Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Homemade Soy Milk


I've been tinkering with homemade soymilk for a while now. I have always loved the idea of making it from scratch, without any additives, preservatives, wasted packaging and the boundless variations of flavors. The problem was that I couldn't get past the beany taste, until now. Someone had posted a tip on the PPK boards about soaking the beans in a large shallow container. They claimed that it eliminated a lot of that beany taste. Although I was skeptical, I gave it a try. Wow, it worked like a charm! And it was so quick and easy to make.

To begin with, I used a Soyabella soy milk maker. I soaked the required measure of organic soybeans in a large glass casserole dish overnight. In the morning, I rinsed the beans, adding water to cover. I rubbed the beans between my hands (in the water) to get off some of the skins (you can also pop them between your fingers). This only took a couple of minutes, and apparently helps to reduce the beany flavor. The skins floated to the top. I gave the beans another quick rinse, added them to the machine, filled it up with the required water and was ready to go. Fifteen minutes later, I had a lovely looking soy milk. For flavor, I added 3 tablespoons of organic sugar and a nice dash of vanilla (maybe a teaspoon or so). Once the milk had cooled down a bit, I strained it into a clean glass jug and it was ready to go. This was the best batch of soy milk yet!

Soaked soybeans ready for action


Freshly made milk in the machine

I am now hooked on making fresh soy milk at home. It's so quick, easy and very economical. I'll keep playing with the recipes and flavorings and let you know what I come up with. I'm thinking almond, horchata, nutmeg, ginger...maybe even matcha or chai. The flavor combinations are endless.

Fresh, creamy soy milk

18 comments:

Vegan_Noodle said...

How cool that you made you own soymilk!! Are soy milk makers very expensive? Do you know how long homemade soymilk lasts? Sorry for all the questions, just very intrigued. :-)

Diz Rivera said...

Ah man Julie, I love this post. When I first made almond milk I realized how much better it was than the boxed crap at the store. But soymilk! It never occured me to try making it even when I too love things made from scratch. It looks like the Soyabella gadget would be great for nutmilks too -- make the process so much easier than straining through cheesecloth!

Thanks so much for the tip.

julie hasson said...

Hi Vegan Noodle. I think the soymilk makers are around $100.00. They make about a quart of soymilk in 15 minutes. The soymilk seems to last for a good five days or so. A quart goes pretty fast around our house though. Another benefit is that you get the okara (ground soybean mixture) too. I need to play with it a little more, but it works well in burgers, falafels and such.

Hi Madness. Yeah the soymilk maker works really well for nut milks too. I've heard that you can also make hemp and rice milk in it as well. I really like having the control over what I put in my milk, plus it tastes so good.

megan said...

I've been thinking about buying a soy milk maker for months, but I haven't fully convinced myself yet. Is it easy to clean?

julie hasson said...

Hi Meg. Yes, this machine is very easy to clean. Not all of the machines are though (I've tried a few). I throw the filter cup in the dishwasher and the pot just easily cleans up with hot soapy water.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

That sounds SO awesome! Maybe I'll get to try some when I come visit. ;)

akahn said...

Vegan horchata sounds yum! You should post a recipe. :)

Joni Marie Newman said...

Fresh soymilk in 15 minutes? I'm sold. Thanks for this post!

Animal-Friendly said...

Fresh soymilk sounds soooo refreshing- that soymilk maker is going on my xmas list this year!

Sheree' said...

How cool is that. I have wanted to do this for a very long time. I will have to put this on my to get list. My list is getting so long. :o) Priorities my DH tells me. We are working on saving for a pressure cooker right now. Did you buy your soy beans in bulk?

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

this is exactly why i plan to treat myself to a Soyabella for my birthday next month. beautiful!

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

Wow good for you! I bet it tastes way better than soymilk from a supermarket!

MeganFabulous said...

Wow! I am so impressed with homemade soy milk. That takes things to a whole new level! How about almond milk? I would love to learn how to make that!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

homemade soy milk. fabulous! those post-punkers really have some great tips. thanks for showing us how, Julie!!!!

Jammin23 said...

Hi there! Great recipies, i just bought a soyabella as a wedding gift for someone and was doing a little research about soymilk recipes thatthey could use. I read that for creamier milk you could double process, using the soy milk as the "water" the second time around. Have you tried this, does it make any difference? Thanks!

Raymond Weber said...

I know this is a late comment, but I guess better late than never as the old saying goes.

I have to admit that I am not vegen or vegetarian even, so please don't hate me. :)

With that said, I would certainly like to thank Julie for creating this post. I have often wondered about the most effective way to make homemade soy milk as commercial soy milk is so expensive and has all those yucky additives.

I'm not sure if anyone here has done this, but I was curious to compare the nutritional breakdown between a cup of non-fat cow's milk and a cup of plain soy milk. The results were very pleasing as, with the exception of five nutrients (Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Calcium, Phosphorus, and Riboflavin), the soy milk beat the cow milk hands down.

For anyone who is curious to see how it breaks down, I used the recipe calculator located at http://recipes.sparkpeople.com.

Jade said...

I never thought about just putting in the filter in dishwasher.
Funny I had a lot of hassle with cleaning my old soy milk maker.
But was never used to dish washers although there was one to use.

you can see a soy milk nutrition breakdown compared to cow milk.
here http://www.soyadirect.co.uk/soya_knowledge_8.html

Unknown said...

All the properties of the milk are really important not only for the children but the adult too. The milk contain many vitamin, potassium, calcium and iron.This kind of properties is needed for the people.

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