Home made almond milk

[Pierre]

Initially posted by Pinkerton

You can make your own almond milk rather easily. Take a cup of blanched almonds and put them in a pan and cook at 350 F for 10 minutes. Put in a bowl and add water and let it sit in the fridge overnight (I do this in the evening). Next morning put in blender and fill up the blender about 3/4 full with water and blend. Get some cheese cloth and a big bowl and wrap the cheese cloth around it so you can pour the milk through the cloth and into the bowl. Lift up the cloth and squeeze out any remaining milk from the almonds into the bowl and then pour the milk back into the blender and throw away the leftover almond chunks. Add vanilla and xylitol to the milk and blend on low. I use about a couple teaspoons of each, but you can alter that to your tastes. That's it, you now have your milk, sans carrageenan :)

 

[D Rusak]

I've been doing this for a bit and not only are there no yucky things like sugar or carrageenan, but it tastes SOOO much better than boxed stuff. Surprise!

If you use cashews instead, I find that you don't need to strain it, not sure why. I usually use regular old raw almonds and don't bother to strain, although I do have some nut milk bags that I got 2 for $3 off of ebay. Another nice thing to do is use 1-2 dried dates instead of xylitol- tastes like a milkshake!!!! Mmmmm.

 

[Rich]

Thanks for the recipe. Just to add a tip on preparing Almonds. To blanch them ie take the skins off, soak them in water for about 30 mins beforehand.

 

[3DStudent]

I made this once the other week. I mostly have been making rice milk though, because its cheaper. I didn't blanch the almonds though, they still had the brown part on them, but I soaked them in water overnight.

 

[Beau]

You can also buy the almonds blanched, so that you don't have to worry about that step. My grocery store has them both blanched and unblanched.

 

[Jacques]

I made this once the other week. I mostly have been making rice milk though, because its cheaper. I didn't blanch the almonds though, they still had the brown part on them, but I soaked them in water overnight.

Is it possible to know what is your recipe for the rice milk?

I am still searching a good one.

 

[Rich]

I made this once the other week. I mostly have been making rice milk though, because its cheaper. I didn't blanch the almonds though, they still had the brown part on them, but I soaked them in water overnight.

Is it possible to know what is your recipe for the rice milk?

I am still searching a good one.

I found a quick and easy one that was great. I also added some ground blanched almonds and hazelnuts to give some flavour

Ingredients

4 cups water

1/2 cup uncooked rice (white or brown may be used) or 1 cup cooked rice (white or brown may be used)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cook rice, vanilla bean or extract and water until very soft.

Let cool, remove vanilla bean (if using) and put mixture into blender or food processor.

Blend until very smooth.

Let stand for at least 45 minutes, then strain through cheese cloth.

Voila! Rice milk!

Source: _http://tastyplanner.com/recipes/2282-homemade-rice-milk

 

[Jacques]

[I found a quick and easy one that was great. I also added some ground blanched almonds and hazelnuts to give some flavour

Ingredients

4 cups water

1/2 cup uncooked rice (white or brown may be used) or 1 cup cooked rice (white or brown may be used)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Cook rice, vanilla bean or extract and water until very soft.

Let cool, remove vanilla bean (if using) and put mixture into blender or food processor.

Blend until very smooth.

Let stand for at least 45 minutes, then strain through cheese cloth.

Voila! Rice milk!

Source: _http://tastyplanner.com/recipes/2282-homemade-rice-milk

Thanks Pob.

I am going to try it.

 

[RyanX]

I used to make my own almond milk before switching to raw goats milk. I remember coming across news about the USDA plans to "pasturize" raw almonds with a certain chemical treatment which was concerning. This might be something for all you almond lovers to keep tabs on.

_http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/08/10/almond-growers-seek-delay-of-pasteurization-rule.aspx

[quote author=mercola]
Almond Growers Seek Delay of Pasteurization Rule

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that virtually all almonds would have to be pasteurized as of September 1. This new rule was a result of Salmonella outbreaks in 2001 and 2004 that were traced back to raw almonds.

The California Almond Board is now requesting the USDA delay the implementation until March 1, 2008 in order to ensure there’s enough pasteurization capacity available to comply, without disrupting the flow of nuts to the market.

The USDA has stated it will consider the request and publish their decision in the Federal Register by September 1.

_http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/07/financial/f025435D15.DTL&hw=diet&sn=009&sc=199

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

This San Francisco Gate article states that “pasteurization” is a process where “the shelled and hulled nuts are laid out on a conveyor belt that passes through a moist burst of steam to heat the kernel surface to about 200 degrees, killing any pathogens present.”
As gentle and safe as this may sound, pasteurizing almonds means they are no longer natural or raw.

Anytime you heat a food much above 105 degrees you start destroying the value of the food. The higher the temperature the more damage that is done.

The requirement to pasteurize ALL almonds means that it may be next to impossible to find an almond in the United States that's still in the state nature intended, and no one knows how this process will impact the nutritional value or other properties of the nuts.

This is not rocket science folks. Nearly everyone readily accepts that when you cook vegetables to death they do not provide the same nutritional value as when they are eaten raw. Similarly, I have documented the enormous problems with pasteurized milk. It would seem rational to conclude that one would see similar reduction in the nutritional value of the almonds once they are pasteurized. Fortunately hundreds of thousands of Americans are finally appreciating this truth and making a major shift to raw milk.

Meanwhile, in a letter received on April 30, 2007 from Mr. Richard Waycot, the president and CEO of the Almond Board of California (ABC) himself as a response to an article I had posted on my site, I was told that the ABC will not use any heating or radiation to “pasteurize” their almonds. Instead, he explained, they will use propylene oxide in their almond “pasteurization” process. In the FDA’s “Guide to Inspections of Manufacturers of Miscellaneous Food Products,” this process is referred to as “terminal gas sterilization.”

Also, in April 2007, the FDA proposed relaxing the labeling requirements, and allowing companies to use the more palatable term "pasteurized", to describe irradiated foods ,if the radiation kills germs as well as the pasteurization process does. In essence, this means that almonds may not only be pasteurized, but irradiated. Apparently the term “pasteurized” is an OK substitute for “terminal gas sterilization” as well. If the FDA gets its way, as long as the food looks and smells normal, chances are better than good you won't ever know whether that specific food has been "nuked,” or “terminally gassed,” or not.

In his letter, Mr. Waycott also stated, "Pasteurized raw almonds do not differ in any significant way, taste, quality, or nutritional value from untreated almonds. Pasteurization simply reduces the presence of harmful bacteria on those almonds to safe levels while maintaining taste, quality, and nutritional value."

I don’t think so.

Even a simple search for proplyene oxide in Wikipedia provides the following information: "Propylene oxide is a highly toxic flammable chemical compound. It was once used as a racing fuel, but that usage is now prohibited under the US National Hot Rod rules for safety reasons. It is also used in thermobaric weapons. It is an epoxide."

The bottom line is that if any process kills bacteria, it has the potential to cause problems in humans, OR significantly change the quality of the food. The flimsy reassurances that “pasteurized” almonds -- after being treated with prohibited racing fuel -- would be the same as raw almonds are simply false.

As an aside, although many turn to nuts as a health food, I consistently find that overweight patients who find it difficult to lose weight are eating a lot of almonds or other nuts. It is one of the most common reasons why people cannot lose weight, or lose weight slowly, while following a low- or no-grain diet.

Like most whole foods, nuts can have important health benefits, just use them sparingly if you are overweight, and be sure to choose nuts that are ideal for your nutritional type.

If you want to write a letter to the US Department of Agriculture to express your concerns you can follow the model Cornucopia Institute used.and send ti to

Secretary Mike Johanns
United States Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave SW
Whitten Building Suite 200A
Washington, D.C. 20250

[/quote]

It's amazing how when people think they've found a way around the unending toxins and allergens in the food supply, it seems like TPTB are right around the corner to foil those plans. This is an older article, so I'm not sure if there have been many updates. It might be useful to know how many almond producers actually have this process implemented already in anticipation for such a ruling.

Ryan

 

[RGG]

This recipe is great! I made it today as an alternative for my daughter since she was having problems with cow's milk and it turns out the whole family loves it and prefers it. I made it with raw blanched almonds that i didn't roast and used 8 small dates in order to sell everyone with the sweetness and it went over huge. The whole recipe was gone in a day! All of the nutrients in raw almonds, no hormones and since we live in Asia it ends up to be less expensive then purchasing milk which is quite costly here- totally win-win! One thing I found here that made the filtering process nice and easy was the cloth bags that are used to make tofu. These might be available in an Asian grocery somewhere for the Western folks.
Thanks so much for this post.

Now on to those ginger cookies.....

Rx

 

[mcb]

Here is the recipe I used to use. It's very adaptable.

Water, 1 qt. Nuts or cooked grain (see choices) Sweetener (see choices) 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. vanilla Nut/grain (choose 1): o Almonds or cashews, 2/3 C. o Cooked millet or brown rice, 1 C. Sweeteners (choose 1): o 3-4 pitted dates o Honey, 1 tbsp. o Coconut, 1/3 C. Blend nuts/grains with 1 C. water until very smooth. Add remaining ingredients and continue blending until smooth. Pour into pitcher and stir in remaining water. Strain if desired. Cover and refrigerate. Shake well before using.

You can vary the proportion of water. Nowadays I think I might try xylitol instead of the pitted dates I used to use, or maybe even the coconut. I never found any reason to strain afterward.

 

[EGVG]

love it!

 

[Tina]

Thanks for the recipe. Just to add a tip on preparing Almonds. To blanch them ie take the skins off, soak them in water for about 30 mins beforehand.

Another tip. Since you want the almonds to sprout, soak them overnight. You don't have to blanch. Just blend and run through a nut bag.

You can sprout them quickly by bringing to a boil, cool, and the skins slip off easily, if you prefer to remove them. The milk is a little creamier if you take the skins off.

My usual recipe.
1 1/3 cup of organic almonds
4 cups filtered water
1/2 tea of vanilla or vanilla bean
pinch of Celtic sea salt
a couple of dates to sweeten

I put in the vanilla, salt, and sweeter after I've run it through the nut bag, pour back in blender with added ingredients, give it a spin, and wala! Much better than store bought.

Sometimes I'll use xylitol or stevia depending on what I have on hand. I even planted a couple of date trees this summer to have for my almond milk! Also planted blueberries and strawberries for my shakes. Now, if I can only get some almond trees from California...

Since organic almonds are so expensive, found a place in California where you can get organic almonds for six bucks a pound in bulk and no shipping fees. I save about half on organic almonds.

They are between $12-15 a pound here,
so shop around.

 

[mabar]

This thread is nice, I was going to ask how do you do with your mind? in order to not feel too depressed after changing habits between cow milk and almond/rice/oat etc .. milk, because the white color is similar but the taste is broaden... of curse, I do prepare my own milk, no so complicated as others, and they had been almost tasteless ... but they are still white :D ...

I make them only when I need a white beverage aka milk, I used to drink yogurt avoiding cow milk since 2 years more or less, I rather prefer fruit water (strawberries, pinapple, lemon whatever fruit mix with water in the blender, and that's all, I do not add sugar neither whatever product to sweeten, I had tried adding almond (in dust) but I don't like the taste, I use to like very much milkshakes (with fruit and milk, not the ones with ice cream) so, since they do not taste the same I am between avoiding them or trying to get use to the new flavor ...

I Will try with dried cranberries and/or dates.

thanks,
mabar