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Fresh raw almond milk is delicious, healthy, unprocessed, and economical. There is no waste, no unrecyclable plastic-lined tetra-pak boxes or cartons to put in landfills and drink BPA out of, and this tastes much, much better than storebought. The resulting almond meal is a free bonus, useful in cookies, crumb crusts, porridge, granolas, or in lieu of bread crumbs in stuffings and dressings, breaded crusts, etc.
To make a half gallon (or 2 liters) of delicious fresh almond milk, you will need:
about a pound (or roughly half a kilo) of fresh raw almonds out of the shell
A blender or food processor
A large bowl to strain into
A mesh bag or cheesecloth for first straining
A reusable fine wire mesh coffee cone or fine muslin bag for second straining
A half gallon or 2 liter refrigerator jug to keep it in
A few pinches of salt (optional)
Sweetener of your choice, to taste (optional)
To make a half gallon (or 2 liters) of delicious fresh almond milk, you will need:
about a pound (or roughly half a kilo) of fresh raw almonds out of the shell
A blender or food processor
A large bowl to strain into
A mesh bag or cheesecloth for first straining
A reusable fine wire mesh coffee cone or fine muslin bag for second straining
A half gallon or 2 liter refrigerator jug to keep it in
A few pinches of salt (optional)
Sweetener of your choice, to taste (optional)
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Signing UpStep 1Measure and soak almonds
You will be using about 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of raw almonds out of the shell. Soak overnight in enough water to cover with a little water more, to provide room for swelling. Another easier way to measure if you want to make 2 quarts or 2 liters at a time, is that 1 lb (or roughly a half kilo) of raw almonds out of the shell, makes a half gallon or 2 quarts or roughly 2 liters of creamy, rich almond milk when sufficient water is added after squeezing, to equal that volume. You can of course halve the water to make an almond cream suitable as coffee creamer, nog base, cream pies, or other uses where milk may be too thin.
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Well did you survive the bitter taste? I am experiencing the same thing as we have eaten these same ones for a long time and they were not as bitter till we soaked and sprouted them before trying to make milk out of them.
Thanks
I have been making almond milk from bought ground almonds and loving it. This time we decided to use whole almonds, soaked them and took the skins off. But I notice a strange bitter taste that is not in the ground almonds. Any thoughts or ideas on why?
Thanks
~MissAllyson
Gwen
South Africa
DO NOT use bitter almonds (not really a problem in the US because there are refined and are generally not sold at all) but in other countries bitter almonds mixed/blended with water and release cyanide and can put you in the hospital or even kill you (this is why you hear people say that if you smell almonds where there are none you have probably been poisoned) if you dont believe me look at wikipedia.
anyways i still plan on doing this i just wanted to let everyone know that
I have eaten apricot and apple seeds because they are tasty... bitter and almondy.. and I'm fine.
Also, Wikipedia is a great source but it is also sometimes censored or projects the thoughts of governmental agencies or companies with a profit agenda... lead-producing companies succeeded in convincing the public that lead was harmless or even healthful until about the 70s. So take what you read with a grain of salt (pun intended) and decide for yourself :)
For the answer, I always say: Follow the money! It will lead straight to what gets marketed, promoted, sold, and used, and what gets warnings issued against it and attempts to keep it from the market. Just follow the yellow brick road.
Wish I could say follow the high road of ethics instead.
Aspartame is still in everything. Stevia had to go around an FDA blockade by being labeled a "supplement". Vioxx was heavily promoted, and hawthorn berry and bromelain are not mentioned by mainstream docs. One is patented, the others cannot be. Unfettered market forces aren't quite the supreme fount of wisdom and goodness they were made out to be, but Upton Sinclair knew that a long time ago.
Still, the steam treated almonds are far preferable to our purposes (dairy allergies in the family) than animal milk, and infinitely preferable to plasti-packaged commercial almond milk.
Nothing perfect in Eden anymore, but this is still better than our other options. Thanks for the info. Raw foodists who are able and willing to eat dairy have, at least in certain states, the right to go buy raw milk from the animal of their choice, or milk their own mammal, and raw mammal milk is actually a living food, unlike the pasteurized version commonly seen in supermarkets.
Okay. I'm hoping this doesn't sound stupid. I've challenged myself to make a week's menu plan using a soy-free, gluten-free version of eco-Atkins. I want to spend less than $100 and feed my family of four with three daily meals and an additional snack. (Eco-Atkins is a high protein diet that relies on plant protein instead of animal protein. It differs from Atkins in that you are allowed up to 130 net carbs per day-- closer to the "Maintenance" or final phase of Atkins, whereas the initial phase of Atkins keeps net carbs at 20 or less.) I eat seitan, but just wanted to create a bigger challenge for myself. I normally keep soy-free because I developed soy sensitivities most likely from overconsumption. My fault. I ate soy in every over processed form at every meal. If I'd done the same with Stevia, I'd probably have gotten cancer, too. (Somewhat kidding. Just referencing earlier comments about supposedly cancer-causing Stevia. But only somewhat kidding because who knows how much Stevia I could inhale if left to my own devices. Any gluttonous consumption can lead to consequences. And my soya love was gluttonous.) Anyhow, eco-Atkins has gotton a lot of criticism from vegans just for reminding them of the Atkins diet (where you can eat an all-you-care-to-eat buffet's worth of bacon, but need to refrain from the forbidden fruits of carb-ridden apples). Atkins' loyalists have given the plan criticism because it's not Atkins-y enough (too many carbs), people might think it implies that this version is healthier than their version, and it relies too much on soy and gluten. And, of course, the usual criticisms about any plan that cuts out an entire food group like dairy, how veganism is too restrictive for people to follow, and any implementation would be too costly. This is so long because I'm just so excited! It was really just a study conducted by David Jenkins, who helped develop the Glycaemic Index. He was just exploring if vegans could follow the Atkins diet. He also wanted to see if there were any benefits to relying on plant-based protein as opposed to animal-based protein. I'm just doing this to prove something to myself. I have no idea why. But I'm having fun, and that's all that matters. And my six-year old daughter acted like the spaghetti squash was magic when we de-seeded and de-pulped "the plant that grows noodles inside of it." I avoided calling it a squash, but did say it was in the pumpkin family. She said "that pumpkin's cousin is really creative."
However, if you would like to try, and post your results here, it would be an interesting read. Thanks for posting!
For an even richer flavor, you can mix dutch cocoa powder with just enough water to make a thick slurry, get out any lumps, and heat in the microwave in an oversized cup or bowl til it bubbles up, which doesn't take long. It should then smell richer and be darker and glossy. This can be stirred into your almond milk. Just beware of overcooking, because cocoa burns easily.
The reason I say dutched cocoa is that it is, because of the alkalizing process, less acidic, less bitter, and darker and richer in flavor than regular cocoa, and is the same cocoa used commercially in brownies and cake mixes, your storeboughten chocolate milks, chocolate soy or almond milks, etc. Using regular cocoa won't taste the same although might be good in its own way.
If you, like me, can't find dutched cocoa on the supermarket shelf (except in cocoa mixes, which I don't use), you can usually find it in bulk at the health food store.
Enjoy!
Thanks for this inspiring tutorial.
I am eating a bowl of cereal, with he almond milk I just made.
it was easy once I had a looser mesh to filter with (had to use cheesecloth until I can fin a proper mesh).
But wow, you're left with a lot of almond solids for such a limited amount of "milk".
My first strain (undiluted) was rich and delicious, but the "meal" ammount seemed too much of a financial waste. I love my compost heap, but not THAT much. So I re-blended the same meal again, an extended period of time in the blender at maximum, with more water.
I filtered it again with the cheesecloth (two layers or three I think), and that let only the fines liquid and particles through.
Basically it appears that I end up with doubling the amount of water like you instruct, but the new amount of liquid also adds more nutrients. Careful with this second filtering. If the mesh is too loose, the milk will be gritty.
The result is a darker almond milk. I think the taste might gain in boldness as it cools in the fridge. It's already good enough for drinking, even unsweetened. Good in my cereals, even better with a touch of Maple syrup.
.
Despite reducing the volume a bit, I still am left with a lot of almond meal. I do not have time to cook that much. So I think i'll feed the compost with it, and not do that sort of milk very often, except for a treat.
At least, not until I get a decent juicer, which can also make almond milk.
It might extract more stuff than your process with my current equipment.
Thanks fro a fun experiment, and a way to make a cheaper, yet better almond milk than anything I've tasted from a store!
You can dry your almond milk on cookie sheets in the oven, then store it in canisters, for use in baking, for crumb toppings, granolas, cereals, added to quick breads, crumb crusts, etc.
Thanks for a very good instructable! (please forgive my spelling mistakes. I harkly ever speak English).