Instructions - Vegan Milk Kit

Welcome to making your own wide array of vegan milks! You will love experimenting with different milks like cashew milk, oat milk, hemp milk, rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk, flax milk & more. All the milks in this kit can be made raw except rice milk and soy milk. Rice and soy need to be cooked as part of the milk making process. These instructions do cover how to make rice milk.

Supplies Needed: In order to make vegan milks you will need a powerful blender, a nut milk bag and the ingredients for each specific vegan milk you want to make. You will also likely need a few bowls, pitchers and other common kitchen items.

Preview: Most vegan milks are typically made by blending cold water with the primary ingredient (almonds for example). Sometimes the primary ingredient is pre-soaked for some period of time before blending. Once blended, the resulting slurry is then strained and squeezed in a nut milk bag to extract the milk. The milk is then typically flavored (salt, agave and vanilla for example) then served chilled. The left over ground ingredients can be used as food ingredients in different ways like baked in bread, served with cereal or blended into nut butter.

Okara: The Japanese call the leftover meal from making soymilk “okara”. It’s a useful word and we will use it in the instructions here to indicate the ground leftovers.

Tips:

• Seam Out – Most nut milk bags have a seam, and the seam can catch quite a bit of okara making the bag difficult to clean. Flip the bag so the seam is out, and this will be much less of a problem.
• Washing the Bag – Wash the bag thoroughly after use. Don’t wash with clothing.
• Use Purified Water – When making raw milks, use purified water or water that has been boiled and then cooled.
• Serve Chilled – Vegan milks are best served chilled. If you need to serve immediately after making, use a little less water and supplement with ice cubes in the blender.
• Final Squeeze – When squeezing the milk bag, be sure to give it a good final squeeze to extract the best milk still in the okara. You can also add the okara back to the blender with a little more water and blend and squeeze again to get the most milk out of your ingredients.
• Combinations – Try different combinations to create new flavors. Try combining rice and coconut, or almond with flax. Lots of combinations to experiment with.
• Storage – Store refrigerated. Don’t make more than you can use in a two days or so, as you should not store for longer than that. After vegan milks sit for a while, they need to be shaken to remix settled particles before serving.
• Thickeners – Most vegan milks are fairly thin, with some like coconut milk being exceptionally thin. You can thicken and add body to vegan milks by including about a tablespoon of flax or chia to the blender with your primary ingredients. Chia and flax are both mucilaginous seeds, which means that they form a jelly-like coating when they get wet. This jelly coating can add a very nice body to the milk. We prefer chia as a thickener because it has a more neutral flavor than flax, but experiment to find what you like. When using chia or flax as a thickener use more or less than a tablespoon to adjust the thickness to your preference. If using chia or flax as a thickener, allow to sit in the water for a few minutes before blending to give the jelly time to fully form.
• Flavoring Ideas: There are countless ways to flavor your vegan milk and experimentation is fun. Here are some ideas on flavorings:
• Salt – You will likely want to add some salt to every batch, anywhere from a pinch to several pinches to taste.
• Vanilla – Vanilla is the standby flavoring. It works well with many other flavors you might add, and also stands on its own.
• Sweeteners – We prefer vegan sweeteners like agave nectar, raw brown sugar, molasses, stevia or maple syrup. Each brings flavor subtle- ties that are fun to experiment with.
• Protein Powder – Add some protein with a good vegan protein powder like SunWarrior.
• Dates – Include dates in the blender. Dates sweeten, flavor and a hint of body.
• Berries – Include berries or other fruits in the blender to make more of a smoothie.
• Other Flavorings: Experiment with almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate, clove and more.

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