Making Nut or Seed Milks
Making Nut or Seed Milks
Making Nut or Seed Milks
There are a lot of dairy-free products in the market. However, store shelf (even refrigerated) products are lacking in the enzymes needed to properly absorb the nutrition in the drink/food into our bodies. Federal regulations require a pasteurization process that eliminates these essential nutrients. This post shows you how to make nut and seed milks that are enzyme rich and nutrient dense!
Why buy raw seeds or nuts?
I prefer to use raw (not processed or roasted) seeds or nuts when making seed or nut milks. However, when you purchase raw nuts it is always a good idea to soak them in filtered water. Seeds, grains, beans and nuts are storehouses for nutrients. When you “sprout” or soak a seed or a nut, you are causing it to germinate or release the activation in that seed. Soaking helps the seed to become a live food. Sprouting or soaking eliminates certain acids and toxins that would potentially interfere with digestion. For example, the protein content increases and starch decreases when beans are soaked.
To help the nut or seed to be clean and nutritious as possible, you can take a look at this chart as a reference for how long to soak raw nuts or seeds. For nuts or seeds to make milk, do you not need to see a sprout forming from that seed. Soaking will activate it. Some of this information was taken from the Raw UNcook book. I will list some of my other favorite sources for making nut and seed milks below.
Soaking/Sprouting times for different seeds and nuts
Almonds: soak for 8 hours but will not sprout
Flax Seeds: soak for 1/2 hour but will not sprout
Walnuts: soak for 4 hours but will not sprout
Sesame seeds: soak for 6 hours and will sprout in 2 days
Mung beans: soak for 4 hours and will sprout in 2 days
Quinoa: Soak for 2 hours and will sprout in one day
Pumpkin seeds, hulled: Soak for 4 hours and will sprout in 2 days
Hemp seed: not need to soak and not sure about sprouting
Soaking versus Sprouting
You can sprout whole grains, nuts, beans, lentils, chickpeas, sunflower, pumpkin, chia seeds, chickpeas, split peas, black-eyed peas, quinoa, oats, nuts, and practically any vegetable. The most common sprouted seeds are alfalfa, broccoli, radishes, and mung beans.*
For this recipe, we are just looking to have good nutritious seeds or nuts to make milk, therefore soaked (allow the seeds to become alive) but not necessarily sprouted (with tails coming out). For more information on sprouting, you can go to the Sprouting Kitchen*.
Equipment Makes a Difference
There are a couple of different options you may consider when blending. I have used a Soy O Joy blender, a Vitamix and a Pampered Chef blender to make both nut and seed milks. With each appliance, you would blend according to each recommended amount of time: Soy O Joy runs it own program, a Vitamix or blender can blend as long as you’d like. I tend to want to blend for about 2 minutes. It is important to note that some blenders will want to heat up to blend. You will want to avoid this to keep the enzymes intact.
My ratio for milk, is usually 1-1/5 cups of soaked nuts or seeds (or a combination) and 2 quarts of filtered water. You make break those down, depending how much you want to consume in about 2-3 days. After that, the milk may loose some of its nutrients. Personally, I’m not a big fan of HPP (high pressure process) used on some of the products in the store. Even though they claim to keep nutrients intact, the taste is different and there are concerns about how the nutrients are changed.
After you strain your nut or seed milk, feel free to add vanilla, cocao or berries to make your recipe even more delicious! if you use it in the hot recipes posted on this website, remember that heating will take some of the nutritients out but it is still better than what you would buy in the store!
Shopping List for my favorite seeds or nuts:
Walnuts– raw and soaked (suggested substitute)
Country Life Natural Foods is a great sources for raw nuts.
Optional add-in ingredients and equipment:
Sea Salt (I prefer this brand)
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There are a lot of dairy-free products in the market but store shelf products are lacking in the enzymes needed to properly absorb the nutrition in the drink/food into our bodies. This post tells you how to make nut and seed milks that are nutrient
Ingredients
1-1/5 cups of soaked nuts or seeds
2 quarts of water
a pinch of sea salt (optional)
a tbsp of maple syrup, dates or desired sweetener (optional)
Instructions
1. Blend in blender of choice for 2-3 minutes on medium blend mode, being careful not to heat mixture.
2. Strain milk through milk bags or pour over fine strainer (lined with cheesecloth if desired). Pour in jars and keep for 2-3 days in the refrigerator or freeze in ice cube trays for smoothies. Keeps in freezer for a couple of weeks.
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