Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been making soy milk from soy beans since 1996. I have followed methods described by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi in their book Book of Tofu. We purchased this machine through Amazon to make soy milk, and to make tofu from the soy milk, since it promised to simplify the process. (My wife purchased the Soyajoy G4 through her Amazon account, which is why it does not appear as an "Amazon Certified Purchase" which seems to excite some people.) If making soy milk and tofu is your intent, do not buy this machine. The main problem with the Soyajoy G4 is that it leaves large amounts of protein in the okara (the solid remains of soybeans when you make soy milk) for two reasons. One, the grinding mechanism and program leaves the soybeans in chunks, rather than puree. Two, the heating cycle is too short, and as a result the milk is weak. The first thing I noticed when the complete cycle had finished (about 30 minutes, and after the machine indicated that it was done from its beeping signal) was that the milk appeared to be weak and watery, not what I am used to when making soy milk from scratch from soaked soy beans. We did a test using the soybeans taken from the same batch, using this machine and comparing it with using a regular blender. The resulting soy milk we produced with this machine was thin and lacked body. Using the blender we produced a greater volume of thicker texture. Using one and half cups of dried soy beans, after soaking for twelve hours, and using the Soyajoy G4 Soy Milk Maker, and then forming curds with nigari, we obtain so few curds from the process that our SoyaJoy Total Tofu Kit reduced the block of tofu to a sheet just one eighth of an inch thick. Using the same amount of soy beans from the same batch, using a blender to puree the beans, and using the same amount of nigari from the same batch, resulted in block of tofu about one inch thick. That indicates to me that the Soyajoy G4 left much of the soy protein in the okara. Furthermore, the okara left from using this machine was about four times the volume as that using the blender, and it remained in large, coarse pieces instead of a puree. In my mind, the Soyajoy G4 did a less than adequate job of extracting the soy protein from the soy beans. My personal recommendation based on my experience of purchasing the machine and using it per the instructions: if you have a blender or food processor, and hot water, in your kitchen, use those. You don't need this machine. We returned ours to Amazon. The review above reflects my direct experience with the Soyajoy G4 Soy Milk Maker and Soup Maker. I have no connection with any manufacturer or marketing organizations. I do not think Amazon should be hosting comments from those with an interest in the sales and marketing of products: that is not in the spirit of customer reviews.