Bryanna's Creamy-Not-Beany Soy Milk

Makes 1 and1/2 quarts of soy milk

(No gold filter or expensive Laura soybeans needed! No thickeners or stabilizers needed.)

Finally, a homemade soymilk that my husband likes! This is the best! Please read through carefully before starting.

MAKING A LARGE AMOUNT OF SOYMILK: I usually soak enough to make 3 batches(using a soy milk maker)in one go—it lasts for a week in the fridge if you scald everything and keep it well sealed, so it’s worth making a large amount at once while you have the equipment out.

Note: Scalding everything is very important, so that the soymilk doesn’t get contaminated by stray bacteria, which may cause it to sour or taste bad. This is a detailed recipe—it actually is less complicated and time-consuming than it sounds!

STEP 1 (SOAKING):

For each batch in a soymilk maker that is big enough to make 1 and 1/2 quarts or L, soak:

1/3 c. soybeans

1/4 c. brown rice

in lots of fresh water (you can soak them together). If you soak more than 8 hours, place it in the refrigerator. It will keep there for a few days.

STEP 2 :

Just before making the soymilk, drain the beans and rice in a fine mesh colander, then add (for each batch):

2 T. old-fashioned rolled oats

(Variation: if you prefer top use whole oat groats, then omit the rolled oats, but soak the oat groats along with the soybeans and rice—rolled oats don’t need soaking.)

Stir together well, then place the mixture in the soymilk maker filter cup. Fill the soymilk maker jug to the highest water mark. Make soymilk according to your directions for your soymilk maker. (I have a Soylife, which is the Canadian equivilant of a Soyajoy.)

STEP 3 (PREPARING AND STERILIZING EQUIPMENT):

While the soymilk cooks, prepare your equipment. Besides the soymilk maker, you need:

Equipment needed:

A receptacle for the soymilk—I use a large stainless steel soup pot

A stainless steel colander that fits snugly into your receptacle

A wire whisk

Measuring spoons—1 T. and 1/4 tsp.

A funnel, if the neck of your storage container is narrow

A piece of clean cotton sheeting about 2 ft. square

Note: If you are making more than one batch, you should have a cloth for each batch)

A container or containers to store the soymilk in, with tight lids

Clean rubber kitchen gloves

An oven mitt to remove the hot filter cup from the machine

A small rubber spatula to remove the pulp from the filter cup

Scrubbing pad and brush to clean the machine parts

Put some water on to boil.

Place the pot or other receptacle for the soymilk in the sink. Place the colander in that and then the cloth (folded inwards so that it doesn’t droop into the sink); place the storage container lid(s), measuring spoons, whisk, and funnel (if using) inside the colander. Scald all of this well with boiling water. Scald the inside of your storage containers and the outside of the kitchen gloves. Immediately discard the hot water.

Anything you aren’t using right away, set aside on clean kitchen towels on the countertop. Leave the pot, colander and cloth in the sink.

Note: If you are making more than one batch, wash and re-scald the colander and gloves, and use a fresh cloth for each subsequent batch.

STEP 4 (STRAINING THE SOYMILK):

When the machine beeps, remove the top part, with the immersion heater and filter cup (I place it inside of a stainless steel pan).

Drain any water that has dripped from the cloth into the receptacle pot. Unfold the cloth corners from the middle of the colander, so that there is only one layer of cloth, and it is even all around. Pour the hot soymilk into the cloth-lined colander. Rinse out the soymilk maker jug with:

1/2 c. of water (use water that has been boiled)

and pour into the soymilk.

Note on okara (soy pulp): because the okara from this soy-rice-oat milk is very gooey, it is difficult to squeeze, so I don’t add it to the milk when I drain it (this doesn’t seem to affect the yield or the flavor). I just compost it—I haven’t tried cooking with it so far. It is very wet, so may need to be oven-dried some before using in recipes calling for regular okara. See FAQS (under the question about making soymilk without a machine) for links to okara recipes. PS: One reader wrote to me and said she used the creamy-not-beany okara as a mashed potato substitute and it was delicious! Haven't tried that yet, but I intend to. Might be good mixed with mashed potatoes, too! Another poster said she heated it up and ate it as a breakfast cereal with brown sugar and soymilk!

Put on the scalded (cooled) kitchen gloves and gather up the corners of the cloth; twist and squeeze so that the soymilk drains into the receptacle. Untwist and twist again and use the twisted cloth to push down on the “bag”. Keep doing this until all the soymilk is removed (there will be very little pulp left in the cloth).

NOTE: IF YOU ARE MAKING MORE THAN ONE BATCH OF SOYMILK, clean out the soymilk maker jug and clean the immersion heater and filter cup before you twist and squeeze the soymilk out, to save time. Fill the jug and filter cup again and get the next batch cooking before you start squeezing as directed above. Make sure that the immersion heater is thoroughly cleaned—no vestiges left behind-- using a plastic scrubber or brush, so that there is no burned taste on the second batch.

STEP 5 (FLAVORING THE SOYMILK):

Note: If you are making more than one batch, you can mix them all up together and flavor it all at once, multiplying the flavoring ingredients two or three times, as appropriate.

Of course, you can flavor this however you like. I add (per batch):

2 T. organic sugar OR maple syrup

3/8 tsp. sea salt

Whisk with the scalded wire whisk.

**OPTIONAL: To fortify with calcium, if you like, whisk in 3/4 T. calcium carbonate powder (buy from your pharmacist) per batch 1 and 1/2 qt. of soymilk . (This adds about 300 mg of calcium per cup, or about the same as regular milk.) Make sure to shake the soymilk thoroughly before poring each time, as the calcium tends to settle on the bottom.

NOTE ABOUT “ADDITIVES”: Soymilk is naturally very low in sodium and sugars, which is why they are added to commercial soymilk. Dairy milk is naturally high in both—a taste most of us are used to.

STEP 6 (STORING):

Pour the soymilk into the scalded container(s) and place the lid(s) on tightly. Immediately refrigerate.

STEP 7:

It takes several hours to cool off the soymilk. You will see that there is some separation in the milk after cooling. Shake the container vigorously—you should not have to do this again unless you add calcium to it.

STEP 8 (CLEAN-UP):

Remove the hot filter cup from the machine using an oven mitt to protect yourself. Scoop out the okara (pulp) with the spatula. Try to wash everything immediately, because soymilk can get sticky. Wash out the jug and dry it. Scrub the filter cup, using the brush provided with the soymilk maker. (I usually put the filter cup through the dishwasher after, as well.) Being careful not to get water on the top of the soymilk maker, scrub the heating element and make sure no residue is left on any of the parts. Dry, reassemble and store in the box.