Homemade coconut milk

I have been using carton and canned coconut milk for a long time. The carton milk is usually a bit cheaper than the canned, but it is still around $3.00 a quart. I have found it for $4.85 for a 1/2 gallon, but I have to drive a long ways to get it for that price. I have known for awhile that the carton and canned milks have additives. I'm not a fan of additives because they are usually harmful to the body. In researching the non-dairy milks recently, it seems that they all contain two possibly harmful additives. Carrageenan and guar gum, which are thickeners/emulsifiers that come from seaweed, sound harmless. The problem is that they are notorious for causing pain, cramping and diarrhea symptoms in people with digestive problems. I ran out of almond and coconut carton milk for several weeks, and had been making my own nut milks for awhile. I noticed a dramatic change for the better in my digestion. I recently added the carton milks back, and the digestive problems came back. Hmmm.

I decided to find out if I could make my own coconut milk. I did some reseach, and voila! It is very doable. What is more interesting is that it is extremely easy to make. I didn't want to make a large amount, so this is my throw together recipe. Every website I looked at seemed to have different recipes, so I just decided to figure it out on my own. Here is what I did for about 10 ounces of coconut milk (most cans are 13 ounces). I used a Vitamix for this, but you could use a regular blender. I put 1/4 cup of shredded coconut in my Vitamix along with 1 1/2 cups of hot (not boiling) water:

 I let it sit for about 45 minutes to cool in the Vitamix. Then I blended it on high for about 1 minute. This is what it looked like after blended:

 I then strained it through a fine mesh strainer. You can also use cheesecloth, but this is less messy. Since it was just a small amount of milk, I used a small strainer. If I make larger batches, I will have to use a large strainer to save time.

 There will be pulp left over in the strainer. I put mine in a glass jar and put it in the freezer. I will add to the jar as I make more milk. When the jar of pulp in the freezer gets full, I can either use it in baking, or I can dehydrate it and make coconut flour! So no waste at all!

 I put the strained milk in a glass canning jar with a lid. It is nice and creamy. I put it in the fridge, and didn't touch it for the rest of the night. I wanted to see if it would mimic the canned coconut milk after putting it in the fridge. The canned coconut milk will separate, leaving a thick layer of cream that can be used to make wonderful recipes.

 This morning, there was about a 1/2 inch layer of cream on the top. Not a whole lot because I didn't use very much coconut. If I had used 1 cup of shredded coconut and 2 cups of water, I think it would have been just like the can (and probably would make about 13 ounces).

 You can see the layer of cream from this angle of the picture.

I stirred the cream into the milk, and tasted it to see what it tasted like. It had almost no flavor, which is perfect for baking. If I had sweetened it and added vanilla, it would have been great for beverages and smoothies. It was about the same consistency as the carton coconut milk, but without the additives, and at a fraction of the cost! I just bought two bags (4.4 pounds total) of shredded organic coconut from Tropical Traditions for $17.00 with free shipping. That will make a lot of coconut milk! I would only be able to buy less than 6 quarts of coconut milk for that. I have the shredded coconut in my Vitamix right now, the the portions being 3/4 cup of coconut to 3 1/2 cups of water. It should make about a quart. For a stronger coconut milk with lots of cream on the top, try 1 cup coconut to 2 cups water. Do the same steps, and put in the fridge after it is made overnight. Let me know if you all try this!!