Soyajoy Premium Total Tofu Kit

I'm going to write this as a novice, just starting to make tofu and what I wanted to know when shopping around, never having made tofu and not knowing anything. If that is where you are at, then this is for you. I have made tofu only twice with this, but even though it's a bit of work, I feel very excited to make more with this set and feel its a great investment and will give confidence to a novice. Does this set work? Yes! Is there a bit of a learning curve? Yes. Any well-crafted food that is unlike something you've made takes some practice. But on what will be my 3rd batch of tofu, I feel confident all the work will pay off and I will be enjoying yummy tofu. Mine was not as smooth and perfect looking as store bought tofu but the taste was far superior. It is several steps but you can really taste the care, love and depth in the tofu and see why people love tofu, vegetarians and meat eaters, alike. The tofu press is solidly built, a nice bamboo (a more hygienic and durable wood for water, I believe) and seems really well made for the price. I didn't get funky cheese cloth, so it seems they fixed that issue. It seems a bit thick, but there is probably a reason for it. The nigari seems very high quality and reliable. It has gotten a little moist in a couple spots in the humid weather, but I don't think it's a problem. If you have natural sea salts, you see that in them, too. Maybe storing it in air tight container would help. My tofu coagulated right away with this nigari, so it does what it should without even being ify about it like some products out there. It is a big bag for the amount you need so you're set for awhile. There are various videos and recipes online. I suggest watching a few videos to get a feel for it. The process I used is from "Asian Tofu: Discover the Best, Make Your Own, and Cook It at Home by Andrea Nguyen" because she has worked hard to figure out how to make great food at home and I love her books. You can start a couple different ways with ready made soy milk but I started with dried soybeans. Andrea Nguyen suggests -and this seller has - Laura soybeans, they're non-GMO. I would love to have organic non-GMO beans from Japan, but not going to happen anytime soon. Laura sells their beans to tofu shops in Japan, so you are pretty well assured an outstanding product. I agree, as a novice, of course. You can order direct or get a 5 lb bag of Laura soybeans with your Amazon order and you have what you need to make tofu! I am a typical American who loves everything fried or browned and the texture of uncooked tofu has never appealed to me. But with this tofu maker, I feel like I want to eat it uncooked. The taste is really so much better, so that says something. People who enjoy tofu and don't mind fussing a bit in the kitchen will adore homemade tofu. It really is a special treat. There are lots of recipes out there but this is what I did: soaked 1 cup of beans over night Skinned them by hand (this is the most time consuming part so far, but you can skip it or I'm going to look for an easier way) puree in blender or food processor with water cooked the bean soup in boiling water strained through cheese cloth (some other stuff I had, Amazon has that cheap, too) recook to warm and add the nigari in 3 batches, then let it rest. Pour in the tofu press and let sit about 15 minutes. let it rest a bit to get flavor. There you have wonderful tofu! My first batch was badly concave because I wasn't careful with the cheesecloth in the mold and didn't place it evenly. Remember, you're shaping it so make sure the cloth and top is even. The second batch, I didn't try to get all four sides of the thick cloth flaps under the press top. I used a can of coconut milk to press and checked it was still in there as flat as it could be. I love age dashi (fried) tofu made with silken/soft tofu. Andrea N suggests using gypsum rather than nigari for silken, but she says you can use nigari and if you look around, you can probably find people who say it's best. Like anything, there are different ways to do it. I just ordered gypsum and this great seller also has it. I will definitely be using this set and even if you find a better way, this little set is fantastic for someone starting out and I expect to use it a lot! Thank you to the seller, previous reviewers and to everyone who posted videos and the book.

I hesitated to buy this wooden tofu form because of concerns about how well the wood would hold up but really liked the natural material (I try to avoid buying plastic) and the traditional look of it. I'm really glad that I did because it is perfect. It's really well made and makes a perfect block of tofu. It seems like it will last many years if not forever.

First, let me say that this is a great product that does exactly what it says and as I expected. With that said, there are only a few things I wish would be different or better. I guess both issues can be related to each other also. Both issues are more because I didn't think about it ahead of time. First is I wish it was bigger. When I make tofu, I try to make a good amount of it. Although tofu is not hard to make, it does take some time. This size is good to make enough for one or two people. With me, I make it for my whole family usually, meaning a lot more than 1 or 2 people. Second gripe, which again is kind of related to the first, is that it's hard for me to find something heavy enough and yet small enough to use as a weight to press down the tofu. I realize that this is more of a personal problem, but I doubt that I am the only one who has or will have this problem. I usually use a wine bottle, which I find is not heavy enough to make a firmer tofu, but even this is hard to place on top because of how the top is made. It has the two wood pieces on top going across the cover and this makes it hard to balance anything on it. Would be perfect if it had some sort of "vise-like" contraption to press down the tofu. I end up pressing it down as hard as I can with my own man-muscles and then putting the wine bottle on top to try to keep it down. If the box was bigger, it would be easier to put something that is heavy and something that will fit the top without having it be a balancing act. But like I said, it's a great product. Simple yet useful tool. The nigari included is awesome and works great. This is a definite buy for anyone who wants to make their own tofu, just know the limitations I have said.

Having used this press for a year, I’ve bought a second so I can make two batches of tofu at a time. The press is well made and durable. Rinse after using and let air dry. My wife likes tofu for breakfast. She enjoy's a brand from Trader Joe's but frequently gets a spoiled batch. I donned my shining armor and consulted the Oracle of Youtube which taught me how to make it fresh. I don't eat it myself but my lovely wife really appreciates the effort and I enjoy making it for her. But you can only make a small batch using the plastic tofu mold I started with, about three day's worth at her rate of consumption. This bamboo mold is considerably larger and I can more than double the amount of tofu I can make in one batch, cutting the cooking sessions down from two times a week to one. (NOTE: for novices, if you try this make sure your cooking vessel is large enough to accommodate the rise of the soy bean mixture if it boils. If you watch VERY carefully and cut the heat as it begins to bubble you can keep it from over-topping your kettle.) She likes it extra firm. Settle down; this is a family website. Another problem with the smaller plastic molds and mentioned in some of their reviews is that it's difficult to get enough weight on the lid to press out enough moisture to arrive at an extra firm curd. This bamboo mold is wider at the top and will accommodate a large can of tomatoes, on top of which I invert a cast-iron frying pan. Plenty heavy, plenty compression, plenty firm tofu. As an added bonus, I purchased a set of heart-shaped quiche pans (link below) and use them to emboss a heart into the tofu. See photo. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CJ7VEEC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is so beautifully crafted that it has to live, when not in use, on display, in my bookcase. No nails, jut beautiful Japanese joinery in a lovely, velvety wood--bamboo--with a subtle gloss finish. Treat it like fine furniture and don't wash it, just wipe it after use with a damp cloth. A bonus--it actually works perfectly to press tofu blocks to whatever firmness you want. And the kit includes a tough 'pressing' cloth of natural fiber, no additives, in a weave/weight, that is bloody hard to find in fabric stores these days. the coagulant comes in a heavy-duty resealable bag. And did I mention that it's beautiful.

This tofu kit is a new product and had no reviews when I ordered it. The kit is functional, but I was disappointed by its quality. The bamboo box appeared fine, but it had splinters on the inside which in addition to being dangerous is inconvenient for tofu making. The bamboo box is also surprisingly heavy. There was no country of origin on the label, which I found disappointing. I prefer not to buy things made in China that come into contact with food, due to low quality control in China. I do not know where this was made, but it seems very possible it is from China. The bamboo is made of strips glued together and I would appreciate some information on the type of glue and finishing on the bamboo. The included cloth had a horrible very strong musty smell. I soaked it in oxygen bleach for a few hours which helped. It also was covered in flecks of semi-embedded blackish brown seed like material. (possibly cotton seeds bits?) I found this annoying and concerning since I did not want unidentified material from this foul smelling cloth in my tofu. (For the uninitiated, the tofu sits in the cloth in the box.) If I had known all this beforehand I would have gone with the more costly Mitoku brand kit. If you want to save some money and get this kit despite all it's issues, I suggest buying your own cloth -- perhaps the Regency Natural Ultra Fine 100% Cotton Cheesecloth 9sq.ft . Or, just buy Nigari and cheesecloth, and use a fruit basket or strainer instead of the box. Also note, the instructions on the Nigari package are only relating to the manufacturers soymilk machine. However since using extra coagulent (Nigari) is no problem, just use more than you think you need and it will be fine. Also, in case you have never made tofu before, this is not a comprehensive kit, you will also need some plain soymilk. You can make your own from scratch with dry soybeans or try to find a plain fresh type at an Asian store, health food store, or supermarket (depending on where you live). If the only ingredients are soybeans and water there is some hope it could work. I tried Edensoy unsweetened milk and while it worked, the flavor was not something I would recommend, so I think you will need to use fresh soymilk. Soymilks like Silk which are full of additives will almost certainly not work to make normal tofu (you might get some kind of "pudding" out of it). Update: The kit is from China, for those wondering, the manufacturer confirmed this. For the curious: I made my own soymilk from scratch with dried organic soybeans to make the tofu. It was a lengthy process (and FYI probably should not be done in a pressure cooker!). Also, there have been some very strange comments on my review. So to clarify, no I do not work for any other tofu making kit company, I don't even own any other tofu making kit! Jeepers, wonder where all these weird comments are coming from. Also, yes I have made tofu before, just not in my own home, so please stop with all the bizarre commentary - tofu making kits are apparently a controversial topic, who knew.

Made my first tofu following the directions and it WORKED. I cannot believe the difference in taste. Everyone kept telling me homemade tasted better that store-bought tofu. THEY WERE RIGHT! I cannot stand even "organic, all-natural" tofu, it all tastes stale and nasty to me. But this, this was delectable. I will be making it regularly now. Thank you for such a wonderful product.

The tofu box is a wonderful tool in my kitchen. I prefer to use cheese cloth instead of the original thicker cloth it came with, as it gives me more control over drape before I put the soy curds to be pressed. I usually set it in the kitchen sink to allow for the liquid to drain without leaving much mess. The bottom part is completely detached from the rest of the box, making it easy to take out the tofu after it is done. However, because it is detached, I once absentmindedly attempted to lift the the whole box with the lid and the weight and the curds slipped down. Thankfully because they are wrapped in a cheese cloth there was no mess to clean as such and I just had a very soft tofu to work with. I use trader Joes olive oil as a weight. I imagine most of the boxed juices or other liquids would fit just fine.