Milky Plant review: We tested out the compact machine that makes soya and almond milk at home in minutes
THERE are so many plant-based milks on the market now for those avoiding dairy, but when you’re going through one or two cartons a week, it can get pretty expensive. Plant-based milk cartons are often difficult to recycle, too.
This is where a machine like Milky Plant comes in handy – it lets you make your own soya or almond milk at home in just minutes.
We’ve done a Milky Plant review to see whether the machine justifies its price tag.
- Milky Plant machine, £340 from Milky Plant – buy here
Pros
- Quick and easy to use
- Minimal mess
- Faff-free to clean
- Saves money over time
Cons
- Expensive machine
- Short power cord
- Strainer can become clogged
Overall rating: 4/5
What is the Milky Plant machine?
Normally when you make alternative milks at home, whether that’s soya, almond or oat milk, you have to pre-cook or soak the ingredients before blending them with lots of water.
Then you have to strain the mixture through a sieve or muslin cloth to remove all the pulp.
The Milky Plant is a compact, all-in-one machine that speeds up the process.
You just have to put the ingredients in the blender, add water to the tank, and your milk alternative will be ready in minutes; everything’s on an automated program.
Afterwards, just swap in the cleaning brush and the machine will self-clean in under a minute, ready for your next use.
There’s no pre-soaking required, but some ingredients, like soya or rice, will need to be cooked rather than raw.
How do you use a Milky Plant machine?
The Milky Plant machine is really straightforward to use.
There’s a water tank at the back that you release with the press of a button; it simply slides out so you can fill it up to the max line.
Then you just slide it back in and press the button again to lock it into place.
The machine comes with a scoop, which makes measuring the dry ingredients really easy. You just have to add these to the blending chamber.
Then it’s just a case of putting the lid on, making sure the bottle that comes with the kit is in place to catch your plant-based milk and switching the machine on.
- Milky Plant machine, £340 from Milky Plant – buy here
Performance
There are only three buttons to press on the control panel: on/off, milk extraction, and self-cleaning.
You have to hold the on/off button for a couple of seconds for the machine to switch on. There’s a small display that lights up when it’s ready.
When you press the milk extraction button, the machine kicks into gear and starts running through the program.
The water is drawn from the tank and poured over your dry ingredients, and then the blender starts pulverising the contents.
Then everything goes into the strainer, which spins at high speed to release the milk.
From start to finish, it takes just over three minutes.
When I tested it, I was very impressed by how quickly my drink was ready.
Results
The Milky Plant machine makes about 450ml of plant-based milk for each cycle, which is just enough for breakfast or a smoothie.
If you need to make more, you’ll have to empty out the strainer each time, which can be a bit messy.
My go-to plant-based milk is almond but I decided to try the machine using a few different recipes, including single-nut and mixed-nut versions.
The results were varied.
With cashews, I got a really nice and smooth milk that had a decent level of creaminess to it.
But when we used mixed nuts (including walnuts and pecans), the milk was a bit thin. This was because the filter got clogged up with the skins, so there was still quite a bit of liquid left in the filter at the end.
In theory, you should be able to use the contents of the strainer for other recipes, from nut butters to baked goods.
But given how few dry ingredients we used (a maximum of 80ml each time) we never had enough to do this.
We also didn’t get the nut butter we were hoping for when the strainer got clogged, which was disappointing.
The taste test
Flavour-wise, our milks were not that different from the shop-bought stuff. It’s better if you sweeten it and Milky Plant recommends using dates for this.
It’s worth bearing in mind though that because this is a homemade product without any emulsifiers or preservatives, your milk will separate when you leave it in the fridge. Just shake it up and it will re-emulsify.
It’s also worth noting that homemade plant milks don’t last as long as their store-bought alternatives. Homemade almond milk, for example, will last between four and five days in the fridge.
Also remember that if you live in a hard water area and use tap water, this might affect the flavour of the finished product.
And while you can make milk using different ingredients like rice and soya beans, you’ll need to pre-cook these as the machine doesn’t have a heating function.
Milky Plant also recommends pre-soaking any nuts for best results but it’s not essential and I found that it’s fine not to.
Cleaning
How easy an appliance is to clean will always affect how often you use it, and we loved that Milky Plant’s self-cleaning function actually worked, but you should clean the machine straight away for the best results.
To use it, you have to remove the filter cup and swap out the strainer for the cleaning brush that comes with the machine. This bit is a bit tricky as the filter cup can be hard to hold onto.
You’ll also need to top up the water tank and place a glass under the filter cup to catch the dirty water.
Then you just have to press the self-clean button and the machine will whizz the water from the tank through the machine in under a minute, leaving every corner spotless.
The two bits you’ll need to clean by hand are the strainer and the lid to the blending chamber, but these are easy to rinse off.
If you made nut milk, you might need to use some detergent on these to make sure all the oils are cleaned off properly.
Afterwards, just allow everything to air dry.
What is the warranty on Milky Plant?
Milky Plant has a standard manufacturer’s warranty of 12 months.
If it becomes faulty during everyday use within this period, the company will repair or replace the machine.
Where to buy Milky Plant
You can buy the Milky Plant machine directly from the company’s website which also sells other accessories like spare bottles.
The machine is also stocked at Selfridges.
Milky Plant alternatives
The nut milk appliances market is still relatively new, which means there aren’t huge amounts of choices when it comes to plant-based milk machines.
However, there are already some established alternatives to Milky Plant that are available in the UK.
These are:
- NutraMilk Nut Processor, £489.95 from Amazon – buy here
- Salter Plant Milk Maker, £59.99 from Amazon – buy here
- The Nutr Machine, £133.61 from The Nutr – buy here
Milky Plant review: the verdict
- Milky Plant machine, £340 from Milky Plant – buy here
When I first heard about Milky Plant, I couldn’t believe a machine could make my favourite plant-based milks in just minutes, and I was even more impressed that it actually works.
Even better, the clean-up was super easy so I’m not put off using it again and again.
True, the results were varied, but this is easily fixable with a change in the recipe.
The only thing that is putting us off is the price. With an RRP £340, it’s a pretty big investment for a machine that doesn’t do anything else.
If you buy plant-based milks regularly though, it might just be worth it.
Milky Plant reckons it takes around 180 uses to recoup the costs of the machine, depending on what ingredients you’re using, so if you use it every day, that’s about six months.
After that, you’re getting free plant milk for as long as the machine lasts.