Coconut milk
Coconut milk is an aqueous emulsion extracted from mature coconut kernel, sold fresh, packaged or reconstituted. It is distinct from the liquid naturally inside a coconut.
Equipment · Food blenders
Blender or food processor
high-speed blender · food processor · mixer-grinder
A fast blade in a jug that grinds toasted sesame to tahini, blends cooked or soaked material with water into milky extracts and chops material for pressing. It does not strain.
Overview
A blender or food processor is a fast blade in a jug. For the crafts in this series it does three jobs. It grinds toasted sesame seed to a paste. It grinds cooked or soaked material with water into a milky liquid. It pre-grinds roasted nuts or nibs to a flour before a stone refiner takes over.
It does not separate solids from liquid. Straining through a cloth, a filtration bag or a press is a second step.
Sources for this section
How it works
The blade chops and flings material outward; a tamper or scraping returns it to the blade. This is why Vitamix's tahini recipe uses the tamper through a run of two to three minutes. A dry seed becomes a flowing paste only once its oil is released, and Vitamix notes that toasted sesame gives a smoother, more uniform paste than raw.
With water, the blade disperses soluble and suspended matter into the liquid, while the fibre (okara, coconut pulp) stays suspended until it is strained. Documented run times are short: 60 seconds for Vitamix coconut milk and soy milk, one to two minutes for Maangchi's duyu, and two to three minutes for tahini. No source reports the particle size a blender reaches.
Sources for this section
Uses in these crafts
Tahini: roasted sesame is ground to a paste. Coconut milk: shredded coconut is blended with water and strained. Soy milk: cooked beans are blended with cold water and strained. Nut paste: roasted hazelnuts are pre-ground to a flour, then refined in a stone refiner; the DCM manual documents a mixer-grinder for this step.
Two uses are adaptations. Horchata de chufa: soaked tigernuts are crushed with cold water; the Valencian recipe names no machine. Ogi akamu: soaked grain is wet-milled before sieving, as the FAO bulletin describes the process.
What to measure
Weigh the solids and the water and time the blend. For milks, weigh the strained pulp to compare extraction between batches. For pastes, record the roast, the time and whether the mass flows.
Sources for this section
History
Contemporary manufactured appliance. The documented models are current Vitamix blenders, and the sources give no earlier date.
Equipment details
PowerElectric Mains-powered. The sources name no wattage for the blender models they describe.
How you get oneBought, manufactured A manufactured appliance; the sources name Vitamix. No price or availability is given.
Limits
It does not strain. Vitamix says unstrained coconut milk serves cooking and baking, but smooth sauces and drinks need strained milk.
Source →It does not cook. Tofu-making soy milk is a heated, filtered slurry; the documented blender drinks cook the beans first.
Source →No source in this set gives a blender particle size, so it cannot be compared with a stone refiner (about 20 microns).
Source →Capacity and duty-cycle limits are model-specific. No blender manual was read.
SourcePlaces
Documented for international use, with no single place of origin assigned.
Related
Used for
Ogi and akamu, fermented cereal slurry
Ogi or akamu is a wet fermented cereal preparation documented in Nigeria and Benin. Grain or maize starch is steeped, milled or sieved, then fermented by process-specific routes; evidence supports no universal method or safety limit.
Tahini (sesame paste)
Toasted sesame seeds ground to a pourable paste, made by two manufacturer routes: a high-speed blender in minutes, or a stone chocolate refiner over three hours.
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Mills, presses and extractors at home
A blender, a stone refiner and a small screw press each replace hours of pounding or squeezing, but grinding, pressing oil and extracting a milk are different jobs with different limits.
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Sources
VitamixMethod
TahiniTamper used through a 2-3 minute run
Toasted sesame gives a smoother, more uniform paste than raw
Cited in: Overview; How it works; Uses in these crafts
VitamixMethod
Coconut Milk60 seconds for coconut milk
Unstrained coconut milk suits cooking and baking
Cited in: Overview; How it works; Uses in these crafts; What to measure
Maangchi (maangchi.com)Method
Soy milk (Duyu: 두유) recipe by MaangchiOne to two minutes blending for soy milk
Cited in: How it works; Uses in these crafts
Diamond Custom Machines (DCM); manufactured by Sivanesan Company (Ind.), Chennai, IndiaMethod
Premier Chocolate Refiner with Stainless Steel Stone Holder: User ManualMixer-grinder pre-grinds roasted hazelnuts to flour before refining
Cited in: Uses in these crafts
Consejo Regulador de la Denominacion de Origen Chufa de ValenciaMethod
Receta horchata de chufa de ValenciaSoaked tigernuts crushed with cold water; no machine named
Cited in: Uses in these crafts
FAO (Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 138, 1999)Method
Fermented cereals a global perspective. Chapter 2.Wet milling of soaked grain before sieving
Cited in: Uses in these crafts
