Blog / nut milk bag

Linda, I just purchased a Champion Juicer but I'm considering sending it back. WHY? Because I've been making amazing juices with the Vitamix. I basically throw the ingredients in the Vitamix, whirl well and then strain through one of the nut milk bags I got at your place. It works really well and I can't see it being any easier than that!! It's quick easy and no cleanup! Help...your thoughts please.....I've been drinking 1-2 juices a day..and I don't mind straining in the nut milk bag. Plus I add a little water when whirling in vitamix so that adds a little extra to the juice. With the juicer, I will be adding no water thus NOT getting as much juice....................what do ya think??! ------C Linda to read more, please go here. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ask Linda! Please feel free to submit your questions to linda AT vt-fiddle.com. Questions don’t have to be completely raw food related but please bring questions on health, recipes, diet, weight issues, nutrition, parenting, nursing, pregnancy, spirituality or whatever it is you’d like to ask. I’ll do my best to answer and will most certainly learn from this as much as I can give.

This week’s question came to me just a day or two ago (and then today). I love the nut milk/filtering bag questions! This is a two-parter - please keep your eyes peeled! QUESTION: I cannot afford a VitaMix machine right now, and only have a food processor with blender attachment. Will this be enough to make decent quality nut milk? I know it wont be of a VitaMix quality, but am hoping for something decent...Thank you very much!!! —T ANSWER: Dear T: Yes, use whatever you have. You might have to blend a little longer with the blender/food processor that you have but it will make a kick arse milk! Try it and see for yourself! Please let me know how it goes for you. QUESTION AGAIN: Thank you so very much for responding so quickly. I really appreciate this a lot!! I do, however, have 2 additional questions for you. This is my first undertaking with making nut milk and am VERY excited about all that this will bring to my healthy lifestyle. Which Hemp nut milk bag would be the best for me, the angled one or the regular one? I am looking at probably the 9x12 size. Also, can nut milk pulp be frozen for later use? I really appreciate your help and am again very excited about finding your site. Thank you and have a wonderful day:-) —T ANSWER: Hi again T! I think you'll get more bang out of your buck by using the 9 x 12 rectangle. The v-shape is great to use. I'm thinking, though, that with more surface area of the rectangle, you'll be able to use the hemp bag for sprouting and other filtering uses. And YES! you can totally freeze the pulp to use for future recipes! Hope that helps and have fun nut milk making! Remember, here's the link for how to use the nut milk bags including recipes for pulp and other goodies! http://www.vt-fiddle.com/rawfood/how_to_make_nut_milk.php Take care and happy unturkey day! :-) Linda +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ask Linda! Please feel free to submit your questions to linda AT vt-fiddle.com. Questions don’t have to be completely raw food related but please bring questions on health, recipes, diet, weight issues, nutrition, parenting, nursing, pregnancy, spirituality or whatever it is you’d like to ask. I’ll do my best to answer and will most certainly learn from this as much as I can give.

This question came in my inbox on Oct 22nd. QUESTION: What do people most like to use your nut milk bags for? Do they blend in a Vita-Mix and then strain through the bag? If so, does this work better than using a Champion juicer, for example? —Marsha ANSWER: Dear Marsha, Thanks for your email! People use our bags for:

• straining nut/seed milks
• straining juices
• sprouting
• making beer
• making kombucha and other probiotic drinks
• making tempeh
• apple cider press filters
• making cheeses
• making ice creams
• making teas
• bath herbal soaks
• we've even had carpenters use our bags to collect saw dust from their equipment!

Yes, people do blend up veggies in the vitamix and then strain through our bags. People even use their regular juicers and then filter through our bags to get all the fiber and froth out. I have heard quite a lot of good feedback that our bags work super well with the vitamix - better than juicers. I notice personally that when you blend the greens in the blender, they are entirely masticated and processed whereas in a juicer, a lot of leaves just get spit out the other side without actually getting juiced. I also find that it's a much easier process to do with the blender/bag vs the juicer and it is SOOOOO much easier to clean. You don't have to deal with all those parts on the juicer. It's pretty great, all the way around. High powered blenders are expensive and juicers are expensive. From my perspective, I get more bang out of my buck using the vitamix vs. the juicer, because I can make SOO many different things with the blender than I can with the juicer... The champion doesn't juice greens, by the way. So if you are comparing using the vitamix/our bags with the champion, I would wholeheartedly say with total confidence that the vitamix/nut milk bag choice is far superior to the champion for juicing. Hope that helps! Linda +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ask Linda! Please feel free to submit your questions to linda AT vt-fiddle.com. Questions don’t have to be completely raw food related but please bring questions on health, recipes, diet, weight issues, nutrition, parenting, nursing, pregnancy, spirituality or whatever it is you’d like to ask. I’ll do my best to answer and will most certainly learn from this as much as I can give.

I received a great question yesterday about the advantage of using one size/shape nut milk bag over another. I thought I'd post the question and answer in case anyone else had this burning question. :-) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QUESTION: Hello I am interested in the nut milk bags, however I am not sure what the advantages of each bag is. For example the advantage of having an oval opening compared to the regular 12x12 bag. ANSWER: I have a link that gives pros/cons for hemp vs nylon and I'll describe the other sizes here. Even though you didn't ask about materials, I thought I'd send it along just so you would have it. http://www.vt-fiddle.com/rawfood/difference_between_nylon_hemp_bags.php - link for hemp vs nylon • The v-shape bags are used JUST for filtering juices (in your blender) and nut/seed milks. They would not be used for sprouting because there wouldn't be enough room for the sprouts to grow. • The oval shape is nice because there are no corners for the nut/seed mash to get stuck in. Not that it is difficult to wash out or anything. We made the ovals because we had enquiries asking if we would make this shape for customers. I'd say if I were wanting to sprout, the 12 x 12 square would still be my preference for a bag. If you wanted a larger bag for making nut/seed milks or juices, the oval shape really does filter beautifully. Something about the rounded shape just feels nice. A bit of history: we started our nut milk bag business by making the 9 x 12s - they are the standard size nut milk bag. We tested out our bags with our first wholesale customer and so we feel we make the best bags out there. We were then asked if we could make a larger bag for some wholesale customers so we made the 12 x 12 bag. These bags are great because they give you the best of both worlds - ample space for sprouting and lots of room for making juices and nut milks. Beer makers, tempeh makers and other fermented product makers really like the 12 x 12 size (and they prefer the hemp bags). Then we were asked if we would make a funnel shaped bag that would be less material to have to deal with for squeezing out the liquid but large enough to hold the bags - so we make the 9 x 12 and the 12 x 12 into v-shapes (the 12 x 12 v-shape by special request). Finally the oval bag was asked of us to make and we make the 9 x 12 oval (by special request) and the 12 x 12 oval bag. We've also gotten some other custom size/shape bags that we've made for various projects and businesses. All of these shapes and sizes and materials really suggest that there's a lot of personal preferences for straining/filtering needs. Hopefully this helps you decide which bag(s) will be the ones you want to use or carry in your store.