Mamalen asked me to tell her how to make soy milk.
It's really pretty easy so I'm not sure why I'm writing this but as I was asked nicely here it is.
First Step: Get 1 cup of dried soy beans.
Next step: Cover those soy beans with water and let them soak overnight.
After they have soaked they will be much larger than before and still have the skins on them. I personally rub them between my hands a little bit to loosen some of the skins then take them off. They rise to the top so its not too tough.
Once the skins are removed (don't need to get them all). I drain off the soaking water and add 8 cups (2 liters) of fresh water. Then hit blend on the blender for 1 minute or two on high.
Now I have a slurry of blended beans. The hard bits are known as Okara. The liquid portion will be soy milk once it is heated. To separate the two I use a nut milk bag (find mesh bag) to filter the liquid from the solids.
With a little patience and squeezing the liquid is in the pot and the solid bean pulp is in the bag.
There is also some foam on top of the liquid. I skim that off and get rid of it.
The liquid portion I heat gently on medium heat (or lower) for 60 minutes. I'm sure I could do it faster at a higher heat but I end up getting scalded bean protein on the bottom of the pot and its hard to scrape off. I find low heat for longer is just easier. This step is needed to cook the bean and get rid of a lot of the 'beany' taste.
The probe is from a thermometer so I can make sure its near boiling (80-90C) for 30min or longer but not actually boiling or it boils over pretty easily. Thermometer isn't required but makes my life easier :)
While the Soy liquid is simmering I take the bean pulp from the bag and (1) put it into a bowl
then (2) put into the dehydrator
After a while in the dehydrator when its dry enough it cracks when I handle it then it goes in a blender to turn to powder to add to baking. Now its called Okara.
I've also used it without drying in muffins (worked great). I've also dried it without a dehydrator by just using a small fan...but that took a lot longer.
Now back to the soy liquid...
After simmering for 30-60min I add some sugar and vanilla. As for how much? I'm still working that out. 2tbsp sugar was too little. 2/3 cup was sweet enough my kids liked it. Your call on how much to add. As for vanilla I used 1tbsp but again its based on personal taste.
Final step:
Put that soy milk into bottles :)
Why do I do that?
Well.... The individual containers for portion control. I'd drink way too much left to myself but if its pre-portioned I keep the kids (and myself) from drinking it all at once.
That's it.
Easy.
