Soy Milk

[Pat]

In these parts soy milk is $7/gal (actually $3.49/half gal) give or take a few cents depending on the store and brand. This has sparked an interest in making our own. There are a plethora of soy milk making appliances for sale on the internet. Any of you fellow rural types "into" soy milk making? Pros? Cons? I can see the advantage of freshness and lower cost, even while amortizing the cost of the machine and the disadvantage of the effort in the process.

I don't want to end up with a machine that never gets used... like the yogurt makers of years back, jilions sold and often resold at yard sales since they were, for any number of reasons, not used.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Hakim]

Interesting idea. I buy soy milk, but I buy MORE rice milk. I am wondering if the machine used to make soy milk, could/can make rice milk as well???

[Bird]

When you click on the link at the top of this page, you get this soy milk maker and it claims you can use it for rice milk, as well as milk from other grains. Personally, I've no experience with either the machines or those kinds of "milk".

[Pat]

Hakim, Acocording to the advertising copy for the soy milk machines I found on the web, you can make rice milk, almond milk, and all kinds of milks. I didn't see anything about pigeon milk (just kiding.)

The prices seem to be all over the place from below a hundrred bucks to several hundred.

There seem to be good units available at $100 with free shipping.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Hakim]

Thanks for the feedback. I have done a little research by now, and as you say, I see that most of the automated soy maker units also claim to do rice milk.

I use about 4 quarts a month, mainly for cereal in the morning. It costs me around $6 a gallon -- I buy "Organic Rice Milk" at Trader Joe's. My wife says Costco may carry rice milk; they do have soy milk.

I also see that there is a lot of negative opinions about some of the commercial soy milk makers, having to do with cheap/flimsy construction, hard to clean, noisy, etc.

The one that seems to get the best reviews was the SoyaJoy or the SoyaJoy or the SoyaPower (same company) that I found here: SoyaJoy Link.

[Pat]

Hakim, We are paying $7/gal for soy milk. I ordered a milk maker last night. Given the cost per year for store bought I could toss it and buy another if need be and still amortize it in an accceptably short period of time.

Ever drink Horchatca (sp?) It is, as far as I know, a Mexican rice drink typicaly served cold. If rice milk is anything like that, flavor wise, I may try rice milk on my cereal too. I am lactose intolerant ( I JUST WON'T PUT UP WITH LACTOSE!!!) so I use lactase enzyme capsules whenever I use milk.

I'll trade observationls with you. I will report back our initial experience with the milk maker when we get it in hand and make a batch or two.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Hakim]

Pat,

I am not sure I want or need to make my own rice milk. My experience with all kinds of foods is that the commercially-made products often taste and appear superior to home made. Sometimes of course homemade is better.

With soy or rice milk, I have read of various problems with inexpensive home units--- liquid too thin, too chalky, too gritty, burnt taste, etc.

Multi-thousand dollar machines used in commercial production likely make a more appealing product.

I really like most Trader Joe's products. We are here in their home state of Calif. Lots of fresh organic products, which I like.

I tried juicing my own oranges, for example. First you have to get a "juicy" orange. Navels just don't work. Valencia's are the best I have found around here. Then, you have to hope the specific batch you buy is in fact sweet enough.

Organic juice oranges sell for up to $2.50 a pound in some seasons. I have an Orange-X juicer, a commercial unit. It makes great juice. Three oranges per 8 ounce juice glass. In my experience, I usually save nothing in cost, and sometimes pay more for oranges than the Organic fresh squeezed from Trader Joe's. And sometimes the hand squeezed is really bitter.

I expect that my experience with rice milk will be similar to orange juice, in terms of cost and flavor.

Right now I use a pretty small amount of rice milk, and do not feel that I want another messy task to do every day or every couple of days.

I like the sound of the Mexican Horchata rice drink... I located the info below, and am going to mix some up. Sounds really fantastic. I'm surprised I never heard of it before, since I have lived in AZ and CA border towns for a long time.

Thanks for sharing your info.

Hakim
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Mexican Horchata

A refreshing cold drink made of rice, almonds, cinnamon (canella), lime zest and sugar. This drink is frequently served at breakfast time. Even though the drink has a milky appearance it is completely dairy-free.

History
According to Sophie Coe in America's First Cuisine's, horchata was an old-world drink brought to the new world by the Spaniards and later enjoyed too by the Aztecs. In Spain horchata was made with with ground melon seeds but given the seeds were not available in the new world the Spaniards substituted the readily available squash seeds. Later almonds and rice were brought to the new world and incorporated into the drink as it is prepared today.

Serves: 6 - 7

I N G R E D I E N T S
6 tablespoons rice
6 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) blanched almonds
1 inch cinnamon stick (canella)
3 "2-inch" strips of lime zest (rind only, not the white pithy part) 3/4" long
1 cup white granulated sugar

I N S T R U C T I O N S
The traditional way to make horchata is with a metate y mano. For those of us less adventurous, or simple those with less time, we can use a blender.

Pulverize the rice using a metate y mano (rock slab used to grind corn and for mashing ingredients to make salsas) or your blender. Grind the mixture as smooth as possible. Combine the rice with the almonds, cinnamon and lime zest. Let this mixture stand overnight (minimally 6 hours).

Place the mixture in the blender jar and blend for at least 3 - 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and no long has a gritty texture. Add 2 cups of water and blend again for just a few seconds.

Place a large sieve over a mixing bowl. Line the sieve with 3 layers of damp cheesecloth.

Pour in the rice mixture, a little at a time and keep stirring to help the mixture go through the sieve.

Once all the liquid has passed through to the bowl gather the cloth together at the top, give it a twist and squeeze out any additional liquid.

Now add 2 more cups of water and stir in as much sugar as you'd like, to taste. If the mixture is too thick, add some additional water.

Cover and refrigerate. The drink should keep several days, refrigerated.

Serve in a tall glass over ice [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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[Pat]

Hakim, I know what you mean about the inferior DIY results of some domestic proesses. There are notable exceptions, especailly if you "want it your way" and store bought isn't quite right or like momma made.

My mom had a few orange trees in her yard at Sun City, CA. The one prolific tree made the best orange juice I ever had and I have sampled plenty. We used an old juicer with the tapered fluted whirly gig in the center. Not the best but workable. San Diego Yacht Club (once home to America's Cup) had a nifty automatic machine. You put washed oranges in a hopper and it sliced and squeezed them and kept the juice in a chilled tank with a spigot. It was not only neat to watch, it made good juice with good oranges, valencies, of course,)

If you lived near the burgeoning Mexican population near the border it is unusual that you wouldn't have seen Horchata as many of the resturants have it, sometimes along side a tamarind drink, in clear glass reservoirs. Street vendors in TJ, Ensenada, and even Bario Logan in San Diego pedal it but that isn't my favorite source.

Thanks for the recipe and wright up, an interesting read. I will make some. I'll bet a lot of my fellow Okies haven't had it. Time for some more cultural broadening.

I did a lot of web research and am some concerned about gritty, burned, beany, thin watery, and other consistency and flavor considerations but took my best shot and as an optimistic realist I hope for the best and deal with reality.

Thanks again for your info. Maybe I'll get a break and the machine I ordered (Christmas present for my wife) will work out good enough.

Oh yeah, Trader Joe's... I used to get advertisements but the local Trader Joe's was on Shelter Island in San Diego and was as much a liquor store as anything else and catered to the yachtie trade. Had I had convenient access to a "regular" Trader Joe's I might have been more favorably impressed. Did I fail to mention at one time or another that I lived in San Diego for over 30 years?

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Hakim]

Pat,

Thanks for the added info. I will be interested to hear how your soy unit works for you.

I don;lt know how I "missed" the Mexican drink.

The Trader Joes are pretty darned good. Quite reasonably priced (compared to say Whole Foods or (even worse) Wild Oats).

Don't know why you left San Diego after 30 years, but WE TOOK YOUR PLACE! [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

We are in North County -- Carlsbad. Other than houses "starting at" $1 million, it is a really nice place to live. Thank God I married a rich wife ( [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).

[Pat]

Hakim, San Diego had a small city flavor when we arrived but just got more and more crowded. OUr commutes and errand drives became more and more crowded and frustrating and as you noticed houses got expensive. We moved from the San Diego State Univeresity area onto our sailboat to avoid the freeway commute. We both worked out on Point Loma at the big laboratory complex. After nine years on the sailboat we bought a house in Point Loma. The appreciation on that is what helped us build the subject of the Oklahoma Farmhouse thread.

The entire state of Oklahoma has fewer residents than the county of San Diego. Less populaltion density yields a more relaxed lifestyle with less stressful interpersonal communicatiions. When there are fewer perople, interactions with them are more pleasant. Recall the New York street scene in the Paul Hogan comedy movie "Crocodile Dundee?" The crock dude is walking down a crowded NY sidewalk and trying to say g'day to everyone he passes and ends up failing in frustration and exclaims, "Oh s--t!" Too many people... too high of a population density.

One of my other complaints about SOCAL (and it is certainly rampant around Carlsbad and Vista) is the Hispanification of America! I have no quarrel with anyone of any nationality, creed, color, religion, or lack thereof. I believe in America the melting pot, not America the group of seperatist enclaves. I don't think immigrants should eschew their heritage and culture but share it with the rest of us and reciprically should try to adopt a little of the common denominator of American culture and AT LEAST LEARN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE!!! (English?) Unfortunately California is going to sink under the weight of wrong headed hispanification as soon the hispanic voting block is a clear statewide majority (comming soon) and they LOOK OUT.
//SOAPBOX MODE=OFF??

Sorry, I get carried away. Anyway I didn't leave SOCAL to flee anything but crowding and its attendant social ills. Mostly we were attracted to a simpler lifestyle with affordable land. Our property in SOCAL financed most of our 160 acres and the house project.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]