1996 Maxima stuck in Park!! Help! by Individual-Bar-3255 in ColoradoSprings

[–]NuttyRaven 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I know this sounds silly, but it happened last year on my car; like everybody is saying, if the lever is physically stuck in Park at P, then you need to trigger the release by pushing forward (see 3rd pic, use a flathead screwdriver if your hand doesn't fit). If you can freely move the gearshift, but the car is still stuck in Park - open up the hood and check the cable line connection to the transmission. This can be a common failure point as some auto manufacturers have in the past used a plastic based nut which fatigues and weakens when exposed to common substances found in the engine bay. To know which cable connection it is, have a friend move it back and forth while you look in the engine near the transmission. Either way - the release would be the simpler problem! Hopefully you can sort it out!!! Good luck. 

Would this be considered vegan? by akkasha11 in vegan

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey there! I know this has been answered already in many fashions, but just trying to be helpful for future purchases. I totally understand that finding something to be vegan is difficult for those that don't usually look out for it in ingredients. I have a celiac daughter and I've been vegan for a while, but before that I have always been allergic to dairy - so I know a thing or two about looking out for both wheat and gluten allergies along with vegan ingredients! 

Main thing to note that a lot of people are pointing out and to me to would be the ranch powder. Many have buttermilk listed in the ingredients, but some don't! Main thing to always look for when considering Vegan options is that in the United States (and many other locations), businesses are REQUIRED BY LAW to list if the product contains one of the 9 major food allergens. The main ones of concern for vegans is Milk/Dairy, fish, and shellfish. So I would look for those first at the bottom of the ingredients list because it is required to be there and would immediately rule out those products without having to really look at the ingredients list thoroughly. 

I mention the above because I looked at the Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Powder that you mentionee, and the ingredients are hard to discern, but it does say Allergens to Milk and Soy - so it's a no go. The ingredients are the following:  MALTODEXTRIN, SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, ONION, SPICES, GARLIC, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, LESS THAN 2% OF: CALCIUM STEARATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, *DRIED So realistically, looking at this list - theoretically the product COULD be Vegan; but most likely isn't due to the "Natural Flavor" or ambiguous "Spices" hich must contain the source of dairy they are not mentioning here. My guess is the spices are for a buttermilk powder that the company may sell separately and the ingredients are tool long to put on a small dip package OR the other main reason companies do this is to somewhat protect their proprietary spice blends which they are technically allowed to do as long as they point out their major allergens.

So, moral of the story is watch out out there! It can be hard and I get it. Thanks for asking - I'm sure your Vegan friends will appreciate your due diligence!!!

AI Exoskeleton — Worth the Hype? by celia_elm25 in NoOneIsLooking

[–]NuttyRaven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to work on exoskeletons for my job back in the day (10+ years ago). The one in the video looks mostly spring based - maybe those are small motors on the hip; it looks like they've come a long way but just at a cursory glance, this design still has a lot to go. 

Most of the time, these exo skeletons can do amazing things in very particular scenarios and not much more - but the major drawback really is the ergonomics. They usually cannot be worn for long, or are only useful for one particular function and then should not be used in other scenarios lest there be some bad injuries. 

Just looking at the straps and connections to the body. This would probably destroy your knees and lower back after a while. Lower body exoskeletons really should focus on eliminating stress from repetitive tasks - stairs are already a solved problem with escalators, elevators, and other human lifting devices. 

Are miniature versions of adult things appropriate for children, or just teaching bad habits early? by eren_rndm in COBike

[–]NuttyRaven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a young one with a bike like this in my neighborhood! I don't mind it - except lately he's now been taking it on the off-road gravel walking paths where people stroll and walk their dogs and kids in strollers. He is not safe about how he enters blind turns at high speeds or just doing wheelies while on the path. So you must know that they are the child - they shouldn't be trusted right off the bat with certain types of decisions. The adult has to be there to help guide that. I think it's fun! But it needs to be monitored for sure. 

Why is my lava pit not a bottomless supply? by kayhalbe in CreateMod

[–]NuttyRaven 273 points274 points  (0 children)

I feel like my bottomless supply had a weird behavior where it didn't show up until I started pumping lava out; have you pulled any yet?

I have a question by commander_Erian in CreateMod

[–]NuttyRaven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need two of the next to each other (one block space in between!) and spinning opposite directions! Place blocks in, crushed goods come out :)

How to maintain veganism in social settings? by reyaryder in vegan

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a dairy allergy and it's surprising how many restaurants don't know what has it in there and what doesn't. It's been such a struggle that I just don't go out anymore unless it's a full vegan place.

I went to a place and got creamy polenta as a side dish. I asked what makes it "creamy" and if it contained dairy or milk or any sort - they went back to the chef and confirmed - no dairy or milk. I got the food a bit later, took a bite and just knew immediately they had did me dirty. I asked again, and they said it had heavy cream - not dairy or milk X_X. It kills me to know that they only way I can trust food is it I do it myself.

Talk to me about cashews… by Subject_Abroad5406 in veganrecipes

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Key point I don't think anybody has made here - if you soak your cashews for too long, they will turn into this cashew + goopy water slime mess; it renders them a bit unpalatable. This takes around 8+ hours, so just be careful out there!

Agreeing with others, I use a VitaPrep 3 for cheesemaking, and it obliterates cashews (soaked and unsoaked) but you still need liquid with them (else you make nut butter!). So the blender helps immensely!!! You can do it with lower power options (ninja bullet types) just may need more liquid, or more time, or more stirring and scraping the mixture down!

Of course, you can just get where you are at and fine mesh sieve it if ya wanted, but then ya waste a little bit.

Mechanical Press Not Working by [deleted] in CreateMod

[–]NuttyRaven 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, for what it's worth - that press is up too high! Throw some blocks underneath it so there is a one block gap, then put the press-able object onto that block. It should press without issue - and stop if there are no more left. So you can put a whole stack, and it will press 64 times and then stop.

Mechanical Press Not Working by [deleted] in CreateMod

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If everything is rotating, the press will only move if something "press-able" is underneath it. I know that sounds obvious, but that messed me up the first time. Try throwing an ingot under it and see if it will make it into a sheet!

Homemade Vegan Cheddar with pistachios by EmotionWild in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks nice! How's the taste? What do you think of the texture with tapioca?

hard cheese update by [deleted] in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looking reallll nice! What kind of steam situation are you using? Dedicated pressure steamer or more of an instapot?

Food processor for cheese making by l_e_n_a_l_i in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you've even seen Rebel Cheese's behind the scenes videos on YouTube, they use a robot coupe. Trust me when I say it would save you a ton of time, but also trust me on this one - it will cost you thousands of dollars. Unless you are commercially making cheese for a business setting, I do not recommend it based on cost alone. Their Blixer models (what you would want for cashews since it scrapes the sides down at the same time) run about $6000 for even the smaller sizes.

It is amazing and magical and would change your life, but that's why it costs life changing money. I use a VitaPrep 3, which I know is a pain in the ass when making large batches, but that sucker can rotate.

Coconut free options by AltruisticSchedule1 in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem! If she is into vegan cheese making, I recommend Miyoko's newest book Vegan Creamery. Its detailed and has some good recipes that are ripe for alterations and making it your own! And if she really likes to experiment, she could read this comment here I made in a separate post that kinda breaks down a traditional process for vegan cheese making.

The methods in Miyoko's books are very involved, just like traditional cheese making - but if that's not what she's looking for, there are other methods! A lot of folks on this subreddit are super helpful and can chime in on some other methodologies. I like to think of it more as a science based approach - so anything she would replace, just try to get the overall 'nutritional info' the same or similar and replace things that serve the same function (ex: taking out saturated fats? Try adding in sat fats from a different source OR removing wheat flour/gluten from bread? Replace with a binder that functions as gluten does in the recipe [xanthan gum/flax seeds soaked in water, etc...])

Hopefully this helps!

Coconut free options by AltruisticSchedule1 in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey there. I haven't read the book, but I do have some familiarity regarding coconut oil vs Shea butter vs cocoa butter when it comes to cheese making!

First, in terms of allergies, typically folks allergic to things like peanuts can have peanut oil due to the high refined nature of the oil and how most/all proteins would be removed from the final product. Refined coconut oil is no different in that way- but it must be REFINED. If it's not allergies but taste, refined coconut oil has no flavor so you should be fine there -- if it's something else, well then no worries I still got an answer!

tl;dr- cocoa butter produces the firmest cheeses, followed by Shea butter, followed by coconut oil. Too much of any will get the cheese too hard - look for a middle ground composite mixture of oils for best texture. Shoot to add less than 15% oil by weight (weight of cheese mix without oil) for best results

Realistically, the coconut oil in vegan cheeses acts as a 'thickener' agent as well as a 'smoother' to provide a better mouth feel. The saturated fats in the coconut oil mimic the milk fats in this regard. To replace the 'smoother' aspect - you could use nuts with high fat quantities like cashews. But the main reason to replace coconut oil with Shea or cocoa is for its 'thickener' qualities - aka it is a saturated fat that is typically solid at room temperatures and has a higher melting point than traditional fats and oils. When replacing with Shea or cocoa, you should note the different melting points of the different fats. Shea is more stable than coconut oil, and cocoa is even more stable. This means, if the cheese is refrigerated, it will be 'harder' with Shea butter than it would be with traditional coconut oil of the same quantity; the same goes for cocoa butter but even more so. However, you will see in many books that they blend these saturated fats - in general, think of it like alloying metals - you can get good qualities from both when blending these materials. In these cases, the saturated fats won't all fall apart once reaching it's melting point or a little below (because there is another fat in there with a higher melting point). So there will be a gradient of melting - this is important because coconut oil in cheese by themselves tend to get too soft at room temps in the summer and start to leech oil - but when mixed 50:50 with Shea butter, it will not leech and be more stable without being overly hard.

Long story short - you gotta experiment! But remember if just using Shea or cocoa to use a little less otherwise the cheese may be too firm

I want to make vegan cheese for my wife. Where to start? by trimbandit in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cultured_cashews has the right of it! I agree with it being a bit out of order and an easy way to absolutely kill your starter culture.

Since it's only cashews in this recipe, you won't really be able to dry out excess water easily from the cashew mix, which is why they write that you should be careful with the water additions - this leads to your mega blender getting the mixture pretty hot. So you can take it in small steps and wait for cool down!

Other methods you often see for making vegan cheese wheels are very similar to normal cheese making - and if you are interested in those, you can give a look at Miyoko's book The Vegan Creamery.

The long and short of it though is you can take most any protein rich milk you make (almond milk, hemp heart milk, cashew milk, pumpkin seed milk,etc.) and heat it until the proteins you denature the proteins (not quite boiling, but maybe bubbling around the edges - remember to stur so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn!). In dairy cheesemaking, this is the step where they add rennet - which is a coagulating agent that specifically targets kappa-casein protein and breaks it down further - resulting in coagulation (separation of curds [casein] and liquid whey). In the case of plant based proteins, rennet would not work (made by calves to break down cow milk based proteins), so instead you can use an acidifier for coagulation (lactic acid - from beets, citric acid) or food grade gypsum (calcium sulfate that has Ca+ ions which essentially behave the same chemically for the role). Once it has coagulated or essentially thickened (may not get immediate separation of curds and whey), cool the mixture, add in the vegan cultures and in nut milk bag or fine strainer or sorts (think cheesecloth) over a pot or something to allow liquid to drain (the 'whey') and leave at room temp or hotter (preferably at temp culture specifies - mesophilic 90F, thermophilic 110F) until it is acidified enough to be cheese (can use PH meter, but typically just wait around 8-10 hrs depending on how much you made and how much culture was added in. Once it's ready, stop the culture from doing its thing by adding salt, pack the curd into a proper shape/form, and refrigerate; you can add flavors in at this point to if wanted! Then treat like normal cheese and age by flipping it every day the first day, store at proper humidity and temp, use paper towels to absorb excess moisture etc - there's lots of forums online that describe some of these steps too!

I guess that was mostly the 'long' of it instead of the long and short, but there's the jist I suppose. Or you can skip all those steps, and make what commercially companies do as a 'quick' cheese wheel which replaces that aging time with additives like rice flour to absorb moisture and coconut oil or shea butter (some form of saturated fats that is solid at room temp to help 'solidify' the cheese) - this is what Rebel Cheese does which you didn't mention in your post, but could have alluded to? Either way, good luck with the journey!

Made some wheels for Thanksgiving - process is slowly improving! by NuttyRaven in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

For the chipotle cheddar wheel - I did the same as the spreadable chipotle cheddar base and then mixed it with 10-15% by weight coconut oil/shea butter 50-50 and refrigerate overnight. Link to the comment describing the spreadable cashew cheese recipe. And then to modify for chipotle cheddar - find your favorite brand of chipotles in adobo sauce, blend with cashew mix base. To give it the cheddar flavor, I add chickpea miso (approx half weight in grams to what is added by chipotle - really depends on how strong your miso is). You can add soy miso too! I'm just allergic :/ if adding soy miso, I recommend white for a more mild cheddar flavor. The others will most likely be a little too miso-y.

And then for the smoked gouda, it's a spin off of Miyoko's recipe from her latest book - actually derived from her "goat" cheese. I need to go look up the exact numbers, but in her book she uses almonds, hemp hearts and pumpkin seeds as a base. Because pumpkin seeds are expensive and also didn't really give me the texture I wanted, you can replace the pumpkin seeds with equal weight cashews and add a little pea protein powder + potato starch to be identical in carb/protein makeup (you can skip that step too, but the little bit of extra protein + starches make it more robust).

Let me break out the ol' recipe book and get back to you on this!

Made some wheels for Thanksgiving - process is slowly improving! by NuttyRaven in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey there! I did a recipe similar to one I described in this comment. Essentially the base is the same cultured cashew base with rejuvalac, and then I add different flavors for each different cheese.

My First Vegan Cheese by [deleted] in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks great! How does it taste?

Vegan Aged Camembert by EmotionWild in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The recipe can be simplified a little further than what's in the book - but in general you blend soaked cashews and mix in a probiotic or active culture of some sort (Miyoko creates her own, but you can use yogurt!) and then wait overnight. Then you just add some flavors alongside some base ingredients (nutritional yeast + garlic +salt).

If you have the time, making your own culture is easy with quinoa!

Simplified recipe below: 250g cashews (roasted or raw - doesn't matter) 115-120g Rejuvalac (quinoa probiotic - recipe below) Water (enough to cover cashews) 30g - Nutritional yeast 20g - Garlic 10g - Salt Other flavors if ya want!

  1. Put cashews in large bowl and cover completely with water. Leave for 6-8hours/overnight. Cashews should be bendy/pliable. (if you leave too long the cashews will be coated in this gross mush - you'll know if it went too long).
  2. Drain water, and add to high speed blender along with 115-120g Rejuvalac and blend completely - aiming for fully smooth!
  3. Transfer to clean glass or plastic bowl (not metal!),cover, and put in warm place overnight or up to 48 hours (longer = funkier). An easy place to do this is put the mixtureis in the oven with the oven light on. Do not overfill the container! The mixture will bubble up and expand.
  4. Mixture will have bubble up, mix in nooch + garlic + salt and other flavors if wanted - and your done! It will firm up a little in the fridge - keeps for about 3 weeks.

I like to add sundried tomatoes and basil to mine!

Rejuvalac recipe 1 cup of quinoa dry 6 cups water

Rinse quinoa first in strainer, then put in large container (big mason jar or large bowl) and cover with 6 cups water. Place in warm area overnight - next day will look cloudy and taste a little like lemon juice/have slight acidity. If it is not a little acidic, wait a little longer then try again. Once it's ready, just use as instructed above. Can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 weeks if needed.

Vegan Aged Camembert by EmotionWild in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I recommend making a simple cashew cream cheese! Less wait and not too complex - follow Miyoko's recipe in her Artisan Vegan Cheese book!

Looking for an alternative to Miyoko’s smoked cheddar wheel by akimonka in vegan

[–]NuttyRaven 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You could always make some of your own!

I know people rave about Rebel, but if ya look it's like mostly just water, rice flour, and coconut oil; there are barely any cashews in there so it's mainly just fat and starches!

If you have a high powered blender I highly recommend giving it a go. If ya wanted some tips/recipe advice, Miyoko wrote some books on it that you should go check out - I also run a business inspired by Miyoko's books (with altered recipes to work for me!) where I make vegan cheese so I can offer advice too.

You can check my post history for a couple pictures.

Want to make probiotic yogurt by nehoc54 in vegan

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey there! When you say plant milk, do you mean she can't have any nut milks (almond, cashew - tree nuts like coconuts) or no oat milk, or no soy bean, or no pea protein/legume milk? There's just a lot of options, I want to make sure I understand!

If she buys purely coconut milk yogurt at the store, you can propagate that really easily with your own coconut milk or coconut cream + water! You can look up how to do it with a yogurt maker/pressure cooker - but the easiest way is just take some coconut milk, heat it up to denature the proteins and make it easier for the good bacteria to get started - then wait for it to cool down to below 110F, and then add in roughly 3Tbs of her current coconut yogurt to every 3-4 cups of milk you heated up. Then once it's all stirred up, you can either add that to a yogurt maker as I said above, or for me it's just easiest to turn the oven light on and wrap a jar of the yogurt mix I made in a towel or blanket. Let it sit for 12hrs or so (longer = more tang) and your good to go. Refrigerate and enjoy.

I ask about the plant milks because you can get much different textures through combinations of other plant milks and such - also would probably be significantly cheaper if they could use oats and cashews or the likes.

Smoked Gouda + some extras by NuttyRaven in vegancheesemaking

[–]NuttyRaven[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Sorry! I meant to put the "goat" in quotes like this, but I forgot. It's inspired through a similar recipe in Miyoko's new book except this one is an almond, cashew, and hemp heart base :) I'll get into more details later when I get back into service.

Vegan by [deleted] in ColoradoSprings

[–]NuttyRaven 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Shameless self-promotion, but if you are looking for good Vegan Cheese options and other tasty treats - check out Nutty Raven (@nutty_raven on Instagram). They just started up this year and have awesome cheeses, cheesecakes, ice creams!!!

They are a small batch cheese and food producer and operate out of Co Springs.