ChefWave Milkmade Non-Dairy Milk Maker with 6 Plant-Based Programs and Auto-Clea

I saw less expensive models, but chose this because people said I wouldn't need to strain the nut milks to make them palatable and I was excited about the self-cleaning function. NO COMPLAINTS. I use this 2-3 times a day (I have a special needs child who can't have dairy). It is super simple to use and the soy and nut milks are great! My son has been drinking shelf-stable soy milk for more than a decade, and I was worried that he wouldn't like this as much as store-bought. WRONG. He loves the soy milk! FYI: His mom and big brother are quite happy with the almond and pecan milk as well. Having an extra reservoir for the water used in cleaning is so handy. I add all of the ingredients and a short time later the soy milk is done and the machine is all clean and ready to make more! Great product!

I have used about 3 pounds of a five pound bag of dried soybeans making soy milk with this milk maker. I have been using it about 8 months and haven’t seen any signs of wearing out. I have saved at least the cost of this machine in the amount of plant milk I would have bought at the store during that time. I can’t use a nut milk bag because my hands get sore from squeezing it. I’m so thankful for this machine!Sure it’s not as nice as Silk brand soy milk, but it has two ingredients: soy and water. I have to shake the milk before I can use it because it still has sediment that sinks to the bottom. To me that’s a plus because I’m getting all of it, but I can see that being a problem if you want smooth texture. It’s great for oatmeal and soup. Not good for coffee. I make enough to last all week and store in wide mouth mason jars with pour spout lids.I also made cashew milk which was very creamy.This machine is noisy enough that i can’t hear the TV when watching in the next room, but the noisy part is very brief. The noise doesn’t bother me when I’m in the same room.The machine is very easy to clean. The lid of the mixing compartment comes off, and that part is easy to clean. The mixing blade is not as easy and has developed some buildup but I’m very consistent about cleaning it. The pitcher and lid are easy to clean. The waste water bin is hard because it has a weird shape and requires a skinny bottle brush to get it really clean.The water repository is easy to fill. I can’t use with my refrigerator water dispenser because the lid gets in the way. I figured out I can use my Keurig multi-cup water bin to fill it to the top in one go. I always use filtered water when making nut and soy milk.It fits nicely on my counter. I keep it next to my coffee maker.

This nut milk maker is terrific, and the computerized aspects are very easy to deal with. Never had a problem. Makes hot rich milk that you can make as thick as you want by putting in more or less nuts. (I grind them first.) The self-cleaning, which happens automatically, is great. The only problem with this sophisticated machine is that the lid to the pitcher doesn't stay on. At times, it has even fallen into the pitcher. One hopes they have someone technologically smart enough to fix this problem.

I bought this machine because I prefer to make nut milk at home to avoid the environmental problem of the packaging and transport of store bought nut milk. However, I find nut milk bags a pain in the neck. While the clean up of this machine is great, it has SEVERAL SMALL DRAWBACKS AND ONE MAJOR DEALBREAKER DRAWBACK and nobody should ever buy it: 1. While it is easy to clean and uses a minimal amount of nuts, that’s because it doesn’t actually extract the fiber from the milk. It just blends it for 8 to 12 minutes so the fiber is very fine. However, the milk is still a little gritty and if you have a great blender like a Vitamix, you can do the exact same thing without adding another machine to your countertop (and, eventually, landfills). 2. The machine uses hot water to steam/cook the nuts (probably to make them softer so they can be chopped more finely) so you have to plan ahead the night before if you want cold milk in the morning for a smoothie, cereal, etc. 3. The milk doesn’t taste great. It tastes thin and, like I said, gritty. 4. The machine comes with several removable smaller parts—a steam cap, a glass pitcher for the milk, a plastic water tank, a plastic bin for the cleaning cycle. I accidentally broke the steam cap while cleaning it soon after purchasing this. I contacted ChefWave and Amazon to get a replacement part (it’s a tiny little one-inch plastic and metal cap). ChefWave totally refused to help, saying they do not offer replacement parts and referring me to Amazon. Amazon could only offer a total replacement of the entire machine. Unbelievably wasteful and short-sighted for a company selling a product for which one of its main features is that it can offer people a more environmentally conscious way to get milk. Amazon was great and gave me a full refund but I regret buying this machine and feel terrible that it will be one more hunk of plastic junk persisting for hundreds of years. Feel like a total dumb-dumb. I should know by now that there are no short cuts and nothing you can buy that’s going to save the planet. Total fail on my part!