It’s amazing how quickly plans can change. After posting round 1 of the Vegan Cheese Challenge, a comment was left by Martin Alcock, who just happens to be the US Importer of Cheezly, informing me that the Cheezly cheddar I was using is not one of their melting varieties. That would certainly explain why I wasn’t able to get a great melt with it.

As fate would have it, I had already completed round 2 using Daiya and Cheezly to make a big batch of nachos. After finding out that the Cheezly cheddar is not a melting variety, it seems unfair to put it in a competition where melt is a big factor. So instead of the nachos promised for round 2, I put Daiya Italian Shreds and Cheezly Mozzarella Style to the test last weekend in a head to head (or pie to pie) pizza battle.

The test was simple: Same dough, same sauce and two different cheeses. Right now, my pizza dough of choice and the dough I used for this battle is the now famous no-knead pizza dough from Jim Lahey. The sauce is this easy, foolproof yet tasty recipe from Food Network. You know about the cheeses by now, so let’s get down to business.

I topped two smallish pizzas, one with Cheezly, the other with Daiya. After about 14 minutes in a 450 degree oven, the crusts were baked and the cheese was melted. When I pulled them out of the oven, both pizzas gave me cause for concern: The Cheezly had an unappetizing looking pool of oil on top and the Daiya had melted into a large blob that resembled a big melted marshmallow.

Despite the unappetizing appearances, my co-judge and I cut up and devoured both pies. The Cheezly Mozzarella had a good melt and a flavor that was very close to dairy mozzarella. The oil on top, while not attractive, didn’t have an effect on the taste or add any unwanted greasiness. When it came time for a second slice, the situation had changed. The Cheezly was hardening and no longer had the same gooey softness as the first slice. In less than 10 minutes out of the oven, the Cheezly Mozzarella had hardened. This could be a result of the oil separation, but not being a scientist, I can’t say for sure. It was still edible, but the difference from the first slice just a few minutes earlier was striking.

The first thing I noticed after cutting the Daiya topped pie was the strings of melted cheese that hung from edges of the slice. Similar strings came off the slice when biting into it, and it was at that first bite I had the sensation of being in a pizzeria somewhere on the East coast, eating a slice fresh from the oven. I thought the Cheezly Mozzarella was pretty convincing, but the Daiya Italian Shreds raised the bar. The flavor of the Daiya was much stronger than the Cheezly, and to my palate, closer to dairy Mozzarella. As for the texture, not only was it stretchy and gooey, it mostly maintained said stretchiness and gooiness 10 minutes after leaving the oven. Maybe not as soft as the first slice, but still pleasingly pliable.

So which cheese makes the cut? Surprisingly enough, both do. If I were the only judge in this test, Daiya would be the clear winner. I found the bold taste and creamy texture more to my liking than the Cheezly. If I were making pizza tonight and both Daiya Italian Shreds and Cheezly Mozzarella were in my refrigerator, I’d reach for the Daiya. However, I was not the only judge, and my co-judge preferred the milder taste of the Cheezly. She seemed not to mind that the cheese had hardened considerably as she finished off her second slice of the Cheezly pizza.

If I were grocery shopping and the only vegan mozzarella in stock was Cheezly, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up. That’s more than I can say for some other brands of vegan Mozzarella. But when there’s a choice, I’m going with the Daiya.