 SoyQuick Automatic Soymilk Maker. It only costs about 80 cents for one pound of dry soybeans, which, in turn, can make about 1.8 gallons of soymilk.
MELODY LAN is a member of the THE NIBBLE editorial staff.
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January 2006
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SoyQuick Automatic Soymilk Maker
Part II: Preparing To Make Soymilk & Tofu
This is Part 2 of a three-part article. Click on the black links below to read other parts.
Preparation
Soybeans need to be rinsed under running water, then soaked in water for at least 8 hours before they can be put into the machine to be cooked and puréed. We immersed the soybeans in water overnight.
Process
In the morning, we drained the soybeans, which had expanded in size, and poured them into the stainless steel filter cup that detaches from the head of the soymilk maker. See Step 1 below. Then we filled the stainless steel jug with water up to the specified maximum level line, re-attached the filter cup to the head and closed the jug by inserting the head in place. Once the power cord was plugged in and a beep followed by a green light turned on, we pressed the START button. See Step 2 below. Fifteen minutes later (after some grumbling and hissing from the machine), we had ourselves steaming-hot, light, creamy and frothy soymilk. See Step 3 below. So far, the steps were easy to follow. The difficult part came when we tried to pour the milk from the container. The machine consists of three separate parts: The top is the motor’s head, which has a long pole with a blade attached to the end. The middle part is the filter cup, and the bottom is the stainless steel pitcher. The head of the machine was not only heavy to hold once lifted out of the pitcher, but the blade attached at the end was dripping with soymilk. There was no drip-pan or safety feature that made it easier to handle the heated and dripping appliance. Instead, we had to look for our own mixing bowl large enough to safely set the appliance’s elongated part aside. Also, though the pour handle was rubber, the container is stainless steel and was scalding hot —dangerous when fingers even slightly brushed against it. We had to take great precaution when handling the jug.
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| Step 1: Fill the filter cup with soybeans that have been soaked overnight and drained. |
Step 2: Assemble the appliance and press the START button. |
Step 3: The machine will beep after about 15 minutes; and hot soymilk is ready to drink. |
Cleaning
The instructions suggest that the appliance be washed immediately after use so as to not allow any of the soy remnants to dry and harden, making it twice as difficult to clean. Right after emptying all the contents from the jug, with a firm scrub pad and a sturdy brush, we removed soybean pulp from the filter cup and stainless steel jug; both cleaning utensils were included with the machine. The filter cup was so fine that it took a bit longer to remove all traces of the soybean byproduct film. But in total, excluding bean soaking time, the entire process of making soymilk and cleaning up took about 25 minutes.
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