Wanted to post an email exchange from this morning... If anyone has made oat milk, please send the recipe!
SHE: I did try making oat milk the other week (remember you said if I came up w/a winner you’d post it – well… ) the pulverized oat/water mix when squeezed through the bag produced a rather slimy-ish thick-ish liquid…so I need to play around w/it to try to come up w/a better consistency…however the little bit of raw “porridge” left in the hemp bag was Very delicious…still a work in progress
ME: Hmm.. keep trying on the oat milk! Did you rinse the oats before using them?
SHE: Yes, I sure did – both just before I mixed them up and a few times while soaking/sprouting the oat groats…having only made almond milk I really squeezed the mixture quite thoroughly to extract the liquid from the bag and what was oozing out was a lot more slippery/pasty than how the almond milk comes through the bag How do you enjoy cashew milk? (ever tried making rice milk?) Do you have any personal fav’s other than almond? I’m having more fun playing around – but I must confess one of the only things I have not tried yet is dehydrating as there are SO many hours involved – my oven has a dehydrating setting but I’ve never given it a go…buying the dehydrator sheets from you was the 1st step…but have not gotten off the bench and into the game w/this yet.
ME: how long did you soak the oats for? Perhaps less soaking - maybe 1/2 hour to an hour. 'Tis a good experiment! I do enjoy cashew milk, hazelnut milk, brazil nut milk, almond milk, sunflower seed milk, sesame seed milk, hemp milk. I used to make my own soy milk back in the day. Never made rice milk. RE: the dehydrator. I know what you are saying about the hours involved but honestly, it's not like you have to stand over it like you would an oven/stove. If something says to flip in 8 hours, make the recipe/put it in the dehydrator before bed. Flip when you get up in the morning. It's about creating a new habit and trust me, I know how difficult that can be at times (or the thought of it can be difficult) But it's pretty easy. At 105º, nothing is going to burn. The worst that will happen is that your crackers will come out crispier if you leave them in longer. Try something simple, like making a fruit leather. Blend up and pour onto paraflexx sheets on the dehydrator trays. Smooth it out and then put it into the dehydrator. Go to bed. In the morning, peel off of the fruit leather. You'll have a success under your belt and will get more into the dehydrating thing. And know that you aren't alone with your confession! :-) I had a class with a woman who had her dehydrator for YEARS before she ever used it. These are all new things, new habits, new appliances and when one reads a recipe that says, "Dehydrate for 18 hours," the mind goes, "What??! There's so much planning and steps and involvement here!" But once you develop this new habit, you'll see how much easier and faster this is to cooking AND you've made it all from scratch. Minimally-processed foods that have as many ingredients that YOU yourself put in (that you can pronounce! and weren't made in a lab near the Jersey turnpike!) There's so many pros here. It's great that you are having fun with your experimenting and keep it up! The more fun it is, the more you're likely to do it. And how easy! Soak some oats, blend with water, squeeze through a nut milk bag. Wow. If I mess up on the milk, I still have a tasty porridge at the other end to eat! Bravo! keep up the great work! Linda