Homemade Soy Milk

Let's talk juice. That's right I got a juicer. I got a powerful, glossy, heavy, masticating food machine, and I love love love love love it!

wheatgrass, carrots, lemon

No more shall I throw away crisp kale stems and carrot tops. No more shall I pay for processed soy and nut milks. No more shall I buy peanut, almond, pumpkin seed, cashew.. basically any nut butter. Gone are the days of buying frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Who needs 'em? Not I! 

I recieved the Omega 8006 Juicer and 'Nutrition Center' for Christmas and have been spending a great deal of quality time with it. I have yet to follow an exact recipe for juice. It has been an adventure! Some of the resulting juices have been pretty gnarly and sort of 'bottoms up!', others have been downright lovely. Either way I glow after every glass.

But anyone can make juice. Look in your fridge, grab some greens, some oranges, some whatever looks tasty, chop it, send it down the chute, and wha-la! Since everyone and their sister is on the juicing bandwagon, it's not hard to find a recipe for juice either. Finding a recipe for soy milk, however (for me at least), was much harder. 

I found tutorials for almond and oat milk making, but non for soy milk with my kind of juicer. The sadness! 

Well, I had already bought my organic dry soy beans so soy milk was going to happen. Someway those beans were going to become a beverage! With a little creativity and minimal mess I managed to configure a method/recipe tailored to my juicer.

Making soy milk, as apposed to nut milks, is rather a pain. I have made only two batches of soy milk thus far. The first batch was pretty sorry, and made my belly rumble like no other. Soy milk HAS to be cooked before you drink it, just like beans need to be cooked before you eat them. Your body is happy to digest them that way. 

measure 'em

put 'em in a jar

soak 'em

With my second batch of milk, I added a strip of kombu as it cooked to make it more digestible. It seems to have helped with the crazy belly noises! Hurrah for see vegetables! I also flavored my second batch. The first batch tasted rather bland, as did the second, but that's what I would expect from just soy milk and water. However I would much rather drink this than the soy milk at the store that has been sitting on the shelf and is loaded with goodness knows what chemicals. Fresh is best!

To be honest, I don't think I will try making soy milk again any time soon. My body prefers nut and cows milk to soy, and I since I enjoy tofu I don't want to over load on my consumption of soy. This recipe is not perfected. But it is a start, a template if you will. If you have an Omega 8006 or 5 or 4 (I think) give this a try, or if you have any other type of juice why not be adventurous and do the same! 

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Homemade Soy Milk using an Omega 8006 Juicer

1 cup dried organic soy beans

2 cups water 

1 jar

4 cups water
1 strip of kombu

Optional: 

a pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt

a half tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp of molasses or other sweetened

1 tsp cinnamon (next time maybe cardamom?)

1. Take the soy beans and soak them in a jar filled* with water overnight or 8 to 12 hours. 

2. Drain the beans, discarding the soaking liquid, and put them in a new bowl filled with 4 cups of fresh water.

3. Assemble your juicer with the juicer nozzle. Make sure the strainer is underneath where the juice comes out to minimize the 'pulp'. Turn it on. Ladle out a spoonful (about a 1/2 cup) of the almond and water mixture and pour it down the chute. 

4. Continue doing this until all the soy beans are juiced. If you have water remaining, pour it down the chute too. 

5. Transfer the milk to a pot on the stove, toss in the strip of kombu. Bring the milk to a boil. Then reduce to low and let simmer for 25 minutes. Skim off and discard any foam or filmy layers that will occur during this time. Once the milk has been 'cooked', remove the strip of kombu.

5. At this point, if your milk is as smooth as you would like (meaning you're happy with the pulp content or lack there of) you can transfer your milk to a jar and enjoy at your leisure. However, if it is not as smooth as you'd like, simply strain the liquid through a fine sieve (some people use cheese cloth). Also, if you are are not pleased with the flavor (it is rather bland), and want to 'kick it up a notch' I advise you do the following...

Add the optional items above, or just get crazy and add whatever sounds speaks to you. The milk should last about 5 days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

*I used about 2 cups of water, basically you just want the beans to be well covered since those babies will expand.