Monica Hewitt is an accomplished chef with an extensive background in setting up kitchens around the world. From selecting kitchenware and kitchen utensils to menu planning, Monica has been responsible for establishing complete restaurants from the ground up. As the Kitchen and Cooking Expert at Homesthetics, Monica is in charge of reviewing and curating all cooking and kitchen-related content on the platform. In her free time, Monica is a good sport, enjoying critiquing our homemade meals around the clock and telling us what could have been improved in sandwiches.
Preparing nut milk yourself is one of the most gratifying experiences you can have. It is nutritious and delicious and it carries a lot of health benefits that you stand to gain from drinking it. When prepared just right, nut milk can be one of the most amazing beverages in the world which you can use as an ingredient for a variety of dishes or simply drink it on its own. Of course, as important as it is to prepare nut milk properly, you also need to take some steps to ensure you can keep on making it properly. One of the most overlooked aspects of it is cleaning the nut bag.
This is a complete guide that will help you learn how to clean a nut milk bag. It is important to clean a nut milk bag because it doesn’t just come in handy for straining nut milk, it can be used for a variety of other applications in the kitchen.
To move the most obvious question out of the way, the perfect time to clean a nut milk bag is right after you use it. You also need to clean them up before you put them to use. The fact that a nut milk bag is so useful in the kitchen, you should make it a point to keep it clean from all residues, odors, and unwanted particles.
How to Clean a Nut Milk Bag
Cleaning the Nut Bag Before First Use
When you first buy a new nut milk bag from the store, you do not start using it right away. Even before first use, there are a few steps you need to follow in cleaning a nut milk bag before you start to use it.
Wash the milk bag using a natural or any organic soap to remove the germs, dust, and any particles which are still there from the production process.
Turn it inside out and wash up every bit of the nut milk bag including the seams so that you get through all of it thoroughly.
Rinse the nut milk bag properly with clear water. The water should be running from a tap under the sink, not standing water.
To make it even cleaner, you can even soak them in boiling water before leaving them to air dry.
Hang it out and let it dry in the air within a well-ventilated area. It is even better if you hang it in a place with direct sunlight.
You do not need to soak it up in soapy water to remove odors because there will not be any when you are washing it for the first time.
Cleaning a Nut Milk Bag After Use
Once you clean the nut milk bag like that, you can start to use it. Cleaning the nut milk bag is pretty simple when it is completely new but now you need to learn the steps of how to clean it after you use it.
First things first, you need to turn the bag inside and out and remove any and all particles. Turning it inside out exposes the seams where particles might get caught up so you can remove them. If there is a lot of pulp or nuts remaining inside it from the use, you can even transfer them to another container to use for other recipes as ingredients.
Now, for the steps to clean a nut milk bag.
1. Turn it Inside Out
Take the bag and turn it inside out so that the seams are exposed. You will find the bag a lot easier to clean with everything in your reach and remove the particles completely.
2. Pass it Through Running Water
Take the bag in a sink, open the tap, and pour the water over it. Make sure that the water is at high pressure so that all the nut particles caught up in the bag are washed away. Keep running the water until all the particles are removed.
3. Apply Natural Soap
Now, you need to apply some organic or milk natural soap to the bag. It is very important that the soap you use is mild so that it does not leave any residue of its own or a strong smell within the bag.
4. Sanitation and Soaking
The first time you wash the bag, you do not need to soak it for smells but from the first time you use it, there will be odors you have to deal with. To remove stains and odors, you should soak the bag in grapefruit seed extract and water. Alternatively, you can use a combination of vinegar and water to remove the smells.
Sanitize the bag in boiling water because this kills off any bacteria which can sour the milk you strain through it when you use it the next time.
5. Bleaching
The next thing you need to know about how to clean a nut milk bag after use is to bleach it. The bag can become discolored by use and it is better to bleach it using oxygen bleach since it is non-toxic and it kills bacteria.
Take two cups of water, add a teaspoon of oxygen bleach, and soak the nut milk bag in this solution until the stain is removed. Once it’s gone, rinse the bag in clean running water. Do not bleach the bag too often because too much bleach can weaken the bag over time.
6. Preventing Bacteria and Mold Formation
As you keep on reusing the bags, there is always a chance that mold or bacteria can start to form on the milk nut bag. There are a few things you can do before rinsing the bag to prevent the formation of these germs.
Dip it in boiling water | Dipping the bag in boiling hot water for around 15 minutes before rinsing will keep the bacteria and mold away.
Oxygen bleaching | Using oxygen bleach from time to time also eliminates any germs which can form molds on the bag.
Alkaline Solution | A mixture of water and salt can also be very effective in preventing the formation of mold and bacteria. Soak it in the alkaline solution for at least 30 minutes. It kills all the bacteria.
Sundry | Drying the bags out in the sun is also very effective in killing bacteria because of the UV rays from sunlight.
7. Rinsing
Once you have taken care of the sanitization, you need to rinse the nut milk bag completely to remove all soap and remaining particles. There might be some stubborn stains that remain on the bag even after all these steps. Once you rinse the bag, use the grapefruit extract and water solution another time and rinse the bag in clean water again to remove them.
8. Drying
While drying in the sun is good for sanitizing the bag, it is a good idea to dry them in a well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight after the final rinse.
9. Storage
Last but not least, it is important to store the nut milk bag properly to keep it clean. Once the bag is completely clean and dried out, you should store it on a dry and clean surface. It is better to store them in a breathable container which prevents any chances of condensation and bacteria even when the bag is not in use for extended periods of time.
Final Thoughts On Clean A Nut Milk Bag
Just by following these steps, you can learn how to easily clean a nut milk bag. As important as it is to use the right ingredients and the right recipe to make all the delicious delights in the kitchen, you also need to care about the tools you use to make them and the nut milk bag is no exception.
When you clean the nut milk bag, you make sure that you avoid any unwanted residue or smells from previous use coming into the next recipe you try out using the nut milk bag.
