Non-dairy skim milk?

Saz43

Newcomer
Joined
Feb 21, 2019
Reaction score
0
Age
47
Location
walsall
Lifestyle
  1. Vegan newbie
Hello!

I am really anti the dairy trade - as far as I am concerned it's actually worse than meat eating?

But I love a cup of tea, and whilst I'm going black at the moment, which is fine, I would love to know if there is a non-dairy alternative to skimmed milk? My partner loves nut milk,oat milk, coconut milk etc. but I am struggling as I don't actually enjoy the creamy taste of milk, but I am failing to find any alternative.

I can obviously keep going milk free,but if anyone knows an alternative to skim milk I would be very grateful! I just don't like the creamy full fat taste which i appreciate many non-dairy people would prefer and many dairy free milks have successfully replicated. I just want a vague milk taste! Not creamy, not fatty, nothing like that - skimmed taste if possible?

Many thanks for any help,

(including home made stuff if that would work?)

Sally
 
I feel the same way about the "dairy trade". Not buying milk was my very first step into veganism.

I don't think there is any specific nondairy alternative to skim milk. and I think the reason why is that except for the actual nondairy creamers, most milk alternatives are not particularly creamy (or fatty).

Have you actually tried the milks your partner likes in your tea? That would be the obvious first step. But what you are asking for is based on taste. and I don't know - it's Your personal preference. So it is difficult to predict.

IMHO, coconut milk is the least "creamy". I think rice milk is in second place. Soy milk (my favorite) is in last place.

After taste testing whatever your partner is drinking, you might go to the store and buy a variety of them. (not all at the same time ). the ones you don't like, you just give to your partner or make into smoothies.

Another idea is to make your own. You can alter any recipe to make it more watery. A number of the nondairy milks are easy (or not difficult ) to make at home. I just started making hemp seed milk at home. I make just a glass of it at a time in my little blender. It takes less than a minute. For tea, you might be best off with just making small quantities at a time. Even if you drink gobs of tea you would probably have a hard time polishing off a liter.

Some of the plant milks are harder to make at home. Soy is probably the hardest but they sell a special machine that makes it easy (and you can use it for soups too).
And for almond milk you need a special machine too. The Tandem Nut Milker. See below.

 
Hello Lou!

Thank you so much for your very quick and comprehensive reply.

I know I'm being a bit (lot?) awkward but I really do like a good cuppa in the morning! I have tried the milks he drinks and loves but I just find them a bit much for me in my tea. It's not a health fat issue, I have just drunk skimmed milk for years and could never get used to the taste of even semi-skimmed. I am also thinking about adding to cereal as this would help with fortifiying my vitamins, although I am thinking there are very many ways to include those vitamins anyway.

How do you make your Hemp milk? I think that would help as we tried one once and I think I could get used to it. I think a lot of it is about accustoming to taste.

We haven't tried rice milk yet, but am willing to try. But then read about how much water that uses etc and everything associated and things become more complicated.

But thank you for your help, and I really would appreciate your Hemp milk recipe -I'm sure it's not difficult, but woud appreciate smaller quantity ideas.

Tons of thanks, Sally
 
Oh, and for any UK posters, Wetherspoons actually does soy milk sachets! Who'd have thought? or maybe you all did - I'm very new at this!
 
This is how I made my Hemp milk. I did not use any of the optional ingredients. But I didn't really care for it straight and ended up using it for hot chocolate milk. (and it was delicious!) In the winter I do like a hot cup of cocoa.

https://minimalistbaker.com/make-hemp-milk/

I think rice and coconut are the first two you should try. In my opinion, they are the thinnest.

We had a discussion here about which plant milk is the most environmentally friendly. And water usage was a big part of the discussion. I don't remember if there was a clear winner. But at the end of the day keep in mind that EVERY plant milk uses less water than Cow's milk and they all have smaller carbon footprints, too. I remember seeing a bar graph on the plant milks. All the plant milks were different sized first graders. The cow was an NBA player.

Also when you are talking about carbon footprints you have to consider how far the product has to travel to you. Coconuts use the least amount of water. but they have to travel the farthest.

But as long as you aren't choosing cow's milk you are just quibbling about the details. :)

Oh one last idea: Try watering down your partner's favorite plant milk.

Pretty much off topic but I found this stuff called Elephant Vanilla Chai Tea. You add 2 tbsp of it to a glass of hot milk and you get sort of an instant Chai Latte. I really like it.
 
This is how I made my Hemp milk. I did not use any of the optional ingredients. But I didn't really care for it straight and ended up using it for hot chocolate milk. (and it was delicious!) In the winter I do like a hot cup of cocoa.

https://minimalistbaker.com/make-hemp-milk/

I think rice and coconut are the first two you should try. In my opinion, they are the thinnest.

We had a discussion here about which plant milk is the most environmentally friendly. And water usage was a big part of the discussion. I don't remember if there was a clear winner. But at the end of the day keep in mind that EVERY plant milk uses less water than Cow's milk and they all have smaller carbon footprints, too. I remember seeing a bar graph on the plant milks. All the plant milks were different sized first graders. The cow was an NBA player.

Also when you are talking about carbon footprints you have to consider how far the product has to travel to you. Coconuts use the least amount of water. but they have to travel the farthest.

But as long as you aren't choosing cow's milk you are just quibbling about the details. :)

Oh one last idea: Try watering down your partner's favorite plant milk.

Pretty much off topic but I found this stuff called Elephant Vanilla Chai Tea. You add 2 tbsp of it to a glass of hot milk and you get sort of an instant Chai Latte. I really like it.


Coconut has saturated fat. Full fat coconut milk is creamy enough to be used as heavy cream. While you personally might not find it "creamy" in it's watered-down carton form, I will argue that rice milk is the only non-dairy milk that is as thin and watery as skim dairy milk.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TofuRobot
@Forest Nymph
I still have some (So Delicious) coconut milk in my frig. I bought it for a recipe for cheese (in fact, I think you were the one who gave me the recipe. )
Although it has sat fat, its total fat content is similar to the soy milk I also have in the frig. I just taste tested it plain. And as I thought it seems watery. but also it has its own particular flavor.

Because of the flavor, I'm pretty sure it would not be a good additive for tea. So yeah, lets put rice milk at the top of the milks for Saz43. I haven't had rice milk in a long time.

I will try making some more flaxseed milk today and see how it does in tea, too. I've been drinking more tea than coffee lately and although I usually drink it black, I don't mind a splash of milk in it.
 
@Forest Nymph
I still have some (So Delicious) coconut milk in my frig. I bought it for a recipe for cheese (in fact, I think you were the one who gave me the recipe. )
Although it has sat fat, its total fat content is similar to the soy milk I also have in the frig. I just taste tested it plain. And as I thought it seems watery. but also it has its own particular flavor.

Because of the flavor, I'm pretty sure it would not be a good additive for tea. So yeah, lets put rice milk at the top of the milks for Saz43. I haven't had rice milk in a long time.

I will try making some more flaxseed milk today and see how it does in tea, too. I've been drinking more tea than coffee lately and although I usually drink it black, I don't mind a splash of milk in it.

Flax seed milk might also be a good suggestion for the OP.
 
Sorry. been meaning to thank guys! It's been a real help. I feel a bit precious but I really do love a cupof tea, as terrible and sad as it sounds. But I am taking on board all of your comments and let the experimentation start!

Really, thank you x
 
This is just my opinion, but in reality, there's no such thing as "skim plant milk," since "skim" describes the process of skimming off the cream from the top of cow's milk, and plant "milks" are a different thing altogether, and personally, when I used to drink coffee (I have never used anything at all in my tea except a lemon in my chamomile tea on occasion), I found plant milks to be too watery for me (I used to use one of the non-dairy creamers). I think what you should do is look at the fat content of any plant milks you buy and choose the one lowest in fat (and of course, ideally, make your own). A quick Google search said that soy, almond, oat, hemp, and rice as lowest in fat, though myself, I would also be looking at how many other things are added as well, like sugar. As close to possible as nothing else but water added would be best (another case for making your own). I think Engine 2 is a good brand, IMO. Good luck!
 
Have you tried soy milk? Or almond milk?

I never liked skim milk, so my tastes are probably different, but I really like Silk Original Soy. Almond milk is probably closer to skim milk. But I would definitely try both if I were you.

Milk actually doesn’t have a taste in coffee. A long time ago, long before we went vegan, my husband and I did a blind taste test with two cups of coffee, one with milk and one black. We couldn’t tell the difference. The color makes you think the milk is changing the taste, but it actually doesn’t. It just weakens the strength and reduces the temperature slightly. We didn’t repeat the test with tea, but you might want to try drinking your tea without milk (which is how I’ve always preferred it).

(Note that I’m not saying you should change the way you drink tea; just keep an open mind about what the milk is really doing in your tea. And try as many different types of plant milks as you can, since they’re all very different in taste and texture.)