulated nice cheese of any variety, they would be fine.
Approach:
I made up half of each sachet with 150ml of semi skimmed milk as instructions and the other half made up as double strength with 75ml milk.
The normal strength samples were taken warm on half a round of bread.
The double strength samples were spread on the untoasted side of a slice of toast and grilled until slightly brown like cheese on toast

Product Details:

	% Cheese Powder	kCal	Fat	Carbs	Sugars	Salt	Main Ingredient	Price
Colmans	32.4%	79	2.7g	8.6g	4.7g	0.72g	Cheese Powder	60p
Aldi	33%	76	3.1g	7.8g	4.0g	0.55g	Wheat Flour	39p
Lidl	27%	40	1.4g	5.0g	0.5g	0.62g	Wheat Flour	39p

WOW! Look how different is the nutritional make-up of the Lidl product.

Taste Test as a sauce:
I grazed back and forth between the three, while hot warm and cool. In each case, the Colmans sauce was by far the best and Aldi's Bramwell was the worst.
The Aldi Bramwell sample was virtually just a floury roux with very little cheese taste. 1/10
The Lidl Newgate sample was barely cheese flavoured at all. 3/10
The Colman sample initially tasted a bit salty and maybe a bit artificial, but it was cheesy and had a cheesy after taste. 5/10

Where Actual Cheddar would be 10/10

Taste Test as Cheese on Toast
Similar rankings as a sauce.
Aldi Bramwell: I could only taste the sweetness of the bread. Difficult to spread. 0/10
Lidl Newgate: A hint of cheesiness. Difficult to spread. 2/10
Colmans: Fair cheesiness. Easy to spread. When making the sauce it stuck to the pan in a cheese like way and had some of the fatty gloss of a cheese. 4/10

Even accounting for the price difference, The Aldi product was very poor and the Colman product was all round better taste and better value for money of the second best Lidl product.

Sauce mix as a cheese substitute is quite a compromise, so buy the best, which so far is Colmans by a long stretch.

The Cheese on toast samples made up my lunch

[Arzosah]

You star, Jenny! I've got an Asda order arriving next Wednesday with 3 types of cheese sauce mix, so I'll check this out.

Colman's Classic Comforts Meal Maker Cheddar Cheese Sauce 40 g  
Schwartz Cheddar Cheese Sauce 38g
ASDA Cheese Sauce Mix 36g  

Ha, that's the same Colman's packet that you have, I think - its 90p at Asda I'll keep it in the order for now anyway, though if I stock up, I won't buy from them

[jennyjj01]

You star, Jenny! I've got an Asda order arriving next Wednesday with 3 types of cheese sauce mix, so I'll check this out....
Ha, that's the same Colman's packet that you have, I think - its 90p at Asda I'll keep it in the order for now anyway, though if I stock up, I won't buy from them

Doh! Asda have a 4 for £2.45 offer on sauce mix sachets, mix and match including Shwartz and Colmans. So 62p each. Colmans 60p on Nectar at Sainsbubs

ASDA have a few other cheese sauces in pots and sachets, including one from Bisto and own brand. I'll be interested in your comparisons to Colmans. I expect Schwartz to be good, but not the others.

Making the double strength samples was funny as they were too solid to 'simmer'. They quickly became dough like rubber balls. Lots of stirring with a wooden spoon.

[pseudonym]

Thanks to all the taste testers

[ForgeCorvus]

Probably the most economical option, its lasts well and you don't need a lot to get that cheese hit. 250g of Blue is about £8.50/ £9. and Cheddar £7/£8

Oh I've never heard of dried blue cheese before, do you remember the brand name you got?

I just checked, "Tongmaster Seasonings" on Amazon. 200g for £9.59 +free postage
I had to plough through my account all the way back to 2020....... So the last of it that I ate at the beginning of this month was purchased in August of that year.

[Arzosah]

You star, Jenny! I've got an Asda order arriving next Wednesday with 3 types of cheese sauce mix, so I'll check this out....
Ha, that's the same Colman's packet that you have, I think - its 90p at Asda I'll keep it in the order for now anyway, though if I stock up, I won't buy from them

Doh! Asda have a 4 for £2.45 offer on sauce mix sachets, mix and match including Shwartz and Colmans. So 62p each. Colmans 60p on Nectar at Sainsbubs

ASDA have a few other cheese sauces in pots and sachets, including one from Bisto and own brand. I'll be interested in your comparisons to Colmans. I expect Schwartz to be good, but not the others.

Making the double strength samples was funny as they were too solid to 'simmer'. They quickly became dough like rubber balls. Lots of stirring with a wooden spoon.

Oh! I did use that offer, that's why I got 6 altogether - 4 on the offer and another type that wasn't included but was interesting enough. Can't tell on the email from Asda, its only on the order page itself. Excuse my bumbling

[Arzosah]

Thanks to all the taste testers

It's Jenny

Probably the most economical option, its lasts well and you don't need a lot to get that cheese hit. 250g of Blue is about £8.50/ £9. and Cheddar £7/£8

Oh I've never heard of dried blue cheese before, do you remember the brand name you got?

I just checked, "Tongmaster Seasonings" on Amazon. 200g for £9.59 +free postage
I had to plough through my account all the way back to 2020....... So the last of it that I ate at the beginning of this month was purchased in August of that year.

I'm just not temperate enough to eat like that ... I'm a "stuff your face if its there" sort of person with anything that remotely pings my addictive eating. Cheese is one of those, along with chocolate.

[Ahastyatom]

Probably the most economical option, its lasts well and you don't need a lot to get that cheese hit. 250g of Blue is about £8.50/ £9. and Cheddar £7/£8

Oh I've never heard of dried blue cheese before, do you remember the brand name you got?

I just checked, "Tongmaster Seasonings" on Amazon. 200g for £9.59 +free postage
I had to plough through my account all the way back to 2020....... So the last of it that I ate at the beginning of this month was purchased in August of that year.

Thanks!