Fresh plant milk in minutes that tastes utterly delicious... surely this is too good to be true? And yet somehow, Milky Plant manages to deliver just that and we're hooked.
The ultimate whizzy kitchen gadget, this isn't just a product for vegans - although we know you'll love it as much as we do. It's also a fantastic choice if you're looking for a sustainable, fresh, and healthy milk option that lets you say goodbye to cartons and plastic waste.
The Milky Plant machine lets you whip up a variety of non-dairy milk in less time than it would take you to boil a kettle of water. And it's not just quick and easy; using this magic gadget somehow manages to be fun and satisfying too, giving you complete control over what goes in your milk.
The Milky Plant is already on our shortlist of the best kitchen gadgets for 2024 and it's easy to see why. It lets you whip up creamy and delicious plant and nut-based milk in mere minutes with absolutely zero waste. Plus, you can say goodbye to environmentally unfriendly milk cartons and plastic bottles, and it's an absolute breeze to clean — just hit the self-cleaning button and it does the job for you.
Price and availability
Now, we're not going to lie, we did draw in a fairly sharp breath when we found out the price of the Milky Plant machine (more on that in a minute) but once we started using it we quickly came to see how much value for money it offers. It uses very little energy, there's no single-use plastics to worry about, and you can fill it with anything from almonds and coconut to soy and rice. And the best part? There's zero waste.
Price and availability
Let's be honest, with the cost of living crisis still ongoing, finding a spare £290 to invest in the Milky Plant is going to feel like a stretch for most of us. This is most definitely a premium product. However, if you feel you have the wiggle room in your budget for it, our tester feels it's a product well worth buying.
"This is an expensive gadget but the manufacturers reckon you can recoup the costs within 180 times of using it, approximately. Is it worth the price? Yes, if you spend money on plant-based milks I think this is a worthwhile investment," explains Heidi.
"This might sound daft but the savings feel even bigger because we always have a bag of oats or almonds in the kitchen so it feels like you’re making plant-based milk for nothing," she added.
Design and features
Dimensions: 38 x 25 x 15cm | Weight: 9.5 lbs | Capacity of milk made: 500ml
If you've been dying to make your own fresh plant milk at the touch of a button, the Milky Plant is a product you're going to want to have in your kitchen. Like so many of us, Heidi's eldest son has become interested in adopting a more plant-based diet, so she was really keen to test this out and see if it really could make life easier for them as a family.
"One in three Brits choose a plant-based alternative to dairy, and switching to oat milk has been an easy move for my son. But as a family of five, switching us all from cow’s milk to oat milk isn’t something I’ve been keen to do because it’s so expensive — until Milky Plant came into our lives. I jumped at the chance to try a new gadget that promises to make plant-based milk at home from nuts, seeds, cereal, and water — without all the mess and faff of doing so from scratch," she told us.
Milky Plant claims that all you need to do is add your chosen ingredients to the container, add water, press the start button, and three minutes later, you'll have creamy and delicious plant-based milk. But is making a healthy drink at home really that quick and easy?
"I was a bit dubious that it would be that straightforward in practice but it genuinely is," says Heidi. "And, unlike plant-based milk from the supermarket, there are no nasties (like emulsifiers or preservatives) in the milk you make in the Milky Plant machine."
If you're anything like us, you may have tried to make plant-based milk in a traditional blender and given up because it's just such a huge faff. It takes a good 15-minutes to do it this way, plus there's so much time-consuming prep because you have to soak the nuts overnight before you can put them in the blender. And don't even get us started with how bulky a traditional blender can look on your kitchen counter.
With the Milky Plant machine, there are none of those worries. Although there's almost no gadget out there tiny enough not to be spotted in your kitchen, it is sleeker and more compact than many kitchen gadgets, which is surprising given that it can produce 500ml of milk. There's no straining required at the end of it all either and the self-cleaning function was something we were particularly keen to try out.
"By far the best thing about Milky Plant is how little mess it makes," says Heidi. "I’ve always contemplated making my own plant-based milk but the mess and faff involved really put me off. This clever gadget has a self-cleaning mode that actually works and - my favourite part — you can pop the leftover pulp in your smoothie or your granola, or use it for composting. You do have to empty the filter after each use but it’s no more hassle than emptying a coffee pot or cleaning a blender."
Finally, for families where everyone likes a different kind of plant-based milk, you're going to love that the Milky Plant machine can accommodate them all. Oats, soy, rice, almonds, coconut, potato (yes, potato!), hemp, and pea — you name it, the Milky Plant can make it, and that was a serious draw for Heidi and her family.
"I was super impressed with the range of plant-based drinks that can be made in the machine, and the recipe book that came with it is very informative and useful. We’ve experimented with chocolate oat milk (yum) and vanilla almond milk so far."
How we tested
- The Milky Plant was tested by a family of five
- It was put through its paces trying out a variety of different plant-based ingredients
- As well as looking at how quick and easy the Milky Plant was to use, our tester also considered whether it was as simple to clean as it claimed to be and the overall value for money it offered
Things you won't find on the box
Although Milky Plant are rightly very proud of their ethical manufacturing and sustainability practices, it's worth highlighting them in more depth here. Instead of viewing their products as waste when they reach the end of their life, they see them as sources of valuable resources for new products, offering end-of-life recycling for all of their customers.
With so many of us looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, being able to make fresh and healthy plant-based milk at home is something that's going to draw a lot of us to the Milky Plant. With no plastic, no cartons, and no waste, this really is a planet-friendly product.
"I really like the fact that making plant-based milk at home means we’re reducing our usage of tetra pak containers that end up in landfills. That’s a big plus for me because I’m always looking for ways to help my family do its bit for the planet and this feels like a tangible way to reduce waste," says Heidi.
It's also worth noting that Milky Plant has recently been enrolled in the Amazon sustainability accelerator scheme too — this is a huge achievement when you consider that this exclusive programme selects just 15 sustainable businesses per year.
You might be wondering if this superstar of a machine comes with any drawbacks, but to be honest, our tester found it hard to come up with anything. Don't worry though, we persevered until we got something out of her.
It would be handy if it came with more than one glass bottle but to be fair you can buy more from the website," Heidi told us. "It’s a little on the noisy side but, again, no more so than a smoothie maker. It looks good on a kitchen counter although you do need a good bit of space for it. But, again, the same could be said of a decent coffee maker or any other kitchen gadget that’s not necessarily an essential but more of a nice to have. Ultimately, I think it’s well worth making space in your kitchen and your life for this."
Who's it best for
If you want to whip up utterly delicious rich and creamy plant and nut-based milks at home with zero fuss and none of the usual faff, the Milky Plant Machine is a product we can't recommend highly enough.
Yes, it's expensive (there's no getting around that), but when you consider that you'll recoup your costs after 180 uses, it suddenly feels like a much more affordable option. Plus, if you're looking to turn more towards a plant-based diet and cut down on your use of cartons and plastics, the Milky Plant is going to let you tick both of those boxes.
It's also a fantastic choice for busy families and working professionals who are looking for quick and easy ways to make some small and simple changes to their diet that will have positive results on their overall health and well-being.
Need an alternative?
There's no denying that the Milky Plant machine is one of the best products on the market for making fresh, healthy, and delicious plant and nut-based milk in just minutes. But we also understand that it's pricey and with the cost of living crisis ongoing, this may not feel like a kitchen gadget you can justify at this moment in time.
However, that doesn't mean you can't make amazing plant-based milk at home that's going to be good for you and the environment, which is why we've done our research to find you a quality alternative at a fraction of the cost. The Salter Plant M!lk Maker doesn't have the same modern and sophisticated look as some of its pricier competitors, but it gets the job done.
Just like the Milky Plant, you can transform your leftover pulp into mouth-watering granola bars, energy bites, or brownies, and while you do have to soak your ingredients overnight, when you consider the Salter Plant M!lk Maker is available for just £64.99, we have a feeling you won't mind one bit.
