*Update* once again we have been priced out of buying milk in glass, even though we were making oat milk to supplement our dairy requirements. We still make our daily porridge without dairy. But for kiddy drinking milk and milk-in-tea milk, we are back to buying plastic bottles from the supermarket. Sigh.
We have had a doorstep milk delivery in the past, but sadly had to cancel, as it was working out to be just too expensive.
But when I saw the short Greenpeace video 'Wasteminster' recently about how much plastic (from people's faithfully filled recycling bins) is dumped abroad each day, I knew we had to find a way to stop adding our pile of weekly plastic milk bottles to this hidden problem.
We have managed it! Now the milk-in-glass from the milkman costs us the same as the vast quantities of supermarket milk-in-plastic which we used to buy.
How?
1. I researched how to make Oat Milk (and settled on: oats, tap water, dark brown sugar, salt and digestive enzymes in tablet form from Holland and Barrett, to make a viable semi-skimmed / whole-milk replacement). We now use homemade oat milk on cereal (we have wholegrain cereal as a healthy 'snack' in our house, so we use a lot of milk in bowls of cereal). Recipe is below...
2. For our daily breakfast porridge we switched to 'Overnight Oats' rather than making it with cow's milk - so the oats are soaked in the fridge overnight in tap water, brown sugar and salt. Once microwaved in the morning they have a good texture and flavour. Recipe is below...
3. Finally we are now extra careful not to waste any cow's milk - so any un-drunk beakers / dregs of milk from the kids get used in tea / coffee. If I'm in a rush and unlikely to finish my cuppa then I only make half a cup of tea (thus using only half of the cow's milk that I'd previously waste). We still get our Calcium and Iodine fixes from cow's milk, we just don't consume it excessively anymore.
These three steps dramatically cut our family's cow's milk consumption (whilst ensuring that the kids still get to drink cow's milk at snack times and the adults have it in hot drinks), meaning that we now spend the same on delivered milk-in-glass as we used to spend on supermarket milk-in-plastic. Yay!
By the way, a local-to-you shop might stock cow's-milk-in-glass, lots of zero-waste / refill shops do, as do some independent corner shops, so do your research. Buying from such shops when you are passing could make this an even more affordable option.
Homemade Oat Milk Recipe
I have tried and failed in the past to make palatable oat milk to use on cereal and in tea / coffee (it always turned out revoltingly slimy). This was until I discovered through research that (a) you definitely shouldn't let it soak for hours and that (b) you can use digestive enzymes to break down some of the slime-causing starch, before rinsing and using the oats. Digestive enzymes are used by the commercial oat milk producers (such as Oatly). The enzyme-adding-trick for homemade oat milk was devised by the brilliant foodie Lisa Bryan and is detailed in her Downshiftology blog post (and You Tube video) about making Non Slimy Oat Milk.
When using the enzyme-addition method, I've found that it isn't essential to use ice cold water nor do the oats mind being really well blitzed by the blender and squeezed / potato mashed when in the muslin cloth.
This is my version of Homemade Oat Milk:
- makes 700ml oat milk with a 'semi-skimmed / full fat milk' consistency- ready in 25 minutes (includes 15 minutes enzyme soaking time) for about 26p -
***For a thinner 'skimmed milk' consistency version, simply use 1 cup of oats and 1/2 an enzyme tablet, keep everything else (quantities and recipe steps) the same ***
Gather together...
1 empty passata (690g /) bottle (fits 700ml of milk)- Napolina make a nice bottle with a black lid, ensure the bottle and lid have been cleaned with hot soapy water and then rinsed thoroughly with cold water just before using.
2 cups (180g) rolled oats (Scott's Old Fashioned porridge oats come in just a cardboard box).
1 crushed digestive enzyme tablet containing Amylase - I use the Holland and Barrett Multidigestive Enzyme Tablets (they sadly come in a plastic jar, but one container has enough tablets to makes 90 bottles of non-slimy oat milk).
Enough warm tap water to cover the oats/enzyme powder.
1 large sieve (mine is 16cm in diameter) - IKEA sells one that is 20cm in diameter which would be even better, if you have a bowl large enough to set it on.
1 jug blender (I use the 750 Watt 'jug blender' attachment on my old Kenwood FP250), so not a fancy nutri-bullet style blender, but it is powerful.
700ml cold tap water (or use water from the fridge if you live somewhere warm).
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of dark brown sugar (I suggest using 1 tbsp dark brown sugar at first whilst you get everyone accustomed to the taste of oat milk and then gradually reduce down to 1 tsp). To be plastic free I use a 'Billington's Demerara Cube' which I crush up, with a potato masher in a high sided jug, into dry granules before using in the recipe. These sugar cubes come in 100% plastic free packaging but they MUST be stored in an air tight container once the box comes home from the supermarket. Asda and Morrisons both sell them.
Pinch salt (again use a large pinch when you first make the recipe and gradually reduce the salt you use, over time, to barely any).
Optional - 1 tsp vanilla extract (the Taylor & Colledge brand is fairtrade certified / the Dr Oetker brand is alcohol free) - I don't include this as it makes the oat milk more expensive to make, but it might be useful to use at first whilst you get used to the taste of a new type of milk.
*optional - only needed if you are intending to use the oat milk in hot drinks* 1 large muslin cloth circa 50cmx50cm (like those used for burping young babies) M&S sell them but I'd just ask someone with a toddler if they have a muslin square going spare!
A potato masher.
Get making...
Ensure your 690g passata bottle is empty (passata freezes well if you are in a hurry for the bottle!) and is well washed with hot soapy water.
Put 2 cups (180g) of old-fashioned 'rolled oats' (not finely milled ones) into a large jug / bowl.
Use the flat edge of a knife to crush the digestive enzyme tablet to a powdery dust and add it to the dry oats. Stir.
Cover the oat-enzyme mixture with lukewarm (NOT hot) tap water and stir well - you want to activate the amylase at body temperature, not frazzle it! Cover the jug / bowl with a plate and leave to froth for 15 minutes.
Once the amylase enzyme has had chance to breakdown the starch, drain the oats into a colander (discarding the enzyme-y liquid) and rinse the oats in the colander thoroughly under cold running water (for 10 seconds or so).
Drain the oats of liquid and put the soggy oats into the blender.
Add the 1tsp -1tbsp of dark brown sugar (or better still a plastic-free-packaging sugar cube that's been squashed to granules), the pinch of salt and the (optional) 1 tsp of vanilla extract.
Add 700ml of cold tap water to the blender too.
Blitz the watery oat mixture in the blender for 60 seconds.
Sieve the resulting 'milk' into a large jug / bowl ***If you intend to use the oat milk in cereal / baking (not adding to hot drinks) then you don't need to sieve it any more finely, so skip to Step #15***
Discard the mushed up oats (there will be approximately 8 tsp of mush left in the sieve - you could add it to pancake batter / bread dough / cookie dough or make a face scrub from it, or add it - tied in a muslin square - to your or the kids' bath water to nourish skin).
Wash the sieve to remove any large pieces of oat which could be blocking it.
Drape the muslin cloth over the sieve and pour approximately half of the oat milk into it - most won't drain through very quickly which is fine - fold the muslin cloth over the top of the liquid and use the potato masher to squeeze all of the liquid through the muslin cloth) the cloth will trap any larger particles of oat.
Open out the muslin cloth and repeat with the other half of the liquid.
Give the clean passata bottle a final rinse with cold water, drain the bottle and pour in your oat milk. Immediately rinse the muslin cloth out so the grainy oat mixture doesn't solidify on it - you can then chuck the muslin cloth in the washing machine.
Store the oat milk in the fridge and use within two days (or if you properly sterilise your bottle you can keep it for up to 5 days in the fridge). The oat milk naturally separates over time - just give it a good shake before using.
If you are very lucky (like me) then a dear friend may have a label maker with which to make you some lovely looking labels for your oat milk bottle(s) - you will need two or three bottles on the go I've found, so you don't have any 'no milk for cereal' moments!
***This oat milk works well in cereal, in tea and in coffee and it replaces cow's milk perfectly in my cheese scone recipe and in my fruit scone recipe. It is also excellent in my savoury courgette muffin recipe. It doesn't work as well as cow's milk in my naan bread recipe (they turn out "ok" with oat milk) and this oat milk produces very sub-standard Yorkshire Puddings I'm afraid and terrible Rice Pudding. I'm yet to use oat milk for making pancakes... I will report back!***
Overnight Oats Recipe
- makes enough for two adults and two small children - ready in 12 hours (includes overnight soaking) -
Gather together...
1.5 cups (135g) of rolled oats ('old fashioned' oats not finely cut ones) - Scott's Old Fashioned Porridge Oats come in just a cardboard box.
1 tsp - 1 tbsp dark brown sugar (I suggest using 1 tbsp dark brown sugar at first whilst you get everyone accustomed to the taste of the overnight oats and then gradually reduce down to 1 tsp). To be plastic free I use Billington's Demerara Cube(s) which I just put whole into the water in this recipe, 2-3 cubes initially and now we are down to just 1 cube. These sugar cubes come in 100% plastic free packaging but they MUST be stored in an air tight container once the box comes home from the supermarket. Asda and Morrisons both sell them.
Pinch of salt (again use a large pinch when you first make the recipe and gradually reduce the salt you use, over time, to barely any).
Optional - 1 tsp vanilla extract (the Taylor & Colledge brand is fairtrade certified / the Dr Oetker brand is alcohol free) - I don't include this as it makes the oat milk more expensive to make, but it might be useful to use at first whilst you get used to the taste of a new type of porridge.
3.5 cups (875ml) cool / cold tap water
Get making...
Put the 1.5 cups (135g of rolled oats into a large microwave-proof jug (I use this Rayware Mason Cash batter bowl one).
Add the 1tsp - 1tbsp, or better still the plastic-free-packaging sugar cube(s), of dark brown sugar, the pinch of salt and the (optional) 1tsp of vanilla extract.
Now add the 3 cups (875ml) of cool / cold tap water.
Stir well for 30 seconds with a spoon.
Cover the jug with a plate and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, uncover the mixture, give it a good stir and microwave it (uncovered) until it is at a consistence of your liking (in our 700W microwave this takes 10 minutes on HIGH).
Dish up and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Enjoy!
I hope that you find these recipes and suggestions useful, I am so pleased that doorstep delivery milk in glass bottles is now a sustainable, long term option for us - it means that we are dramatically reducing our household plastic waste, supporting local and cutting our (formerly rather excessive) dairy intake. Let me know how you get on...