[Medusa]

Who out there has tried a soy milk maker?

I've been thinking about investing in one. We don't drink tons of soy milk (maybe a quart a week), but we do consume alot of tofu and I've always been intrigued with making it from scratch.

I'm a bread machine addict, I set up my bread machine every other night before bed, and I've saved a ton of money on bread. If a SM maker worked out the same for me I'd be thrilled.

For those of you that have them, do you like your SM maker? What brand is it? Is it easy to use? Have you tried making tofu? Do you end up saving money? How does the soy milk taste? or the tofu?

Or did you buy or try one and hate it? Why?

Information please?

 

[vermontgirl]

Soy milk makers are wonderful investments and the milk tastes great. It is really beany and yummy rather than chalky like the store bought ones. It saves money too.

 

[richella]

I've made tofu from scratch. It wasn't hard, though it was a little time consuming. Might be worth it if I had a big family.

How does a soy milk maker work? I've heard you can also make almond milk, which would be a plus imo.

 

[Sasha_girl]

I use the soyajoy ( www.soymilkmaker.com ) and love it. I make a batch of tofu a couple of times a week. I got mine new off of ebay, the SoyaPower, along with the tofu making kit (a bag of nigari, some cheesecloth, and a wooden tofu press), for $90 with shipping.

I can get organic soybeans in bulk for, like, $.99 a pound. Since tofu is between $3.99-4.99 here that's a huge deal. It only takes me about 2 cups of dry soybeans (like rice they puff up to about twice their size when soaked) to make a block of tofu.

Making tofu with a soymilk maker is *not* as easy as setting your bread machine. You have to make four batches of soymilk (and I clean the maker off pretty well between each batch, although I'm sure it wouldn't hurt if you just rinsed it off), then pour all four batches into a pot and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Let it cool off to (I think) 170-180 degrees F. Prepare your coagulant (I use nigari but I think some people use sea salt) by dissolving it into some warm water and pour it into the soymilk while stirring. When the whey starts to seperate from the curds you pour it all into a cheesecloth-lined tofu press. Put something (a jar of water or a can of beans) on the lid of the press and let it sit for about 20 minutes, then put the block of tofu into a bowl of cool water for about an hour.

So it's not a difficult process, but definitely more time-consuming than a bread machine

The maker itself is simple, though. You put some water into the thermal part and spoon some soaked soybeans into the top. Turn it on and it does the rest of the work. The okara (the ground-up soybean hulls) are like concrete, though, so clean up as soon as the maker shuts off.

ETA: Richella, you can use the soyajoy to make rice, almond, and rice milk (or whatever else. DH wants to try making hazelnut milk). You just put whatever else into the chamber instead of soybeans.
But both the soymilk and the tofu are *way* better tasting than anything I've bought in a store. Way better.