Vegan Cheese Challenge: Daiya Vs. Cheezly - Round 1
It’s been nearly four months since I posted my initial impressions of Daiya cheese, and in that time, Daiya has shown up in more restaurants, retailers as well as in packaged foods. It even won the VegNews Product of the Year Award. Add to that the recent arrival of cheddar style Daiya here in the bay area, I figured it was time to put Daiya to the test.
Before Daiya appeared, the only vegan cheese I found consistently satisfying was Cheezly. I’ve used Follow Your Heart, Teese, VeganRella, Dr Cow and some others that were so bad just the thought of them makes me cringe. (Actually, Teese is pretty cringe inducing, but for some reason, lots of people like the stuff.) I feel pretty comfortable saying that it’s either Cheezly or Daiya or no cheese, thank you.
So which cheese reigns supreme? I decided it was time to find out. By putting both Daiya and Cheezly cheddars through a couple of decidedly un-scientific and non-comprehensive tests I hoped I could find out which was truly the king of vegan cheeses.
The first test was a simple grilled cheese: Bread, cheese and a little oil spray for the pan. Yes, true grilled cheese connoisseurs would have my head for not using Earth Balance, but for this test I wanted something a little more flavor neutral. The bread of choice was Alvarado St Organic Sprouted Barley Bread disguised as Trader Joe’s Organic Sprouted Barley Bread. In order to make the test more even, I finely grated the Cheezly to a consistency close to the Daiya Shreds which are only available grated. (Hmmmm…maybe that’s why they call it Shreds.)
In the left corner wearing off white, Cheezly. In the right corner wearing bright orange, Daiya
It didn’t take long to discover that making a grilled cheese with grated cheese is slightly more challenging than with sliced cheese. Flip the sandwich and the cheese falls out. Not an issue with slices.
Notice how the Daiya oozes out of the bread. This is MELT!
No oozing with the Cheezly, but soft enough
If you’re hoping for a clear winner here, you’ll need to conduct your own test. Daiya clearly outshines Cheezly when it comes to texture, but 2 out of 2 judges preferred the flavor of Cheezly. It’s possible that lower heat and longer cooking time may have produced a better melt on the Cheezly, but that’s a test for another day. Either way, both Daiya and Cheezly will make a great sandwich.
Coming soon in round 2: Nachos! Pizza!
Hi there,
We are the US importer of the Cheezly line and just wanted to mention that the Cheddar you were using is marketed as a table cheese and is not one of our melting varieties - hence the lack of ooze! We also wanted to let you know that among a whole collection of new items we will soon be launching several new Cheezlys. The expanded line will be as follows: Mozzarella Style, Smoked English Style Cheddar, Nacho Style, Pepper Jack Style, English Cheddar Style, Garlic and Herb Style, Cheddar Style with Vegan ‘Bacon’ Pieces and Soy Free Cheezly.
Thanks for the review and keep up the good work!
Thanks for the info, Martin! Knowing this, I’ll have to rewrite my entry for round 2 of Daiya vs Cheezly. Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco is the only store I’ve found that even stocks Cheezly and the only flavors I’ve seen are cheddar, cheddar with bacon bits and Mozzarella. Are there other stores in the bay area that carry it, and even better, is there a website that has information on what US retailers carry it?
I think Daiya is gross and I don’t understand why people keep raving about it. Yes. It melts. That is its redeeming quality. The taste though, is subtly awful as in not enough to ruin the taste of a pizza, especially if you load your pizza with Field Roast Italian Sausage slices and Kalamata olives, but I personally just can’t get around the taste.
Cheezly Mozzarella is the best tasting cheese substitute out there. I am looking forward to trying the new soy free cheese and seeing what that is about.
And what’s up for you with Dr. Cow? That is an artisan food and the best thing to happen to a sandwich since I went vegan! Last night I had leftover wild rice asparagus spinach soup from Nava Atlas’ new book and the wild rice had soaked up much of the soup broth. I cut 1/2 oz of Dr. Cow (cashew) into little cubes and stirred it into the hot soup. It softened like hot cheese and had that nice sharp bite of sharp cheddar. I personally think that Dr Cow is awesome, in a whole ‘nuther league from Cheezly and Daiya.
Avena,
That’s what’s so great about taste, everyone’s is different. I served up a platter of Daiya topped nachos to some non-veg family members last night and they were really impressed. They were gobbled up pretty fast, so that speaks volumes. Like you, some may find Daiya to be gross, but there are many others who don’t. Fortunately, there are plenty of other options to choose from, including Dr. Cow, which I found to be mediocre and way overpriced. Yes, I know it’s an artisan product, but that doesn’t automatically make it appealing to my taste buds. I don’t mind paying a premium for an artisan product, but it also needs to be a superior product. For me, Dr. Cow is far from it. I’ll concur on the Field Roast Italian Sausage and Kalamata olives though, two of my favorite pizza toppings!
SB
Hey- Since Cheezly has become “V-Bites” I’ve noticed that it “melts” into a watery mess!! It is way wetter than it used to be, so much so that I no longer buy it as it is not the great pizza cheese it used to be. Which is really to bad because I LOVED it before V-Bites messed it up. (Who wants a layer of cheesy water on top of your pizza?)Has anyone else noticed that they upped the water content?