Milk and dehydrator question

[Shanti]

HI all
Can someone tell me an easy way to make nut milk? What is everyone using to STRAIN stuff? I have a mini tiny food processor.....

Also, what is important in a dehydrator? I think I want to get one, but can only afford, for example, a WalMart brand.

Thanks!

[Veganforlife]

I have a soy quick machine that I make my nut mylk in. LOVE IT! Other folks blend their nuts and then strain in either a nut bag or a paint strainer bag.
Also I have a 9 trayer Excalibur dehydrator and so glad I opted for the many trays. Makes life way easier.

[tiggerbounce]

I just use my cheap blender for nut milk. Not sure how a food processor would work. I like to grind the nuts a bit in the blender to get them powdery before I start to whiz them in the water. I do not own a vitamix (I can only dream.......:o ) and sometimes a few of the harder nuts don't grind completely. I guess I use about 1 cup nuts for every four cups of water or so? Depends on how thick/creamy you like it, I suppose. I like to toss in a blend of different nuts as well. I love almond milk but also love to add macs and or brazil nuts or some of whatever else I have lying around.

I use a plastic/canvas type strainer and just set it over a bowl and let it strain. I give it a good mashing to make sure I get out as much of the liquid as possible. If I feel like a really creamy nut milk then I repeat with more ground nuts and pour the already made nut milk back in to the container. For recipes I use a thinner milk and will use the pulp and add some more water and whiz it up again. Just depends what I want. Nuts aint cheap, ya know. Gotta adjust for my budget or what I have on hand at the time. smile.

I use the American Harvest dehydrator as do many rawbies here. It works great. Not if you want to make giant square shaped things or very large things. But it works quite well for me nevertheless. I just shape things the way it fits for me. Be sure to get the additional trays that have the removable bottoms so that you can expand to fit in taller items/bowls/dishes etc. If you don't have those trays, I sometimes use a baggie to warm things like the raw chili and that works as well. Extra mesh screens and fruit roll up sheets are awesome to have also if you can get them at a reasonable price.

Have fun with it. Remember, if you are just beginning to eat raw foods, some of the things might taste funny to you in the beginning. As your taste buds adjust do try the items again that you thought you did not like, you may be pleasantly surprised. Be sure to try the fajitas recipe on this site that used the peppers to make the tortilla wraps. Very awesome. The raw chili is awesome as well. You will love having the dehydrator,....especially as the cooler months sneak up on us.:)

[Ama]

For a dehydrator the most important thing is to be able to adjust the temp with a thermostat. You can check eBay... they usually have some good deals or check craigs list. I have never used one of the round ones as I opted for the excalibur 4 tray - it is wonderful. Perfect for one person and smaller than the 9 or 5 tray so it fits in a smaller space.

[Shanti]

wonderful..thanks! Those answers are so great I had to copy them into word and print them out!

[exurb]

Shanti, the easiest nut milk for me to make is hemp nut milk. The reason is that the hemp nuts will almost completely dissolve, so there's no straining required! No soaking, etc!

I just put hemp nuts in water and a little something sweet like a date or two, or whatever sweetener you like, a little vanilla, pinch of salt, cinnamon if I feel like it, and blend. A cheap blender (I don't use a food processor for this) will get it to a nice consistency without straining.

I have the round type dehydrator, my mom gave it to me second hand. It's still working great for me so I haven't gone to get the excalibur, so don't fret if you can't afford one yet. Good advice from Ama that you need to be able to adjust the thermostat, and also make sure it blows air with a fan, I have seen a cheap one that just goes on "convection", no fan, and you need a fan and a thermostat IMO. I actually like the round type for making pizza in a big circle. It has a hole in the middle, but you can cut it into nice triangular pizza shaped slices.