Oat-of-this-world – A guide to making your own oat milk

I am not a vegan, but in recent years I have been reducing my meat and dairy intake to help the environment. I have cut a lot of red meat out of my diet, and I also often opt for plant-based alternatives to dairy products.

One of the plant-based alternatives I use regularly is oat milk. Compared to the 1.16kg of carbon generated by one litre of cow’s milk, shop bought oat milk is around 0.3kg, and homemade oat milk could be as low as 0.1kg of carbon. (source: The University Caterers Organisation Limited)

It is also a lot cheaper than buying milk. 100g of oats could make over one litre of oat milk depending on how thick you like it, working out at roughly 30p per litre if you buy a decent sized bag of oats.

We have been making our own oat milk in our house for well over a year now and it is going well with just some basic ingredients and tools. There are now milk makers on the market that will seamlessly make your oat milk with almost no mess and without getting your hands too involved.

Let me share how I make oat milk at home. This is a rough guide and can be adapted to suit your taste.

How to make oat milk

What you will need:

• Oats
• Water
• spoon
• Sieve
• A large bowl
• Muslin cloth
• Blender or hand blender
• Bottle/jar/jug to keep the oat milk in the fridge
• Container to store oat pulp

Method:

1. Soak 100g of oats in one litre of water for over 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Blend the oats and water with a touch of salt (some people decide to drain and renew the water before blending).
3. Sit your sieve over a large bowl and lay your muslin cloth over the sieve.
4. Pour the blended mix into the sieve and use a spoon to push the mixture around so it begins to drain into the bowl below.
5. Once the mixture is mostly drained, gather up the muslin cloth and squeeze any excess liquid out that you can.
6. Scrape the oat pulp from the muslin cloth into your container.

You can customise it. Add some cocoa powder and sugar for chocolate milk or substitute the touch of salt for some sugar or vanilla essence for a sweeter taste.

It’s really easy to use the leftover oat pulp! I sometimes stir in some peanut butter and jam for a quick breakfast. You could also use it in some home baking. You can find lots of inspiration online.

So whether you are a vegan, dairy intolerant, or just trying to reduce your carbon footprint, oat milk is definitely worth a try.

Andrea Harrower

Development Worker (Communications & Events)