I want this soya milk maker!
Well, I read Gorilla say that he makes his own soy milk. That sounds very interesting, nutritious, and delicious! I have a crappy $15 blender from wal-mart. On it's highest setting it's capable of making things chunky... So then I found this....
http://www.ethicaljuicers.co.uk/milkmaking.htm
AND they have a TOFO maker! I drink a lot of soy milk. I've actually acquired the taste, and now I drink close to half a gallon of soy milk a day. But, this is a good bit of money for me too. Do you guys think it would be worth it? What are the full advantages/disadvantages to making your own soy milk? Has anyone else usesd this milk maker? It can also make nut, and rice milks....hmmmm yummy. I could make hemp/soy/almond milk :)
I'm just not sure if it's worth it? Would it really save me a lot of money?
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Hi,
I'm a newbie to this forum. I've just bought the Soya Fresh digital milk maker, and am in the process of experimenting with various options. I've so far tried dry and soaked soya beans (soaked are definately better), almond and sunflower milks. I am also experiencing the curdling problem with the addition of apple juice concentrate :( (though ordinary apple juice seems OK, but less sweetening). I have found that the addition of a tablespoon of sunflower oil followed by a blend with a hand blender makes the consistency more creamy.
I do find that the stuff settles out/ separates in the fridge or just standing to cool. I read somewhere that you're meant to cool the milk down quickly after making it, and I wonder if this is the reason for the difference in flavour and curdling behaviour with commercial milk? It's a shame that there isn't some kind of readily available natural anticoagulant that can be added....
The problem for me is my kids - they're used to the shop bought stuff, so won't accept home-made unless the flavour and texture is sufficiently similar. I've written to Soya Fresh to ask their advice. Looking at various fora in the States, folks over there are used to commercial soya milk that contains salt, sugar and various other additives, but over here, unsweetend soya milk appears to be made from just water and soya beans - so why the difference between shop-bought and home made?? :confused: I really hope someone can come up with a satisfactory recipe....
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Welcome to veganforum jpcw :)
The first time I made home made soya milk I spit it out and proceded to pour that batch down the drain. The next time I i used strawberry extract and a few tablespoons of raw sugar ... better, but still really gross. I now use a combination of coconut and strawberry extract, a generous amount of raw sugar, and sometimes maple syrup (a couple table spoons of maple syrup makes a great diffrence) and I would imagine corn syrup, and brown rice syrup would be nice too. I've found that the trickiest part of it is using the right portions of extracts. Too much and it tastes kind of "oily" if that makes sense, too little ant it has a bean taste. I combine straberry and coconut extract to fill about half a teaspoon.
My advice is just to experiment. Think of the money your saving by making your own, you can afford some extracts and maple/brown rice/corn syrup :)
EDIT: I think the strawberry extract only kind I made would have been much better if I had used food coloring.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Thanks for the reply Kimba. I'm trying to avoid using sugar/ sucrose based products and artificial additives, hence the use of apple concentrate (fructose), and ideally I'd like to add as little as possible. Also, things like maple syrup can be very expensive to use in a staple food like soya milk. I think there must be more involved in the process rather than adding sweetners to help with the flavour and texture. As I said before, commercially produced milk manages to be made with just water and soya beans and it tastes just fine and doesn't settle out on standing, so there must be some step(s) missing with the home made route.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
hi jpcw,
i have the same digital machine as you and i'm still not getting very good results from it to be honest. i don't know what shop-bought milk you're used to but the ones i like have a small amount of sunflower oil added i think. i haven't tried adding that to my milk yet but i'll probably give it a go eventually.
mine has been separating quite a bit and i let it cool naturally because i believe putting it in the fridge while still hot would cause the fridge to heat up, thus requiring a lot more electricity to bring the temperature back dwon again. it's apparently a bit of a health risk for the food in the fridge too.
i've stopped using apple juice in it for now as it tasted too appley. i mostly use the milk on cereal so instead of adding sweetener i'm now adding extra dried fruit to my cereal.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Quote:
Kim[ba]
The first time I made home made soya milk I spit it out and proceded to pour that batch down the drain. The next time I i used strawberry extract and a few tablespoons of raw sugar ... better, but still really gross. ... My advice is just to experiment. Think of the money your saving by making your own, you can afford some extracts and maple/brown rice/corn syrup :)
Think of all the expense of buying a soymilk maker, ingredients, including the finished product that you tip down the sink, and the extracts that you have to buy to cover up the nauseating taste! Just do what I do, and buy a carton of Vitasoy every now and then. After all, how much soymilk can you drink? In other words, I really don't think you're saving money at all, as you suggest.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Actually, shop-bought soya milk is one of the most expensive items we buy - we get through easily 12-14 1 litre cartons a week as a family and we tend to buy around 30 at at time to save frequent trips to the shop. At a minimum of 65p per carton (~$1.15) but as much as £1.20 (~$2.15) for some brands, this mounts up fairly seriously, so a soya maker for £50 will pay for itself within around 8 weeks, especially if you can find a cheap source of soya beans. However, I do take your point about taste - which is partly why I am experimenting at the moment before unleashing it on my kids :rolleyes:.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
Hi jpcw
I've got the same problem with my kids..now they only like the Alpro fresh soyamilk, which we tried when it was on special offer and now they're addicted and don't like anything else, and it's £1.27 a litre.
I've made soyamilk myself, but I know they won't like home-made because it tastes more 'beany'. That's the trouble. If they'd been brought up on home-made stuff, they wouldn't know any different, but the Alpro stuff is so delicious, even people who don't usually like soya milk will drink it...like my mum.
Tofu Monster...
I've started making tofu regularly now, it comes out less dense than cauldron foods stuff, but you can still fry it if you're careful. And it's great for blended things, like tofu cheesecake and mayonnaise. It's especially good because it's so cheap. My partner made a big pressing box, and we make about 2lbs (four ordinary-sized blocks) of tofu in one go...but it all gets eaten up far too quickly!
You need an extra-large pan to do this, though.
Re: Soya / Soy Milk Makers
i bought one of the original milk makers from 'soya fresh', that gorilla had one too - and after many, many attempts at getting a 'right recipe' its now just sitting in the cupboard. if i make a batch then it curdles, no soy milk till i can wash up and make some more. sorry to sound defeatest but i just dont have time and energy to keep trying to keep pouring it down the chute. its either too bitter, too appley, curdles, too sweet.
at the moment its easier for me to buy (cant remember the brand) red box, unsweetened with added calcium and vits, bout 79p per ltr from asda - easier on my time and patience more to the point.
so.....i have a milk maker if anyone wants to have a go and make me an offer for it... :rolleyes: