Does anyone make soya milk?

Zero

Thanks Seakay, I contacted Suma and asked them for the names of any stores in my area which stocks their soya beans.

I phoned the different stores and located a local Chinese food store which stocks 25kg of soya beans for £20. So that's 80p per kg.

Looks like I've found a low price supplier of soya beans!

Now all I have to do is locate a supplier of liquid calcium so I can calcium enrich the soya milk...

If I did purchase 25kg, I wonder how long they last before they go past their use-by date?

Seakay

Well done Zero! Glad that your hard work is paying off - let us know how you get on with your calcium search (I have been looking online but have only found stuff for animals and fish!)

Found a few quotes about storage:

One advantage of dried pulses is that they will store very well for long periods if kept in a dry, airtight container away from the light.

Store dried pulses in air-tight containers in a cool, dry place. If kept in the dark, the seeds will keep their colours longer. Young, smooth pulses cook faster than old, wrinkled ones. It is best to use dried pulses within a year of purchase.

Dried pulses store well for long periods if kept in a dry, airtight container away from the light, but it's best to eat them as soon as possible, as they toughen on storage and take longer to cook.

On the other hand, I have found pulses whic I had forgotton about and which must have been over 5 years old. They had been in an airtight container and I soaked them for nearly 24 hours to be on the safe side, rinsed and cooked as normal and they seemed fin to me. I think that as long as you can store them away from light in a container which is airtight or at least insect/pest proof then you should be ok.
I assume that the beans will come in some sort of a sack - how about keeping that in a couple of black bin bags? Seperate ties for the inner and outer 'containers' and you should be okay. Another option is to see if you can get hold of recycled plastic containers - Google recycled plastic containers - here is a site to start you off:
http://www.smithsofthedean.co.uk/Recycled%20Containers.htm

My sister got hold of some containers from near where she lives in Essex; the screw top lids are so good that she can store them outside so saving space in her small kitchen

Badger_Lady

Seakay wrote:

The cheapest soya milk which I have found is Tesco Value, which happens to be organic and calcium enriched

The Tesco Value is cheapest, but only about 1p per litre cheaper than Tesco Standard... the standard is my favourite commercial soya milk by far, the best taste and incidentally almost the cheapest you can buy (also fortified).

I'm definitely going to try this business of making your own though... Seakay, I live in Cardiff, where should I go to get beans???

Zero

I'll take a look at that link now Seakay, thanks

Seakay wrote: »

Well done Zero! Glad that your hard work is paying off - let us know how you get on with your calcium search (I have been looking online but have only found stuff for animals and fish!)

As I'm not sure what I'm looking for I have found quite a few links to what appear to be liquid calcium for humans (not birds or fish!)

The links are below. If anyone knows if any of these are suitable for adding calcium to soya milk, or definitely not suitable, please let me know...

http://www.solgar.co.uk/modules/shop/view.asp?catid=8&Prodcode=E441
http://www.fruitfulyield.com/?action=itemdetail&item_id=41013&F=1
http://www.evitamins.com/product.asp?pid=5464
http://www.drinkables.com/ffcca.html
http://www.theherbsplace.com/Calcium_Liquid_p_471.html
http://shopping.msn.com/prices/shp/?itemId=585648690
http://www.florahealth.com/flora/home/Canada/Products/R4730.htm
http://www.1001herbs.com/liquidcalcium/index.html
http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Liquid-Calcium-Citrate-Magnesium
http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Liquid-Calcium-Citrate-Magnesium-Orange
http://www.lifetimevitamins.com/calmagliq.html
http://www.vitalearth.org/Cal_Mag_Liquid.htm
http://www.detour23.com/calcium/
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=5025&at=0
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=4686&at=0
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=4684&at=0
http://www.goddess-within.com/7853.html

Seakay

Hi Badger_Lady!

the place which I mentioned is 118 Clifton Street, 5pm to 7.30pm on a Wednesday, see http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=516934 for more details
However - have to admit that I waited until 5.35pm yesterday and there was no one there, so next week I might e-mail [EMAIL="PAD@riseup.com"]PAD@riseup.com[/EMAIL] on the Tuesday to double check, as the nearest place to that is Simply Steves where 500g organic beans are 92p (However, worth calling in if you are in the area as sells made on the premises cakes and flans @ £1-£1.50 a slice or £10-£12 for a 10" diameter flan eg pecan, chocolate torte, cheesecake and many more - I think he supplies coffe shops etc but sells at cost from the shop)

Zero

I used the recipe here, for my first attempt at making the soya milk.
http://mrsl.forumsplace.com/message3039.html
It tasted ok, though I think I might have to try some type of sweetener until I get used to the taste.

Pandora123 wrote: »

We make our own soya milk using this machine:
SoyQuick

Pandora, does that machine actually grind the beans and heat them up therefore I wouldn't have to put them in a blender and boil/simmer them for 30 mins on the cooker?

Pandora123 wrote: »

You just soak the soya beans overnight (or for up to several days), then slip off the skins (takes about 20 minutes).

Can I ask the skinning of the beans? In the recipe shown in the link above it doesn't mention skinning the beans.

Do you skin the beans for taste, or do they have to be skinned to be used in the machine?

Thanks

Pandora123_2

Hi Zero,

The soya milk maker cooks and grinds the beans for you, so you just put the raw, soaked beans into the machine (there's a little metal filter cup inside of it, which attaches to the lid/motor unit, you put the beans in there), add cold water to the main container, plug it in and press the button. It takes about 15 minutes. When done, lift up the lid/filter out of the main container. Most of the soya bean pulp is in the filter. There's still a bit of pulp in the milk, just strain it through a muslin cloth. Add some salt and sugar. The milk comes out of the machine hot.

Here are the instructions that I use, which says to skin the soya beans, but on the SoyQuick site, it doesn't say you have to do this (on the first site, the author says it only takes her 3 minutes to remove the skins, I guess I don't have the right technique!) Removing the skins is supposed to make the milk taste less beany and also make it more digestible.

:A

Zero

Thanks Pandora,

those machines are very handy. Did you purchase your SoyQuick machine from that website, or do any high street stores stock them?

Pandora123_2

I bought the machine on the website, and had it sent to friends in Canada, as I was travelling there last year and so was able to take it back with me. (It's made in Canada.)

But there are suppliers in the UK, here is one, or maybe you can find it cheaper elsewhere! I don't think I could be bothered to make soya milk without a machine.

Sometimes I make almond milk and cashew milk, they are really nice and don't require any special equipment. Let me know if you're interested and I'll dig out the recipes.

:A

Zero

I'll have to look into maybe purchasing one of those SoyQuicks after I try making another batch and this time I think I'll try adding a little sugar/salt and skinning the beans before use to see how this affects the flavour.

I hadn't thought about making milk from almond or cashews. Sounds interesting.

If you've got the recipe handy that'd be great. I can try making those too.

Thanks :wave: