Anyone who makes soymilk from a machine? what machine is best?

Question

I saw one on ebay that looked like a coffee maker? Anyone tried that one? Other reviews of soymilk makers? soymilk tips or recipes?

green ghost, what is yuba mean? I tried making from scratch once and it was a mess and tasted bad, but didn't add sugar or vanilla...plus I hear it is better to use fresher soy beans and /or laura soy beans

I used to have a copy of the Farm cookbook, have to look..oh still have...have not read in about 20 years?1978 edition...must be a collector item now...LOL.

Epson salt for tofu...never heard of that before..is that in the Farm cookbook? Saw Nigiri and calcium sulfate on soyajoy website....

GG: I don't worry about pts..I have almost max pts..I don't eat fish...was a veg for about 20 yrs until cancer and chemo...got off track..trying to get back on track with veg.. have been trading some meat recipes due to obsessive with collecting recipes and yahoo answers...need to try to stop that I guess...

I am kind afraid of blowing up stuff with a pressure cooker?

Answer 1

I've tried a few machines and I don't like them. I've found them to be wasteful of the beans and the quality of the soy milk is lower than doing it the 'old fashioned' way. Using those machines also mean you never get to experience the wonders of Yuba! That, to me, is a major strike against them.

Here's my tips:

The 'best machine IMO is a pressure cooker along with either a food mill, meat grinder or food processor! With a pressure cooker the beans are ready for 'milking' in less than an hour and you never have gritty residue in the okara or tofu! You use the other machine to grind the beans before cooking them. You get better quality milk and more of it this way. You also get a thick yuba on your pot that's good for scrambling! Plus, the pressure cooker is a good for so many other things! You can actually skip the other machine and just use a potato masher, but most folks already have some kind of kitchen machine to make smashing the beans easy (even a blender can work).

MM: Unless you're using Epsom salt for your tofu stop wasting that whey on your plants! It's good for soups and breadmaking. If you *are* using Epsom salt, try rinsing your hair with it or using it to wash your dishes instead of using store bought dish detergent (just not in a dishwashing machine).
If you'd try it my way you also won't have so much okara laying around that you need to waste it on the plants either.

But I will admit the plants like the whey and okara!

Edit:

Mevlana! You *really* need to seek out a copy of "The new Farm Vegetarian Cookbook"! I really love (and have fun) answering your questions but the book would save you the points so you could 'spend' them on hard questions.

Edit:

First off, I'm not aiming the fish at you. I just decided it's time to get rid of that [expletive deleted] word that makes people think veggies eat fish! From this point forward it'll be on all my answers (and I added it to all my open ones too)

Don't be afraid of pressure cookers. They're *much* safer than they used to be! The worst I've ever done is forget one and ruin it when the emergency pressure relief blew out, turning it into a non-pressure cooker. That plug *did* bounce around the kitchen some though.

I lost my cookbook collection 2 years ago to a house fire. I had the really old spiral bound edition plus the '75 Farm cookbook. I've almost got it memorized and am on my 5th (I think) copy. It's not fancy cooking but it's good basic stuff. As you know since you've got one. I take it you know about yuba now. I use the 'top' yuba for crepes and blini! Ah, Farm isn't too creative with it. Let the top yuba get thick before harvest. Let it soak in a jellyroll pan of warm water (to swell up), then give it a quick fry in oil to brown and blister (like a crepe). You can 'ruin' a batch of milk by adding a glob of Marmite to it, the Yuba then tastes baconlike and cooks up in a similar fashion!

I just looked and they do suggest Epsom salt. You can make tofu using dozens of different coagulants! About the only thing I haven't tried is rennet (for obvious reasons). Somewhere deep in my answers I went into detail on the subject of tofu making.

Bigger beans normally equal less beany tast. Old beans that have spent a lot of time under flourescent light (or sunlight) also produce off flavors as does hard water (a Brita or Pur helps!). Pressure 'cooked' beans also make for a lighter bean flavor. Over soaked or over 'cooked' beans make for stronger bean flavor as do under soaked beans. Also cover the milk while it cools! For drinking I normally add a tiny dash of vanilla (maybe 1/8th tsp per quart) and 1/4th tsp Flavacol (vegan butter salt, Popcorn supply companies have it) along with a few tsps sugar along with 1/16th tsp Xanthan gum. All that gets left out for tofu and is added out of the pot to not 'contaminate' the yuba. Come to think about it, I think the yuba also takes away beaniness (might have to test that). I'd forgotten that 'cutting' the milk with grain also helps! MM is right about barley and/or other grains making a diff!! (I'd give her another T.U. if I could)

Just like anything done in the kitchen, the first time is always the messiest! I used to make a big mess but thanks to practice, at home there's no mess, but when I'm at someone else's kitchen with strange equipment...Look out.

Gee, this got long

Answer 2

I have a Soya Joy. See link below.

I love my soy milk maker. I highly recommend the tiny additional cost of coagulant and tofu press. Worth every penny. I love to make my own tofu.

It's also great for rice milk, almond milk, grain milk.

I love adding hulled barley when I make my soy milk. It makes it creamier. Yum yummy.

Everybody loves my homemade Fu! I like to make roasted garlic and sun dried tomato Fu. Then people just TAKE it. Right out of my fridge. Raided. dag-nab-it.

PS: You don't make tofu from the "okara" - the pulp. You make tofu from soy milk. You make three or 4 batches. Depending on if you want medium or firm fu. Then you put it all in a big pot, heat it and add the coagulant. The soy protein solidifies. You spoon off the solids and leave the "whey" or liquid behind.

The solids go into the tofu press. Be careful to put it in a large flat pan to catch the water. I forgot that the first time and make a BIG puddle.

The whey is good for watering plants. The okara or bean pulp is also good fertilizer if you're not going to eat it. Makes for good breads and burgers.

Answer 3

Naturally, I was thrilled to know Philips made a soymilk maker machine which promises fresh soymilk in 25 minutes.

Answer 4

I have a soyquick milk maker. I am allergic to soy, but I use it to make rice and nut milks, or a blend of them. I just throw whatever seams good at the time in, usually rice, almonds and sesame seeds. There are some good recipes at soyquick.com and you can enter a monthly drawing for a machine. I use the pulp that is left over for making tasty food bars, mixed with nuts, seeds, agave nector and coconut and dates-I mix them all up in a food processor, roll them in wax paper (like slice and bake cookies) and slice and dehydrate them in my food dehyrator. They are tasty and delicious! Good luck. I think you will enjoy making your own healthy milks.

edit: If you make the milk from soybeans, you can turn the pulp into homemade tofu. Soyquick sends you a free kit, with a press and coagulant

Answer 5

This stuff is made from soya beans, not a machine.