Can I use a pestle and mortar to make almond milk?

[sputnikjunkie]

Hi there

If I ground almonds then add them with water to a normal smoothie maker which would normally break if I just chucked them all in there, would this be ok? I can't afford to buy a Vitamix or any blender in that price range.

[streetsurfer]

I'd think that should work fine. You could otherwise chop them to smaller pieces with a knife on a cutting board. If you use any finer ingredients of a granular form like pollen, cocao nibs, hemp seed, sunflower seeds, include them on the pile of nuts on your cutting board to help hold the almonds in place while chopping, similar to chopping garlic on a pile of salt. Starting the breakdown of the nuts should assist your blender or bullet greatly.

Having said that, I use a thirty dollar blender and it chops post soaked almonds in water just fine. Albeit the process is a bit noisy, but the blender is still ticking along as normal.

[sputnikjunkie]

Thanks for the advice SS, I didn't think of chopping them first! Oh dear...

[adobegirl]

What a clever idea! I kind of think just the process of doing it that way would be so satisfying. Sure would bring me back to the earth a bit more with doing it by hand. Think I might try this and see how it makes me feel. Thanks for the idea! :)

[sputnikjunkie]

I chopped the almonds but it didn't work ;( I then tried grounding them and that also didn't work - the blender just got really hot and all the bits jammed under the blade. I'm going to try again tomorrow or buy a Vitamix - already spent $100 on cheap ones that keep breaking.

What's the best one to buy? Thanks.