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104 of 105 found the following review helpful:
 Makes great simply great milk, simply!Jan 20, 2009
By homeschool mom
Though I've made nut milks by hand for years, I've never had a soy milk maker before so I have no comparison with using other home milk makers. I have however been drinking commercial soy milk since before the major companies figured out the 180 degree process and got rid of the bitter flavor - so I know what soy milk tastes like when that's done wrong! Urk!
I can say for sure that the 930P does what it should - keeps the soy beans at 180 degrees F for the whole grinding and cooking process. It's easy to set up, a snap to clean (truly takes 2 minutes) and is totally simple to use. It makes soy, rice, nut and mungbean milks perfectly. The soy milk tastes clean and fresh - and like soy beans :D
So many people seem to get a soy milk maker and want the soy milk to taste like what you drink in the store. For that, you have to add what they add to commercial milk: sugar, salt, vanilla, calcium, vitamins A and D, carrageen/guar gum and various other possibilities. I like the straight soy milk, but my kids want something more familiar and I wanted soymilk that I could use as creamer in my tea, so I've been working with various recipes to get as close to their familiar Soy Dream as possible.
My closest attempt so far:
*1/2 cup soy beans, soaked over night and de-skinned (crush and rub the soybeans, the skins will collect in the water above the beans to remove)
*1/3 cup of millet (this does 2 things - gives that thicker creamier feel and a light sweet taste)
Put these in the Soy Quick and make milk according to the Soymilk setting. When done, strain through the strainer and then strain again through a permanent coffee filter (I really do recommend this second straining - the wire mesh included strainer is great, but anyone used to commercial soymilk expects absolutely no particulate. It's an extra 5 bucks and well worth it.). Now add:
*1/4 cup of brown sugar (we like brown, it may be way too strong for others though)
*1/2 tsp of salt
*1/2 tsp vanilla
*(calcium carbonate if you want it - provides calcium, but also gives that heavy creamy after-taste you are familiar with from commercial soy milk)
Stir and let cool. Refrigerate in an air-tight container.
I want to try barley malt as sweetener - I think it would give an even better flavor than brown sugar for the kids :)
I have also made mung bean milk (a nice addition to other milks at about a 1:3 ratio - it has good medicinal qualities), hazelnut milk and almond milk. They all turn out great! I particularly like hazelnut milk and think it makes great smoothies. I would love to try ice cream made from hazelnut milk!
A word to the wise - almond milk is probably the easiest transition for anyone who is used to commercial milks. You don't have to add much of anything to get it tasting like something familiar :)
44 of 45 found the following review helpful:
I Love It! Quick, Easy, and Economical!Sep 23, 2008
By Vicky C. Shaw
So I haven't even had this thing for 24 hours and I love it!I jumped right into making a batch of soy milk. Just so happens I like to keep a supply of soaked re-hydrated beans in the fridge ready for the next batch of milk. All you need to do is give them a good rinse, and toss them into the pitcher with the water. Put the top on and push the button for soy milk. (it has 3 count them 3 settings,for Soy, Grains, and Mung beans) 15 minutes later I had soy milk. I just poured the milk through a hand strainer (which comes with the maker) and the milk was done. First thing I noticed is the color and texture of the soy milk was really milky. I love the milk that my SDZ5 made, but WOW! Silk Soy eat your heart out. Add some chopped dates and even more WOW! Well I'm going to be making soy milk more often. Like almost every night now compared to 2 or 3 times a week. I really want to try the Soy Latte. Just add some coffee beans to the mix it says. Well I'm all for trying that. Think I'll do that tomorrow morning for my coffee. Oh and also on my list of to try is making some milk from oats.
Oh, did I mention that this machine is filterless. Really nice, makes for a faster easier clean up. The top starts out looking the same but it has a blender guard that has big holes in it and no bottom. The guard just slips right off everything scrubs up really easy and fast. It was all cleaned up in a matter of minutes. No filter to scrub and make sure it was cleaned good. Just run the milk through the hand strainer that's provided with the machine. You don't even have to worry about another pitcher or container to strain the milk into. It comes with that too! Did I mention that I'm loving this machine. I thought my SDZ5 was the greatest, it figures the only thing that could do better is also made by Soy Quick. I highly recommend that you give this a try.
36 of 36 found the following review helpful:
Great Machine! Great Soymilk!Nov 01, 2008
By Doreen Dickson
"D-alice"
I wanted to put in my two cents worth since I've had the experience of using the Soyabella and the Soyquick SDZ-5 and Soyquick premier. I love fresh soymilk and having a soymilk maker is essential to my diet and health. Others who feel that way might like to here what I feel the differences are between these machines.
I bought a soymilk premier because it is the latest technology available and like I said this is an important part of my diet...The ease of clean-up cannot be beat!!!! IF you need raw nut milks you would want to stay with the SDZ-5...but for the higgest quality soy milk with the least frustration for cleanup...think soyquick premier!
As for the Soyabella...I posted a comment already which in short compliments the looks of the machine but not the functionality. I found it very hard to clean and if water gets into any of the THREE electrical units (2 of which are attached to the jug!!!)...you have to wait days to see if it will work again. I did like the milk but the quantity was not a lot and the blades are so dangerously SHARP. Please be careful.
THe SDZ-5 in comparison may not look as elegant but is a much more effecient design. Clean-up is easier. Quantity of milk is larger and the blade is designed to pulverize and thus is not so razor sharp but very functional in extracting milk.
SoyQuick definitely are the best soymilk makers out there!
53 of 56 found the following review helpful:
 It's a decent machine, but the accessories are really poor.Mar 08, 2009
By M. Su
"More Dessert"
I use to make soy milk using a stone grinder back in China. Now, I'm fatter & lazier, got this machine to make life easier and hopefully better soy milk! Unfortunately, there's some things about this machine that just doesn't work right.
1. The accessories are extremely poor. For an almost $200 machine, didn't expect to find a $0.99 brush, strainer, measure cup & a plastic jug with the handles detached.
2. Because the strainer is so bad, you get bits of beans that's not fully grinded in the soy milk.
3. The grinder motor isn't powerful enough so the blades are ultra sharp, and still doesn't grind the beans all the way. Which makes the cleaning a bit harder.
4. The cleaning is reasonable, but by all means not easy. It's heated in high temp, so the soy does stick to the metal, and requires some scrubbing to clean.
If this machine is the 1st one I've used or have nothing to compare it to, I would give is 4 stars. Still have to deduct 1 star for the terrible accessories. But when compared to a Blendtec, this one has to be returned.
Suggest using this:
Blendtec blender - grind the beans. ( yes, this blender is very expensive $400, but seriously one of the best investments I've ever made. I've got dozens of kitchen gadgets, this is the only gadget that stays on the counter all the time. ultra useful) 1 small rice cup beans dried to 16oz of water. Add more or less beans based on taste preference.
Use a Rice Bag or cloth to drain it, then the soy milk is really smooth. There is a really Chinese method, use pantyhose. Don't laugh now, try it and you'll see just how crappy the strainer is compared to this.
Bring the soy milk to a full boil for 3 minutes or so using medium / small heat. ( this is the really boring hard part, takes a while)
Cleaning the blendtec is beyond easy. Run water thru it and it's done. Clearing Cloth - run water thru it and it's fine.
Cleaning the pot - requires a bit of scrubbing, but at least there is no sharp blade to scrub down.
30 of 32 found the following review helpful:
A good product with some extra effortAug 14, 2009
By Snoops
I bought this in Dec 08, and have used it every week since then. I got it because I wanted to reduce the amount of non-recyclable packaging I was buying in the form of tetra-pak packaged commercial soymilk. I had tried making soymilk years ago in a glass blender, cracked it with the heat of the boiling milk, and gave up on the idea until this came along.
The results are basically good, though the company seriously oversells the overall speed of the process, when considered from start-to-finish. I am a city person, and don't have a whole lot of free time, so this is real consideration. I have a few specific tips for owners:
1) Dehusking the beans is an absolutely necessary step. It's not optional. This can be done fairly easily by squeezing the soaked beans in your fist, over and over, and then repeatedly rinsing them, swirling the water, and pouring off the water with the lightweight husks carried off. If you don't do this, the husks will partially clog the circulation holes in the blender attachment during the blend. In addition, the husk material, being mostly fiber, clogs the mesh of the strainer almost instantaneously, making filtration incredibly tedious. I sat many times in frustration, looking at the liquid in the strainer wondering why it was not dripping through, until I figured this out.
2) Soybeans really need to soak 24 hours. 8 hours is not enough. The longer soak produces a smoother, creamier blend. The manual/recipe book is wrong on this point.
3) The finished milk doesn't keep that long in the fridge, maybe three days. I have discovered that if I boil the soaked beans and the water together for five minutes on the stove before pouring them into the stainless blending pot, the milk lasts a little longer in the fridge, maybe five days.
4) The plastic jug that the strainer fits into is pretty lame. First, as other reviewers have pointed out, it isn't labeled on the bottom with what kind of plastic it is. This suggests that the company doesn't completely understand its target audience, which is going to be people probably interested in recycling. Couldn't they also offer a similar thing made of glass? Second, the metal strainer is constantly falling into the jug. You really have to keep your eye on it. This could be fixed with some extra metal fingers welded onto the strainer to keep it from slipping.
5) There is a long (2 hours) cooling-off period between the end of the blending cycle and the time when the milk is cool enough to pour into the strainer without risk of either deforming the plastic or giving yourself a steam-burn. As a company spokesperson has acknowledged in a reply posting : "We recommend letting your milk cool in the stainless steel jug prior to straining and using the plastic transfer jug. The transfer jug is simply an option to use for straining your milk." This takes time. For those not at home all day long, it could be a dealbreaker.
6) You can't use the "max" liquid setting or the frothing mixture seriously bubbles over onto the countertop, making a huge mess. I have noticed other reviews had the same experience. Why doesn't the company mold the plastic motor housing so that there is a nub which covers the pour spout during the blend? Even with the liquid at the "minimum" setting, I set the whole thing in my sink to blend, to avoid any trouble.
With a little tweaking and some patience, the thing as a whole works okay.
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