Better soymilk, part 2

A short addendum to my "Much, much better soy milk" previously posted here. To get your soy milk even more like the commercial processors you would have to get all of the hulls off the soybeans while they are hot - a difficult task to say the least. The commercial processors use giant blow dryers to get them off, but we can't really get to that perfect level. I think it's good enough anyway, and a marked improvement over the usual soaked soybean home process.

To get a thicker consistency, the commercial processors add carrageenan (Silk, Soy Dream) or xantham gum (Rice Dream, 8th Continent, and most others), at approximately 1/8 t per quart. You can do this with your completed (strained) soy milk, but it will require a blender. Spoon stirring won't do it. Blending, on the other hand, creates more foam so you may have to spoon some of that off after letting it settle.

Eden uses barley malt, and that can be spoon stirred, but it also adds a flavoring you may not want. I don't mind a little malted milk flavor, though.

I use a couple of tablespoons of oats and/or rice as per Julie Hasson at everydaydish.tv to give a little heavier mouthfeel to the soy milk. To my completed batch of soy milk I add 2 T sugar or other sweetener, 1 T barley malt powder, and a heaping 1/4 t salt.

Alternatively, you can ditch the oats/rice before making the soy milk, and blend 1/8 t carrageenan or xantham gum instead of the barley malt after straining to make it a little more like the commercial stuff.

I have found it is best to use your soy milk machine's "dry bean" cycle if it has one because my blanching method doesn't soften the beans as much as the soaking method does. On the SoyQuick Premier 930P soy milk maker, that would be the "Mung Bean" button.