Non-dairy milks are huge in the market right now!
A quick trip down the refrigerated aisle reveals tons of options for soy milk.
But the stuff in the carton isn’t all good news.
As with any packaged food, soy milk manufacturers add colorings, sweeteners, thickeners, and preservatives to their products for maximum shelf life, and to play to the tastes of Americans.
For those looking to control a number of additives in their families food and beverages, making your own soy milk is the way to go.
So where do you start when looking for the perfect soy milk maker for your family?
In addition to thinking about your budget, you’ll want to consider all the aspects of a good soy milk maker – things like how much milk the machine makes at once, or how much noise you can tolerate during operation.
We’ve reviewed five of our favorite soy milk makers, and we’ve found that the SoyaJoy G4 Soy Milk Maker & Soup Maker SoyaJoy G4 Soy Milk Maker & Soup Maker is the best candidate for the job.
But don’t just take our word for it – read more below to learn about factors in your own soy milk maker decision.
Quick NavigationSoy Milk Maker Comparison Out With the Old, In With the NewIs a Soy Milk Maker Worth It?Soy Machine Features – Things to ConsiderThe Best Soy Milk Makers ReviewedThe Verdict
Soy Milk Maker Comparison
Before we go into the guide and review each product, here’s a quick list of the brands we will be talking about and how they stack up against each other.
Out With the Old, In With the New
Soy milk is a popular dairy alternative, with roots going way back into the healthy living community, and it’s available in a variety of flavors, from very vanilla to creamy dark chocolate.
However, when making soy milk the old-fashioned way – using ports, thermometers, and nut milk bags – it’s a labor-intensive, usually messy process with inconsistent results.
If you drink a lot of milk or soy milk, it can be daunting to think of how often you’d have to go through the soy milk making process to keep your fridge stocked.
Luckily, automatic soy milk makers can take all of the exhaustion and guesswork out of making your own healthy soy milk at home, in many cases, with little more effort than it takes to make a cup of coffee.
Is a Soy Milk Maker Worth It?
In short – absolutely!
The longer version: yes, for a couple of reasons.
You Have More Control
Soy milk is a popular beverage today – a quick trip through the refrigerated aisle will give you a sense of just how many brands and flavors of the stuff are available!
Some brands are better than others, but the real deal maker or breaker is what is – or isn’t – on the back of the package.
By making your own soy milk at home, you can control 100% of the ingredients that go into the soy milk you’re drinking.
Homemade soymilk is free of preservatives, sweeteners, and additives like carrageenan, an emulsifier that can cause inflammation in the body.
By making your soy milk with organic, non-GMO soybeans, you can further ensure that the homemade soy milk you’re making is as healthy as possible.
Saves You Doe – Long Term
Secondly, and especially if you drink a lot of soy milk, the machine will not only pay for itself, but will save you money in the long run.
Not only on the milk itself but packaging and transportation that’s baked into the cost of that carton.
My husband and I live in a major United States city, where a half-gallon of refrigerated soy milk runs anywhere from $3-$4.
Given how much we drink per week (mostly thanks to my homemade soy latte habit…), that creates its own line item in our monthly grocery budget.
While making your own soy milk at home takes a little more time than grabbing a carton out of the supermarket cooler, the machine takes over the vast majority of the work involved, so aside from a few moments of planning, most of the time you have to devote to tasty homemade soy milk is passive.
Before investing in your new soy milk maker, there are a few things you should keep in mind and think about before making your purchase.
Read more about them below.
Soy Machine Features – Things to Consider
When purchasing your soy milk maker, there’re lots of things that might influence which product you ultimately choose – not only price and availability but information about the machine itself.
Here’re some things to keep in mind that will help guide your purchasing decision, and how our list of preferred machines stack up.
Capacity
Capacity refers to the volume of liquid the machine can make/hold at once.
To find the soy milk maker with the right capacity for you, think about how much soy milk your family drinks.
A soy milk machine with a smaller capacity might be perfect if you don’t drink soy milk that often, or if you’re just preparing enough for one person.
However, if you have a large family, or you go through a lot of non-dairy milk like my family, a smaller capacity would mean making the milk more frequently, so a larger machine is probably a better choice.
Interior Lining
The interior of most soy milk makers are lined with one of two materials: plastic, or food-grade stainless steel.
In almost every case, a soy milk maker lined with stainless steel is the best, safest purchase you can make for your family.
Because the soy milk cooking process involves boiling the soybeans up against the lining, a machine lined with plastic can cause harmful chemicals like Bisphenol-A (also known as BPA) to leach into foods and drinks prepared in those machines.
Research on the effects of BPA have shown that it interferes with the body’s production and function of hormones, and high exposure to BPA has been correlated with everything from asthma, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fertility issues, and cancer.
By choosing a machine made with stainless steel, you cut out that risk of exposing yourself and your family to BPA by avoiding the plastic altogether.
Additionally, stainless steel won’t warp over time like plastic, so you’re also protecting your investment in the long run.
Filter vs. Filterless
Going with a machine with a built-in filter or a filterless model will be largely determined by what you need from your soy milk maker, as well as your own personal preferences.
Much like the juice, the liquid soy milk needs to be separated from the okara, or soybean pulp, at the end.
A model with a built-in filter will take care of the straining process for you.
The only real downside to the filter models is that they can be difficult to clean.
On the flip side, a filterless model provides a much simpler cleaning experience, but it requires you to strain the soymilk on your own.
In this case, there is no “one-size-fits-all” option, as it will come down to whether you prefer to put in the extra elbow grease of cleaning, or if you’d rather an easy clean and strain your soy milk out yourself.
Multitask Status
Let’s face it, no one likes a unitasker in the kitchen – you know, those gadgets that take up a ton of space on your countertop or cabinets, but can only ever do one thing?
Not only it inefficient, but it makes it, so you’re less likely to use that thing in the long run.
Many soy milk makers are multitaskers, capable of producing not only fresh soy milk but also almond and other kinds of nut milk, juices, all the way to things like soup and oatmeal.
To get the most bang for your buck:
look for soy milk makers that can go above and beyond, and can be used to make more than just soy milk.
Noise
The amount of noise an appliance makes doesn’t seem like a big deal.
That is until you’re trying to take a nap, get work done, or make some early-morning soy milk while your kids are asleep.
Because part of the process of making soy milk is grinding dry soy beans, soy milk makers have the ability to be extremely loud, which can prove to be problematic.
Like many other factors on this list, a very noisy soy milk maker might influence you not to use it as often as one that is quieter, simply because it is limiting and not as convenient as a machine that runs smoothly and silently.
If you’re anything like me, you like things to be peaceful and quiet (most of the time).
For a machine that you won’t resent:
Look for a soy milk maker that makes as little noise as possible – product reviews and user responses are the best places to find this kind of information.
Time Needed
The last thing to consider is how much time it takes to go from dry soybeans to fresh, drinkable soy milk in a particular machine.
A soy milk machine that can produce finished soy milk in 20-30 minutes from dry beans is probably going to get a lot more use than a machine that can only work with soaked beans.
Soaked beans usually require overnight soaking (think about how often you cook beans from scratch rather than just opening a can of the ready-to-eat stuff)
There are few things more frustrating than wanting to make a recipe where the first step was to soak something yesterday.
By choosing a soy milk maker that is capable of working from dry, unprepared beans, and finishes making the soy milk in a short amount of time, you’ll be more likely to use and enjoy it, rather than if you have to plan anything far in advance.
The Best Soy Milk Makers Reviewed
We’ve compiled a list of our five favorite soy milk makers, and included detailed product information for each one, things we love, and the downsides reported by online users.
SoyaJoy G4 Soy Milk Maker & Soup Maker
Our Top Pick!
As mentioned earlier, the SoyaJoy G4 takes home the gold from us regarding the best soy milk maker out there.
The G4 model has a 1.7-liter capacity (one of the larger models on the market) and uses bottom-heating technology for boiling the soybeans.
Both the grinding and cooking chambers are made with food-safe stainless steel, and the grinding technology pulverizes the beans, so you extract as much milk as possible from the ingredients you put in.
The soy milk maker has five completely automatic, one-button functions, including cooked milk, soup, and raw milk from beans, grains, and nuts.
The automatic functions allow you to set up the SoyaJoy G4 for whatever you need and walk away, allowing the machine to do the job completely independently from start to finish – the machine regulates its own temperature and water level to whip up the perfect batch of milk and reduce any chance of mess that comes from stove top soy milk methods.
The Upsides
- Filterless for easy cleaning
- Extremely quiet
- Durable and long-lasting
- Raw and warm option
- Large capacity
The Downsides
- Needs to be strained by hand
- Exterior of machine gets hot
Joyoung Easy-Clean Automatic Hot Soy Milk Maker
Made of full food grade stainless steel, the Joyoung Easy-Clean Automatic Soy Milk Maker is the newest model by the company and features many improvements on its already well-received line of soy milk makers.
This model is easy to clean and includes new features like an LED status indicator, a “double thickness” option for extra-creamy soy milk, and a newly designed cup to reduce spills and mess during pouring.
The machine uses ultra-fine grinding for smooth milk and a 3D heating system to release more nutrients from the soybeans.
There are eight function buttons in all, including grains, dry beans, soaked beans, jam, juice, rice paste, double thick milk, and a self-washing mode.
Soy milk makers ordered from Amazon come with a free ⅓ pound sample bag of the company’s non-GMO soybeans, as well as a one-year warranty on the product.
The Upsides
- Superfine grind for smooth milk
- Exterior stays cool to the touch during operation
- Easy washing
- Elegant design
- Can make milk from dry beans
The Downsides
- Most Expensive
- Thick lip causes dripping while pouring
- Difficult to submit a claim through warranty
Tribest Soyabella Soy Milk Maker
One of the most efficient models on this list, the Tribest Soyabella makes soy milk, nut milk, porridge, rice paste, and much more in a short 15 minutes.
For cold beverages like raw almond milk and cashew milk, the process takes just 30 seconds to complete.
The machine’s heating unit is concealed for safe operation, and easy cleaning and a temperature-controlled cycle ensures consistent results with each use.
By using included accessories, you can even use the soy milk maker as a coffee grinder to stretch its multitasking capabilities even further.
The advanced safety feature prevents overflows, dry heating, and overheating for safe and reliable operation, so you don’t have to stand over and watch it while it creates your milk.
The stainless steel design is also beautiful enough to be left on the countertop, in addition to being the safest material available.
The Upsides
- Fast cooking time
- Makes delicious soy milk
- Effortless to use
- Budget-friendly
- Good for almond and coconut milk
The Downsides
- Noisy during operation
- Difficult to clean
- Flimsy build
PrestoPure Automatic Hot Soy Milk, Soup, Porridge & Cold Juice Maker
With the largest capacity on the market at nearly two liters, the PrestoPure Automatic Soy Milk Maker has seven functions in one machine that are perfect for milk, porridge, oatmeal, pureed soups, and juices.
The machine boasts a dual layer of stainless steel, which means it will stay cool to the touch during operation and remains quiet, is filterless for easy cleaning, and achieves even cooking through bottom heating technology.
The grinder is versatile, so the soy milk maker can also be used for nut milk using almonds, cashews, macadamias, pumpkin seeds, coconut, and oats – if you can dream it, this hardworking machine can make milk out of it.
It takes up no more space on your counter than a coffee maker and includes a scrubbing pad and cleaning brush to make cleaning the soy milk maker an absolute breeze.
The Upsides
- Huge milk yield – nearly seven cups per cycle!
- Recipe uses less beans
- Easy to clean
- Elegant stainless steel design
- Fast cleaning cycle
The Downsides
- Plastic storage pitcher
- Finishing alarm does not stop automatically – beeps until you turn it off
- Inconsistent temperature can affect taste of the final product
MIDEA Automatic Soy Milk Maker
The MIDEA is a modern, safe soy milk maker that will work with a variety of budgets.
The machine automatically makes fully cooked hot milk, porridge, and baby food, raw vegan milk from beans, grains, and nuts, milkshakes, and juices.
You can even make tofu from your soy milk using the free coagulant and tofu box that come with the soy milk machine.
The soy milk maker itself uses all stainless steel construction on every surface that comes into contact with food, so you don’t have to worry about any harmful plastics leaching chemicals into your soy milk.
The carafe itself also looks elegant in the kitchen and uses Perfect Grind Technology for a very high milk yield. This design also includes advanced temperature and water level sensors, and solid state power controls for superior performance and durability.
The soy milk maker has a 1.3-liter capacity and is perfect for a family of 2-5 people.
The Upsides
- Extremely budget-friendly
- “Quick soy milk” option makes the process even faster
- Comes with a bonus tofu box and coagulant
- Grinds beans well for smooth milk
- Machine is lightweight and elegant looking
The Downsides
- Difficult to clean
- Bottom of machine is uneven, beans get stuck in the grates
- Cannot use for raw/unheated milks
The Verdict
Out of these options, the SoyaJoy G4 [Amazon] is our champion because it is a good blend of the necessary criteria while remaining a reasonably priced option that can work with all kinds of budgets.
The 1.7-liter capacity makes a good amount of milk at once and is perfect for a family that drinks a lot of soy milk.
Being able to set up one of the machine’s pre-set automatic functions means you can make delicious soy milk without having to watch over the machine or put in any extra work, simply set up the ingredients, press a button, and wait for your tasty beverage to brew.
The multi-functionality of the SoyaJoy G4 is great too – when you’re not using it for soy milk, you can use it to make nut milk, soups, juices, and many others, so it won’t just take up space on your countertop as a dreaded unitasker.
Regardless of which soy milk maker you choose, making your own non-dairy milk at home is a safe and healthy option for you and your family.
Not only will making your own non-dairy milk from dry soybeans save you money, since you aren’t paying for packaging and transportation, but it will also help you control exactly what goes into your soy milk.
Leave your milk unsweetened for fresh soy milk reminiscent of Chinese markets, or add maple syrup, cane sugar, or vanilla for a taste that mimics the boxed soy milk available in Western grocery stores.
By choosing the soy milk maker that best meets the needs of you and your family, you’ll guarantee that it will be a machine you actually use, which will benefit you and your wallet in the long run.
Thank You for Your help.