So, I have now made Oat, Almond, and Soy milk. Here are my thoughts on them.
Taste
The almond milk tasted the best to me. It was thick and creamy and had a great flavor.
The soy milk was actually the thickest, I think due to the fact that you cook it for 30 minutes to help turn the strong bean flavor into something sweet. That also evaporated about a quarter of the liquid for me leaving quite a thick milk. It was a little too sweet for me. I think it would potentially be a great substitute for baking but I haven’t tried that yet.
The oat milk was my least favorite. It was a little thin and for some reason, the nut milk bag wasn’t able to strain the oats as well so it has a little texture to it. Other than the texture though, it just wasn’t as thick and rich as the other two.
Level of Effort
Oat milk is by far the easiest to make. You don’t need to plan ahead. Just put some oats and water in a blender, strain it, and voila. The fact that you can just make it is a huge plus.
Almond milk is next. It’s basically exactly the same as the oat milk but you have to plan ahead and soak the almonds for 6 hours before you blend them with water. While this really isn’t too difficult, it does make it less feasible if you’re in a pinch and need something quickly.
Soy milk by far takes the most effort. You need to soak the soybeans for 12 hours. You can attempt to take the skins off of them after this which most recipes I’ve seen online recommend. Then, after blending and straining it, you need to cook it for 30 minutes while stirring it pretty constantly so it doesn’t burn on the bottom. Then, just for good measure, it needs to be strained one more time to remove anything that does solidify while cooking. While in actuality, none of this is too labor intensive or difficult, it’s a lot compared to almond and oat milk.
Cost
Oats and soybeans are definitely less expensive than almonds. The following prices are what I found at Whole Foods. They may fluctuate elsewhere.
Rolled oats: $1.49 per pound. Oats are pretty light so a little goes a long way. You can make a half gallon of oat milk for $0.60.
Soybeans: $1.99 per pound. These are also pretty inexpensive and go a long way. You can make a half gallon of soy milk for $0.95.
Almonds: $8.99 per pound. These are hands down the most expensive but still way less than buying almond milk in a carton. You can make a half gallon of almond milk for $5.60.
Final Thoughts
Despite the fact that it’s my least favorite taste-wise, I’ll probably make oat milk most frequently. The taste doesn’t matter as much in a smoothie which is where the majority of my milk consumption comes from. I will make almond milk to use in things where the flavor matters more like cereal (if I can find a way to buy it in bulk) or just for drinking. I’d also like to use almond milk less frequently as almonds take a lot of water to produce and something like 98% of all almonds in the world are grown in CA. While they are delicious, I feel like I don’t need to make a water intensive product produced in an area struggling with drought an every day part of my diet. Soy milk, due to the comparable level of effort to make, will probably be reserved largely for making tofu. I would like to try baking with it thought at some point as well.
You can check out the recipes for each of them on my Recipes page.
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