[Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

On our local Kingdom cooking list, we're having a discussion of almond milk. This topic was brought up by a new cook.

Does one make almond milk of:
-- almonds with skin on;
-- almonds soaked overnight in cold water, skin left on;
-- almonds soaked overnight in cold water & skinned;
-- almonds blanched (dropped in boiling or simmering water & skinned;
-- purchased already blanched;
-- almonds with skin on toasted;
-- almonds with skin off toasted;
or some variation thereof.

How finely does one process the almonds:
-- coarsely chopped;
-- finely chopped;
-- ground into meal;
-- ground into flour;
-- purchased already chopped;
-- purchased already ground into meal;
-- purchased already ground into flour;
or some variation thereof.

How do the commercial almonds milks compare to homemade, particularly in flavor and in texture?
I only know of two brands:
-- Pacific Naturals Organic Almond Milk
and
-- Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk
NOTE: Both now make unsweetened almond milks, but previously only had sweetened.

We are not discussing the various liquids used to make almond milk. We're only discussing the above variables as made with water. So i'm not interested in almond milk made with wine or broth, which will differ greatly.


Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)