How To Make Tofu From Scratch

Be sure to use organic soybeans, most soybeans have been genetically altered to withstand high levels of the weed killer that uses glyphosate as its main ingredient. Glyphosate used in products like Roundup weed killer disrupt your digestive processes and that may be one of the reasons why people have such a hard time digesting soybean products. I buy my soybean, legumes, and other grains at my local organic cooperative. Buying in bulk saves you money and also gives you food that can be stored for years without going bad. If our food grid goes down from natural or manmade disasters I have 400lbs of stored dry goods, including lard (you will die without fat in your diet), my family can live off for months.

“The way glyphosate works is that it interrupts the shikimate pathway, a metabolic function in plants that allows them to create essential amino acids,” Seneff explained at a recent Autism conference. “When this path is interrupted, the plants die. Human cells don’t have a shikimate pathway so scientists and researchers believed that exposure to glyphosate would be harmless.”

However, she claims that the chemical still effects humans even if it doesn’t act on our bodies directly.

“The problem is that bacteria DO have a shikimate pathway and we have millions of good bacteria in our guts — our ‘gut flora,’” Seneff continued. “These bacteria are essential to our health. Our gut isn’t just responsible for digestion, but also for our immune system. When glyphosate gets in our systems, it wrecks our gut and as a result our immune system.”

Seneff also says that her research has shown that glyphosate can inhibit liver function, which could be an explanation for high rates of vitamin D deficiency. She further claims that the chemical could be implicated in diminished kidney function, celiac disease and other gastrointestinal problems.

1. Very strong tightly woven cheese cloth
2. Food processor, a 1000 watt motor blender, or hand-mill
3. Colander
4. 3 cups of dry soybeans
5. 12 cups of water for soaking the beans
6. 8 cups of water for cooking the mash

Before bedtime get your soybean ready, wash your soybean and rinse 3 times. Even with organic soybean you will have some kind of fungicide added during processing and bagging, plus you don't know what the beans picked up during transporting from the fields to the processing plant. Add your 3 cups of beans to a large bowl and cover with 12 cups water, soaking over night the beans will double in size.

You soybeans have soaked through the night, strain off extra water and discard your water. Now it's time to grind up the soybean into soy-mash.

I usually add one cup at a time if I am using a blender and add 1 cup of water to aid grinding. Pour all of your mash into a large stockpot.

With a manual hand-mill you won't need to add water until after the bean has been ground to mash. Once beans have been ground into pulp add your 8 cups of water to a large stock pot along with your mash.

Cook at medium low heat for twenty minutes, stirring the bottom of your stockpot. You may get a bit of foam so make sure you have enough room in your pot for a couple inches of foam near the end of your twenty minute cooking time.

I used 12 cups of soy-milk to make this batch.
You will need:

A. One large stock pot, preferably with a insulated bottom (thick) to avoid burning the soy-milk.

B. A large colander for straining water from soy-curd.

C. Some strong cheese cloth, fabric shops sell cheese cloth. Be sure and wash the sizing out of the cloth before you use it.

D. Something to to hold your bean curd when pressing the remaining water out of the final product. You can use a colander but the bean curd will not look as nice as the little box press I bought at our local Asian market. You can also find tofu presses online, I like mine made out of bamboo, it's very sturdy.

E. Candy thermometer, many people bring their soy-milk to a boil and reduce heat without using a thermometer. However I found paying attention to the temperature reduces a failed batch of soy-curd.

You will need to purchase some kind of coagulant, you may have one of these items in your house, without a coagulant you will not be able to curdle the cooked soy-milk.

1. 6 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 
   

2. 2 teaspoons Chinese Terra Alba, calcium sulfate powder, food grade gypsum. 
   

3. 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. 
   

4. 3 teaspoon of Epsom salts, good grade
   

5. 2 teaspoon of Nigari in liquid or granular form
   

A note regarding coagulants. I used gypsum or Nori because they have worked the best for me. You can find these natural organic "food grade" ingredients just about anywhere online including Amazon or at an Asian market near you.

1. Measure coagulant add to a bowl, add 1/2 cup water to coagulant and stir until dissolved, set aside. With the gypsum, you will have to stir before adding to your cooked soymilk because it will settle to the bottom of your container.
   

   

2. Pour milk into a pot and bring the liquid to just the point of boiling (180°F), do not boil the milk. Stir gently, scraping the bottom of the pan to avoid burning the milk until you reach your desired temperature. Depending on the size of your batch, this may take 20 minutes.
   

   

3. Turn burner down to medium heat and simmer soy milk for 5 minutes, gently scraping the bottom of your pan to avoid burning.

4. Remove your pot from the heat and add half of your your prepared coagulant to your soy-milk, drizzle gently into the mixture in a clockwise fashion. I found stirring this way really helps coagulation, don't know why but it works the best for me. After you gently mixed ingredients together, slowly and gently add the remaining coagulant. You should see an immediate reaction, curds will start forming. Once this happens you can cover the pot and let sit for 20 minutes.

5. In your sink, line you colander or tofu press box with cheese cloth, make sure you have a large cloth to cover your bowl. Place a plate that fits in the colander or the box lid over the covered soy-curd. Add a weight to the top, which helps press out the remaining liquid.

An important note the liquid left over from straining the curd is called soy-whey, it can be used for soup stock. Also save enough liquid to store your soy curd if you are not going to use it immediately. When I store my curd for future use, I place it in a container and add some of the liquid left over from pressing, just enough to cover the block. Put a lid on the container and it will stay fresh for at least 5 to 7 days. I also ferment my soy curd into soy cheese, but that's another story.