Organic Homemade Hemp Milk

Intro: Organic Homemade Hemp Milk

Why buy nut and seed milk from the store when it's so easy to make your own? It's not only healthier for you, it's also the greener option. Just think about how much energy and resources goes into making the cartons your nut and seed milks are packaged in. Then consider the amount of fuel required to ship a product that is mostly water (yup, that's the first ingredient). Lastly, check out all the additives in these products :"Natural Flavors," thickeners, anti-caking agents, and emulsifiers... blech! 

Once you see how simple it is to make your own, you'll never buy it again! Let's get started! 

STEP 1: What You'll Need:

This recipe is easy to scale up to make extra to keep in the fridge, and you can store it for about 3 days... but ours never lasts that long!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups cold filtered water
1/4 cup shelled organic hemp seeds (I get Nutiva hemp seeds in bulk)
1-2 teaspoons honey or other sweetener of choice
large pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

Equipment:
Blender (I love my Vitamix, but regular blenders should be fine since hemp seeds are so soft)
Large bowl  and cheesecloth / Milk Bag (optional)
Glass jar with lid (for storage, optional)

STEP 2: Blend Away

Add the water, hemp seeds, sweetener and salt into the blender and blend on high until the seeds are pulverized -- about a minute or so. 

STEP 3: Optional: Strain the Milk

If you're going to use it for smoothies or don't mind a slightly gritty milk (or maybe you're just feeling lazy today), then you can skip this step. 

If you'd like a smooth milk, then place the cheesecloth or milk bag inside the bowl and pour the milk in. 
Pick the cheesecloth or milk bag up and squeeze the milk out so that you're left with a small amount of hemp fiber. 

STEP 4: Enjoy!

Now you can either pour the milk into a container to chill/store or if you don't mind that it's not ice cold, you can use it now! Everyone in our house loves it with cereal and bananas... mmm, breakfast of champions! 

Comments

[joyfulnana]

The instructible never said that hemp was more nutritious etc. there are those of us who cannot consume dairy for health reasons, like death allergy. I am very grateful to you purelily you made this easy to understand and for me to do. You go girl! Thanks for the instructible!

[purelily]

Thanks dshouppe =)

[Touchygraywolf]

No, thank you for sharing.

[gadgeteer123]

Just a friendly comment about this Instructable. Please look up the word 'milk'. This is not milk, but an extract or infusion. It also is no where near as nutritious as say cow's milk. I am only pointing this out to provide nutrition advise for those who may be reading this. The total nutritious value of what is pictured is fair compared to if milk was used. I personally don't mind, it's your body.

[Touchygraywolf]

Hey fun you buddy. My kid has anaphylaxis shock to dairy and a number of other foods, but he can take you and your manifested sperm cells to a beet colored pulp on a number of fronts... on solely hemp milk brah.

[eng_Andy]

You're right that the use of terms like soy 'milk', etc. are a bit silly, and even calling it 'milk replacement' would be silly because nutritional characteristics are very different, unless calcium is artificially added, but you're wrong in suggesting this is not as nutritious as cow's milk. Unless you're getting raw milk from a good source, common pasteurised cow's milk sold in supermarkets is terrible for most people's health due to its fat content (which holds most of what few complex nutrients are present and thereby removed with skimming), and of very dubious benefit in absorbing calcium.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/calcium-full-story/
In contrast, hemp seed provides a complete source of essential fatty acids and proteins, and would make a healthy staple to anyone's diet. A contemporary western diet, based heavily upon refined grains and bovine dairy, is a hallmark of its accompanying obesity epidemic.

[realife11]

Very true. And then there's the whole controversy with homogenization contributing to heart disease (creates what's known as the 'XO factor').
Bovine growth hormones, antibiotic residue, cassein possibly connected to some cancers, lactic acid intolerance, etc...whatever happened to plain old fashioned, cream on the top, raw whole milk the way nature intended? The stuff in most supermarkets now is just "frankenMilk". The problem is finding an alternative that tastes as good as milk, because nothing tastes like it. Some come close, but the only one that seems to come the closest is hemp, when prepared the right way.

[gadgeteer123]

To those who choose to drink milk, it is probably now at it safest state. Yes, there are controversies that pop up every now and then but those that are valid usually win out in the long run. The homogenization spook occurred in the 1970's and has never ever really panned out. There has never been a lactic acid intolerance, another spoof. As we get older we generate less lactase, an enzyme that helps break down a milk sugar known as lactulose. Many Asians also lack this enzyme after infancy. This condition is known as lactose intolerance. Please inform yourself about raw milk. It is easily searchable. A number of deaths have occurred from infected milk, thus the regulation by the FDA. That is why we have pasteurization and anti-biotics. Yes, there may be traces of antibiotics and or bovine growth hormones but at levels quite safe for human consumption. To put it into perspective, it is like the poisons chlorine and arsenic found in drinking water. The FDA allows a certain amount of rat feces in our grain and flour supply. I would hate to inform you of what proteins in in ocean water that leaves our bodies 'sticky' when we get out. They are in such low quanitities that they do the human body no known harm at this time. When searching the internet, look at known medical studies, not philosophic or emotional outrages based on improbable non statistically biased studies. Above all be open and tolerant to information.

[eng_Andy]

Nobody said pasteurised milk was totally unsafe, the discussion was about nutrition. Pasteurised milk is very unlikely to kill you from an infection, but then neither is raw milk that meets appropriate hygiene standards.
Batch testing has made pasteurisation obsolete, and the fact that pasteurisation kills nasty infections that get into the milk has been used as an excuse for capitalists to only care for cows enough to meet the standards that they lobbied for. The FDA has one of the world's worst standards for pasteurised milk quality: http://www.nmconline.org/articles/keynote98.htm
If those dairy suppliers sold regulated raw milk, they would have to provide a high standard of animal welfare in order to prevent mastitis and other infections, and they don't want to do that.

If you are open and tolerant to information, check out Harvard University's summary of research on calcium intake in my previous comment. People have long been advised that drinking lots of milk will give you strong bones, but this seems to be incorrect: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18065599
However, performing weight-bearing exercise, avoiding too many acidifying foods (e.g. too much protein), and getting enough sun exposure, do seem to be important for absorbing and retaining dietary calcium.

[gadgeteer123]

Thank you eng-andy for your reply. I never meant for this to be a debate; this probably is not the right venue. I am familiar with the Harvard School of Public Health paper from this month. It is just an opinion using current facts. It appears to be intended for the general public. Nothing new here. Please note;
"Which view is right? The final answers aren’t in."
"Milk is actually only one of many sources of calcium—dark leafy green vegetables and some types of legumes are among the other sources"
Calcium intake and requirements varies with age, sex, and exercise level. It is a complex cycle requiring phosphorus, vit D, serum albumin, magnesium, boron. It is hindered by many things such as unesterified long chain saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acids. This is found in palm oil. Remember the big controversy about movie theater popcorn being made in palm/coconut oil? Like the article states, milk is only one food that provides calcium. That is the importance of a balance diet. If one doesn't have a balanced diet, suppliments should be taken.
Getting back to the discussion of the nutritional value of hemp, we never recommend hemp as a source of calcium....it contains only 74 mg vs 120 mg for milk. Although it does contain many amino acids the total protein content in a 100 gm serving of hemp seeds is 30.6 mg. This author is taking 1/4 cup and diluting it down with 1.5 cups of water. Milk also has a rich amino acid content with many essential amino acids. A 100 gm serving has 3200 mg of protein. But nutrition is more than just calcium and protein, milk is rich in vitamins and minerals such as B6, B12. Hemp has no measureable B12 and only 0.1 mg of B6. In all fairness to this author, she was never stating to replace milk. It should be added to a balanced diet which includes milk, fish, meat, eggs, fresh vegetables, and grain.
Just of note: your other quoted article from Ohio State University is a term paper presented to the National Mastitis Council in 1998. They are students not physicians or scientists. It is their opinion, not a study.

[eng_Andy]

The first link was to a public advisory article summarising research, not to a journal paper, nor is it from this month. I'm well aware of the nature of the article on milk quality as well; it is not an opinion that the FDA has a low standard on pasteurised milk quality, but a legislated measurable standard. I pointed to them as summaries of more detail on those subjects, which in turn reference relevant sources, not as proof of anything.
The one study that I did point to was a review of clinical data and trials on whether increased milk or calcium intake alone reduced osteoporosis, which showed with nearly a quarter-million data points that it did not.
Whether anything serves as a replacement for milk as a calcium supplement is mostly irrelevant, because too much fuss is made over calcium intake when excess amounts simply will not be absorbed without the other mentioned factors. Not only is milk unnecessary in our diets for those things mentioned, but people don't usually seek out plant-based milk replacements like this one for dietary purposes anyway, rather because it's simply enjoyable to drink and useful in many culinary applications, with an added benefit that directly plant-based drinks like this don't have as much of a negative environmental impact.

The protein content per 100g of hemp seeds is 30 grams, not milligrams, 10x that of milk by weight, and as I've already pointed out they also provide a plentiful balance of essential fatty acids within mostly unsaturated oils, while milk only provides a bit of mostly saturated fat. Hemp seeds also have a rich and varied mineral content, but picking out vitamin B12 is silly because it doesn't occur in any plant matter until fermented. I agree that vegetarians & vegans should be concerned about their B12 intake, but for omnivores, cow's milk alone is a trivial source of B12 compared to some fermented products, seafood or meat, a small portion of which can supply more than we can absorb in one day, and be recycled for many days.
Hemp seeds can form a healthy staple of a varied diet, which would ideally consist of mostly fresh fruit & vegetables. The old 'food pyramid' advisories were based more on financial concerns than dietary ones, and place far too much emphasis on grains, fish, meat and dairy, especially for people who don't dedicate much of their life to hard manual labour.

[gadgeteer123]

eng-andy. Great spirited discussion. Please understand that we are talking about and extract of hemp seeds which the author termed as milk, not hemp seeds. Please check your math. You are comparing milk to hemp seeds not to the hemp 'milk'. The author (who by the way did a good job with her photos and recipe) had taken 1/4 cup of seeds, roughly 34 gms and diluted that with 1.5 cups of water. She is extracting approximately 1/4 of the protein content in the aqueous portion with significant protein with the remaining solid mass she doesn't use. She should be getting approximately 2 gms of protein per 100 gm serving size much like that of commercial hemp 'milk'. Please remember that you are the one who brought up the calcium level of dairy milk. The authors recipe should contain about 8.3 mg of calcium per 100gm by her dilution factor. Milk has about 120 mgs per 100 gms. Please don't get confused with the nutritional data for hemp seed and a dilute extract or 'milk' of the same seed.
As a general guide compare nutritional values of a commercially available hemp 'milk' product such as Hemp Bliss and the same 100gm of 2% low fat milk. There is no comparison. It may help if the remaining protein/fiber residue from the extraction was also consumed. http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts-C00001-01c200_B0003s1m110701000K060105050000020K00Hempqq0Milkqq0qq8Hempqq0Blissqq0originalqq0flavorqq9.html
Thank you for the lively discussion, but as you can see from my original comment, this discussion has strayed far from my initial point. I will end my participation at this point... To the author; great Instructable!

[gadgeteer123]

To those who choose to drink milk, it is probably now at it safest state. Yes, there are controversies that pop up every now and then but those that are valid usually win out in the long run. The homogenization spook occurred in the 1970's and has never ever really panned out. There has never been a lactic acid intolerance, another spoof. As we get older we generate less lactase, an enzyme that helps break down a milk sugar known as lactulose. Many Asians also lack this enzyme after infancy. This condition is known as lactose intolerance. Please inform yourself about raw milk. It is easily searchable. A number of deaths have occurred from infected milk, thus the regulation by the FDA. That is why we have pasteurization and anti-biotics. Yes, there may be traces of antibiotics and or bovine growth hormones but at levels quite safe for human consumption. To put it into perspective, it is like the poisons chlorine and arsenic found in drinking water. The FDA allows a certain amount of rat feces in our grain and flour supply. I would hate to inform you of what proteins in in ocean water that leaves our bodies 'sticky' when we get out. They are in such low quanitities that they do the human body no known harm at this time. When searching the internet, look at known medical studies, not philosophic or emotional outrages based on improbable non statistically biased studies. Above all be open and tolerant to information.

[purelily]

Thanks for the comment, perhaps you should notify Silk and Almond Breeze of this technicality as well ;-)

[gadgeteer123]

Please don't take my comments as offensive; it was not designed as such. Silk (soy) and Almond Breeze use reference to 'milk' quite loosely and is driven purely by marketing purposes. It allows people to creatively substitute it where they were using milk products. This is like marketing 'low salt' potato chips as healthy. Fortunately we have many nutritional choices.

[Born2flyfree]

thank you! after a life of milk, which was promoted by the government because the country produced too much of it (like spinach and popeye), I have been trying alternatives, and this is a great and vey healthy way. It just feels right and the digestion is a lot better.
Thanks again ;) for the great MILK

[purelily]

So glad you enjoy it! Smiles, lily

[Mitty35]

People, can someone just say "thank you" Purelily for the instructions?? Then I will....thank you!

[purelily]

You are most welcome Mitty =)

[Flyinseamnky]

would you fail a drug test at work drinking this? LOL
A whole new way to wake and bake.