Soy coconut “cheese”/ Wara

[Joyloy]

Hi everybody!

I'm on a bit of a strange venture here- trying to develop a plant milk based cheese-like product that has good flavor and will melt! I'm a cheese maker at a small scale artisan style plant and I regularly make cows milk cheddar, Gouda, and Colby. I've got a lot of experimenting to do because I want this product to be up to some high flavor and texture standards.

After doing some research, the plan is to use a combination of soy and coconut milks for protein and fat, respectively. While exploring online, I came across information on a soy-coconut product made traditionally in Nigeria called Wara. I've also ordered some different plant based milk cultures because I'm hoping to acidify and flavor the product that way.

The questions I really still need answered are:
1. Is it a good idea to use a salt solution to coagulate the milk? I'm planning on using alum solution for the first batch but I'm worried the texture would be closer to tofu than to cheese if I did this. (Not sure if I can even really avoid that) And if not, what sort of solutions, enzymes might help me achieve a desired result? I've read about the successful use of ficin, bromelian, but have no idea where I'd be able to get some. Trying to achieve a decently firm curd that may withstand a traditional low and slow cooking process for the cultures.
2. Should I shoot for a traditional cook used in a cows milk cheese making process or should I try something completely different? I know the cultures need their time to bloom and reach a good pH level but I know the proteins in soymilk are so different that I might want to bloom the cultures before I add in any coagulant at all.
3. Does soymilk require high temps to coagulate with alum? Or can I denature the proteins at a high temp before I do anything and coagulate at a lower temp. I want to coagulate without killing off the cultures if at all possible.

Sorry if this is kind of disorganized- any insight or questions are appreciated! thanks!!

[River Bottom Farm]

I do t know anything about it but came across this old thread a while back. Hope it helps... https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7660.msg54804.html#msg54804

[Joyloy]

Thank you!! I think I stumbled into this a little while back. But what I'm taking from this is that I maybe shouldn't coagulate with alum at all, maybe try and drain it after I just thicken the milk blend with culture. I'm not sure I'll be satisfied with the texture that way, though!

Also ran into this: https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,3738

Apparently I can also coagulate with alum at low temps, will probably try a small batch both ways and report back. Thank you, linuxboy and River Botttom Farm!

[FooKayaks2]

Hi Joyloy

You may want to look into regulations around residual Alum in food before you go to far down that path.

Good luck
Mathew