How I Make Café-Worthy Almond Milk With the Vitamix Ascent X5
The powerful motor and ease of the preset has made me consider making almond milk more often.
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I stepped off the cow milk train ages ago and I haven’t looked back. I dabble in oat milk at cafés, but at home, I exclusively use almond milk. While I don’t make my own almond milk on a regular basis, the power of the Vitamix Ascent X5 (which I recently reviewed) and the ease of using the plant milk preset does encourage me to do so more often.
I’ve had great success cooking hot soups in my Vitamix Ascent, making peanut butter and walnut butter, and just recently I made an ice cream that rivaled the likes of any single-duty ice cream maker. It's no surprise, then, that making almond, cashew, macadamia, and oat milk with this beast of a blender is pretty quick and easy.
How to use the plant milk function on the Vitamix Ascent X5
1. Soak the nuts or oats
The amount of time for soaking depends on what kind of milk you’re making. The goal is to soften the ingredient which allows it to blend easier and distribute its delicious plant qualities to the water in the blender. Oats don’t need to soften for very long but nuts do, for example. Most almond milk recipes ask you to soak the nuts in cold water overnight or for 24 hours. I cheated and steeped my almonds in just-boiled water for 15 minutes. You live your best life and I will live mine.
2. Fill the blender container
Once your ingredient is softened, drain and rinse it. You don’t want any of that dusty old soaking water in with your finished plant milk. (I’ve tried it, and it’s not good.) Add the nuts or oats to the Vitamix container. You don’t have to do this, but I pop the almond skins off before adding them to the container. It’s a little annoying but they release easily. I find that the flavor of the finished milk is more pure, and I save the remaining almond meal for baking. Taking the skins off is nice for that product too.
Add cold, filtered water to the container. I used one cup of almonds and I added three and a half cups of water to the container. If you like flavored milk, now is the time to experiment with additional ingredients. Add cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla extract, or sweetener if you like.
3. Select the correct Vitamix setting
Plug in the blender and flip the power switch on. The digital display will show a number 1 as its default speed. Press the three-line “burger menu” button for the presets. Use the rotating knob to click over to the preset that looks like a carton with a little almond in the center. Once you’ve navigated to it, take one last glance to make sure the lid is on, then press the start button.
This setting starts on a medium-low speed for a few seconds and then ramps up quickly to speed 10 for about 50 seconds. Et voilà. Plant milk in less than a minute.
Models aside from the Ascent X5 may not have a preset for plant milks. Don’t worry, you can mimic the timing and speed. Start with the speed dial down on level two or three for about five seconds, then turn up the speed dial all the way to the highest speed and leave it there for about 50 seconds. The liquid should look opaque white and be a little frothy on top. There should not be any visible pieces of nuts or oats. Turn off the blender.
4. Strain the milk
After the machine is off, set up your straining station. Many recipes mention using a mesh strainer or cheesecloth, but I think nut milk bags are absolutely superior. Other blenders might not do this, but the Vitamix will nearly powderize the almonds or oats you’re using. The other two straining options won’t catch the fine particles like a nut milk bag will. They’re really affordable and worth it if you’re making milks or even for cold brew. Here’s the one that I use.
I set the nut milk bag into a wide mesh strainer (more for support than for straining) on top of a large measuring cup. Pour the liquid into the bag and let the liquid run through into the measuring cup. Squeeze the pulp in the bag to get all of the moisture out. You can discard the pulp or freeze it to use later in muffins, cakes, cookies, or biscuits.
From here, pour the plant milk into a container that has a tight-fitting lid. I poured my almond milk into a mason jar, and I’ll use it in smoothies and coffee. Homemade almond milk should be kept in the fridge and used within five days, but I’ve heard that oat milk might be best used within three.
Explore adding different extracts and flavors for more interesting coffee, or an amazing batch of overnight oats.
