i'm making soy milk today with the help of carla emerys book. i need to know a little more though. what temperature to keep the milk at for 30 minutes,how many layers of cheese cloth to use and how many times can you strain through before you have to wash it all out due to the pulp getting between all the layers, what to flavor the milk with ? i love the sun soy brand but i have only found it at a store about 40 miles from here and it only comes in quarts for the chocolate flavor. anyway this is fun and good for me too ,so if anyone has some more advice i would love to hear it. thanks, teresa

-- teresa dramer (t1noodles@aol.com), March 15, 2001

Answers

I have made a little of every thing soy,To strain soy milk I use a flat diaper the type that must be folded for use on a baby, it is a bit thicker that standard cheese cloth but any thin sturdy fabric will do [jelly bag], for cheese cloth use as many layers as it takes to keep the pulp in while you squeese it,I pour it all at once into one 'bag' then squeese it dry, the temperature for the slurry is just below boiling, the water is pre boiled and added to the beans as they are ground, and I only cook the strained milk for 7 min.it scorches easy. I make it by the gallon.I make tofu also. I like to add a little honey,we drink it the same day.

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), March 15, 2001.

http://www.mercola.com/2000/apr/9/soy_research_update.htm

Why you should avoid soy.

Considering all of the conflicinting info out there.
I'm not sure who to beleive anymore except my stomach, and it was not happy with soy. ==========

hope this formats well. http://www.fatfree.com/recipes/drinks/soymilk

soymilk recipe Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 09:28:13 -0800 From: Unlisted (THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU) Soymilk i'm doing this from memory, so the measurements may not be quite right, though it is not an exacting recipe anyways, so don't worry... ingredients: 1 lb or ~ 2.5 c dried soybeans LOTS of water 2 t epsom salts or nigari equipment: a 2.5 gallon soup pot a colander cheesecloth or a muslin bag (1.5 ft X 1.5 ft) a blender (food processor) procedure: soak the beans overnight in plenty of water. do NOT heat at all during this step...it doesn't work! drain the beans and cover with boiling water. place 1.5 c beans (use a slotted spoon) in the blender and start processing. add 1 c boiling water to the mixing beans through the top of the blender. puree, then pour into your soup pot (to which you've added 2 cups of water which has already been brought to a boil). process the remaining beans in a similar manner till all the puree is added to the pot. bring the puree to a boil (careful here: the puree will boil over FAST (anyone ever made beer? same thing!) so stir constantly and do not turn your back once it starts to steam at all. as soon as it's been brought to a rolling boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and simmer for ~ 30 min. stir as necessary to prevent the bottom from burning (it'll give the product a burned flavor!). meanwhile arrange a colander in another big soup pot (about 1.5 gal is convenient at this point) and line with your cloth bag. when puree has cooked, remove from heat and pour into the bag, collecting the resulting milk. (this is messy and not as easy as it sounds; remember the liquid is HOT; if you have the patience, let the liquid cool before doing this, or add some ice (~ 4 c wouldn't be unreasonable). squeeze the remaining liquid out of the fiber left in the bag (BTW- the fiber also has a name and is used in asian cooking. i won't get into that though). Pour a cup of cold water into the bag to rinse out the last of the milk. repeat if you wish. the strained liquid is your soymilk. the less water you use in the process, the richer the milk, but the harder it is to work with, and the less you'll end up with. reserve as much of the milk as you wish for drinking/cooking. the rest can be converted to tofu. hopefully you've kept track of how much water you've added to this point. (about 10 c to the cooking point, maybe 4 more to strain...if you've removed some milk you need to figure out approximately how many cups of beans were used in the milk, and how many cups were allocated for the remaining tofu. dilute the milk down to about 22c water for 10 c beans (i think, i should double check this, but again, it doesn't make that much of a difference anyway!) bring the watered-down milk to a boil (stir, stir, stir!) and remove from heat. dissolve the epsom salts (or other curdling agent (there are lots to choose from!) ) in about 1 c water. pour about 1/4 c into the hot liquid and stir well. cover and let rest for ~ 5 min. take a look then and see if the curds have started to settle out. if not add another quarter cup of salty solution. stir gently and let sit ~ 15 min. when all the curds have settled and the whey is a clear yellow (not milky any more!) gently pour off the whey through several layers of cheesecloth (or muslin). gently pour the curds into the cloth, and drain. gather up the cloth around the curds, and set a heavy weight on top of the bundle for ~ 15 min. this is your tofu! once it has been pressed, transfer to a container with water to cover and refridgerate up to a week. change water daily for freshness. i've found several books that publish this process. one i know is The Book of Tofu. sorry i can't be more specific on the references, but just check out your library or interlibrary loan...you'll find it, i'm sure. the process may even be listed on the web, just test those search engines! it's a bit of a tedious process, but it's like making fresh bread for me; i find it rewarding, and relaxing. try some fresh soymilk from an asian market first to see if you like the taste...it's very different from those processed soymilk products. i think you can flavor it with sweetener and vanilla to approximate the commercial products. happy tofu/soymilk making to all. feel free to email me with questions! kwvegan vegan

-- (perry@ofuzzy1.com), March 16, 2001.

Listening to your body is a very good thing. What works for one might not work for someone else.

I have a gut feeling that the dairy industry is behind the negative press about soy. Ask most physicians about where you should get your calcium from and they (mostly) will say to drink your milk. I work for a major medical school and there is not one course given to medical students on nutrition (at least at this school anyway), so where do they get their information, probably for the dairy industry propaganda.

Moderation and listen to your body. Thanks for the soymilk instructions. I only use it in my one "large" cup of coffee in the mornings, so I wouldn't have much use for a large quantity unless it stores well for a few days. I might give it a try just for the heck of it though.

Blessings, Judy

-- judymurray (nomifyle@yahoo.com), March 16, 2001.

Hi Teresa, we live in a very rural area too, I finally started asking the dairy managers to start getting White Wave brand soy milk, as it is the only fresh (in the dairy case) brand that is all organic and does not use GMO soybeans, this is very important to use all organic and non-GMO soybeans as they are one of the most highly fertilized, pesticided, and herbicided crops produced, Sun Soy is NOT organic and they use GMO soybeans. The dairy managers were surprized at the amount of White Wave brand they sold once they got it in stock, now, even here in Boonsticksville, it flies off the shelves as fast as they get it in!!!

The bad/negetive press is mostly from the dairy councils, and all the reports that I have read are completely unsubstantiated, no studies done, no double blind placebo controlled trials or studies done, just a very few so called "doctors" with personal anecdotes against soy milk, which were probably based on the non organic, GMO containing soy milk anyway. Get the White Wave and do your body a favor!!!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), March 19, 2001.

Got the new Mother today and there was an ad for some type of new soy milk machine that you can make soy milk from. in the ad there is a pic of a cow who say, "I'm history" Couldn't help but see the irony in it considering the hoof and mouth scare. Hmmmmmmm

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), March 19, 2001.

thank you everyone for responding to my question, my soy milk and tofu were a great success!! i have learned so much from this forum since discovering it recently. this is like one big family, who love and help each other. my life has been blessed by it!! i look forward every day now to logging on as time permits and seeing whats new, and going thru the old threads. again, thank you all !! teresa

-- teresa dramer (t1noodles@aol.com), March 21, 2001.