Barb - Tofu

[Guest guest]

Making tofu is a lot easier than some would have you believe.  Once you have

homemade fresh tofu, you'll never want store bought again.  I do buy tofu from

the store, but for me, that's almost like junk food, and it is rare that I use

anything other than fresh.

 

When using homemade soy milk, you do not need to remove the outer skins of the

beans and you don't need to add salt and sweetener to the milk.

 

This recipe is for reasonably firm tofu.  To make extra firm, use more milk, to

make softer tofu, use less milk...

 

I use tribest's tofu press, it's just a personal preference, easy to clean, but

you don't need a special press to try it... when i first started i used a

cooling rack and a cutting board with weight on it.

 

Here's how to make it:

 

4 quarts of homemade soy milk

2 Tablespoons of Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate)

1/2 cup of boiling water (to dissolve the epsom in)

 

Put your milk in large heavy pan or stock pot.

Mix the epsom and boiling water in a measuring cup or bowl until it is all

dissolved.

Heat the milk on medium stirring often until it reaches 178 F (it will start to

steam a little and you have little bubble along the edge of the pan)

Turn off the heat, and pour the epsom water all over the top of the milk.

Give it ONE and only one very gentle stir.  I put my wooden spoon in the pot,

and one easy time around the pot and its enough.  Over stirring will keep it

from coagulating.

After 15 minutes, give it another gentle stir and you'll see that you have your

curds and whey for lack of a better way of saying it.

 

Line your press of choice with cheesecloth or a loosely woven kitchen towel,

clean of course (buy some cheesecloth, it works much better).

Fold the cheesecloth over the top of the mixture and place the top on the press.

 

Here's my chart for pressing this recipe.

 

For very soft tofu:  press with 5 lbs. for 15 minutes

For medium tofu:  press with 5 lbs for 30 minutes

For firm tofu:  press with 5 lbs. for 45 minutes

For extra firm:  press with 5-10 for 1 hour

 

As you can see, it's just a matter of preference... you can use more weight for

less time and get the same results.  I generally use a large can of vegetables

or juice or in a pinch a half gallon pitcher full of water.

 

Be creative with your press... i used to wrap it up tightly in the cheesecloth,

place that on a cooling rack over the sink, and put a small cutting board on top

of it, and put several cans of food on it, and it worked just fine.

 

Try to use homemade tofu right away, it loses flavor each day.  Store in a glass

container, covered with water and with a lid, in the fridge for up to a week. 

Change the water each day you keep it.

 

That's all there is to it!  You will not want store bought again, except for

convenience.  I make tofu a couple times a week... every time i make milk, i

also make tofu and yogurt.  Once you get into the routine of it, it only takes

20-30 minutes, less time than it takes most people to go to the store to buy

some

 

Hope you enjoy,

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I really appreciate these instructions on making tofu. We have been

looking into it for awhile now and it just seems so complicated but I

think I can handle doing it with your directions. Thanks again for

posting this. One more question, how do you make the yogurt?

 

Cherie

 

, Pete Self <self.pete

wrote:

>

> Making tofu is a lot easier than some would have you believe.  Once

you have homemade fresh tofu, you'll never want store bought again. 

I do buy tofu from the store, but for me, that's almost like junk

food, and it is rare that I use anything other than fresh.

>

> When using homemade soy milk, you do not need to remove the outer

skins of the beans and you don't need to add salt and sweetener to

the milk.

>

> This recipe is for reasonably firm tofu.  To make extra firm, use

more milk, to make softer tofu, use less milk...

>

> I use tribest's tofu press, it's just a personal preference, easy

to clean, but you don't need a special press to try it... when i

first started i used a cooling rack and a cutting board with weight

on it.

>

> Here's how to make it:

>

> 4 quarts of homemade soy milk

> 2 Tablespoons of Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate)

> 1/2 cup of boiling water (to dissolve the epsom in)

>

> Put your milk in large heavy pan or stock pot.

> Mix the epsom and boiling water in a measuring cup or bowl until it

is all dissolved.

> Heat the milk on medium stirring often until it reaches 178 F (it

will start to steam a little and you have little bubble along the

edge of the pan)

> Turn off the heat, and pour the epsom water all over the top of the

milk.

> Give it ONE and only one very gentle stir.  I put my wooden spoon

in the pot, and one easy time around the pot and its enough.  Over

stirring will keep it from coagulating.

> After 15 minutes, give it another gentle stir and you'll see that

you have your curds and whey for lack of a better way of saying it.

>

> Line your press of choice with cheesecloth or a loosely woven

kitchen towel, clean of course (buy some cheesecloth, it works much

better).

> Fold the cheesecloth over the top of the mixture and place the top

on the press.

>

> Here's my chart for pressing this recipe.

>

> For very soft tofu:  press with 5 lbs. for 15 minutes

> For medium tofu:  press with 5 lbs for 30 minutes

> For firm tofu:  press with 5 lbs. for 45 minutes

> For extra firm:  press with 5-10 for 1 hour

>

> As you can see, it's just a matter of preference... you can use

more weight for less time and get the same results.  I generally use

a large can of vegetables or juice or in a pinch a half gallon

pitcher full of water.

>

> Be creative with your press... i used to wrap it up tightly in the

cheesecloth, place that on a cooling rack over the sink, and put a

small cutting board on top of it, and put several cans of food on it,

and it worked just fine.

>

> Try to use homemade tofu right away, it loses flavor each day. 

Store in a glass container, covered with water and with a lid, in the

fridge for up to a week.  Change the water each day you keep it.

>

> That's all there is to it!  You will not want store bought again,

except for convenience.  I make tofu a couple times a week... every

time i make milk, i also make tofu and yogurt.  Once you get into the

routine of it, it only takes 20-30 minutes, less time than it takes

most people to go to the store to buy some

>

> Hope you enjoy,

> Pete