SoyaJoy G5 Soy Milk Maker & Soup Maker 1.6L - 2020 New Model for Homemade Soy Milk, Soup & Nut Milk - Perfect for Vegan, Dairy-Free & Healthy Lifestyle

Have had this for about a year and 4 months so far, and with use roughly every other day it is still going strong. Very happy with it.Not too hard to clean. Best cleaned right away once cooled slightly or rinsed, like with anything, but even if left out just a rinse to loosen it and come back a few minutes later works fine. I find it helpful to have a pull out sprayer at my sink so that I can spray the machine, but hold it such to avoid letting the electronic parts get wet. The instructions also suggest/show as much too.Flavor is great! I've used, with equivalent results, organic yellow soybeans from Nuts.com and Shiloh Farms organic yellow soybeans from Vitacost.com, plus I think there was a sampler that came with my unit (Soymerica I think non-gmo, but not organic IIRC).There are two water levels to adjust the resulting volume vs. thickness of milk produced. Truly, I don't really notice much of a difference, so I just fill between the lines and get about 1.25 to 1.5 quarts per batch. When straining, I do add a little more water and swirl it around the machine to get the last bits out (mostly okara pulp at this point), I include this in my net milk.I rinse then soak for a bunch of hours (say 4+ or so) or overnight and drain the beans before filling with the final water and making the milk, although the machine has options for unsoaked beans as well which I've used occasionally. I like the presoaked bean quality of milk better, but it's not a substantial difference.I have yet to try the other feature options, such as soups.After straining (filter was included), the nutritious and protein-rich (I read) "waste" product okara can be used to cook other dishes. I included it homemade granola regularly, and sometimes make gnocchi with it. There are a wealth of recipes on the web. Nothing needs to go to waste. The okara freezes well until you are ready to use it. Pretty much every batch I make the okara goes into the freezer first.For many years, I gave up on soy milk as the commercial ones like Silk especially used to bother my stomach, probably due to one of the fillers, and my guess would be the carrageenan. With this, I can drink as much soy milk as I like and my stomach is just fine since it's just soy and water. And presoaking/draining reduces/removes any bean-triggered gas (I forget offhand if that's a thing with soy as with other beans, but in any case I do not have any issues with the milk I make).Before getting this, I tried making soy milk manually a bunch of times. Didn't know machines existed - what a find! Anyone who has done it manually on the stove, knows that needs constant attention and a BIG pot to avoid spillage. With this machine, just press a button and walk away.There is a timer to know when it'll be ready, and it will beep for a minute to let you know it's done. It'll keep it warm while plugged in once done. I am able to watch TV/movies while it is running about 30 feet away with no walls in-between, but in a smaller space it could maybe be too loud I am guessing. It's not bad, IMO, much quieter than I'd expect, but not silent of course. It does have to go through brief cycles of grinding to do its thing, but those are muted. Nothing at all like those jet-powered blenders. More like an upgraded dishwasher which has sound dampening. At least similar to mine.For several years I used the Instant Ace Nova blender to make our weekly batch of soy milk. Recently it started to just quit during the last five minutes of the milk cycle. I wasn't happy anyway about the difficulty of cleaning the blender. Then when I found out that the company wasn't making blenders any longer, that was the final straw. Time to buy something better. After a lot of research, I decided on the Soyajoy. After several weeks of using it, I'm happy with the product. The container is easy to clean, it is less noisy than the blender, and I don't have to precook the soybeans. The texture of the milk is fine for us without straining, which is an advantage because I hate the mess of straining! After pouring the milk into a storage jar, I always add another cup or so of water to thin it a little.Another plus: the company offers a two-year warranty if you email them a copy of your order.Was worried it would be an appliance i used once and then it would sit there. I use it every other day. Before I was making soy milk with blender, pot and then squeeze through nut milk bag. It was a labor that I had to set a chunk of time aside on my days off. With this machine I simply add my beans, either soaked or dry, add water to the line, set program and let it go. 36 minutes later its done. I cool it down, squeeze through milk bag ( or use the strainer if I'm really pressed for time) add some vanilla, (no sweetener) and I'm done. I can literally do other things in between letting the cycle run and letting it cool. I can make milk on days I work now. So far I love this milk maker. Be careful when cleaning to only clean the inner steel parts. Its not hard to clean at all if you hand wash immediately. I've had it almost a month. Hoping that it will last a long time by following the instructions for careful use and cleaning. Its well made. Not flimsy feeling. Looks nice on the counter.Love my Soyajoy! It has paid for itself many times over, as I use it several times a week. it is easy to use, easy to clean (as long as you do so right way), makes wonderful soy milk, and I don't need to take the time (and gasoline!) to go to the grocery store for an expensive carton of soy milk when I've run out. (Making soy milk WITHOUT this machine was a real chore, and was sometimes ALSO a nusiance when the pot of soy milk boiled over. Boiling over is NEVER a problem with this precision machine!)Here are some tips for you to make things easy: You'll want to buy organic dry soybeans in bulk, first of all. Additionally, I recommend rinsing, then soaking the soybeans a couple of pounds at a time overnight in a large bowl. Next, drain, rinse and freeze them into individual baggies in batches of 250 gms each (maybe 1 1/4 cups?). The baggies thaw fast either on the counter or in a bowl in the microwave. Follow the directions that come with the machine, at that point. This way, you are never more than about 45 minutes away from a nice, fresh batch of soy milk.Save the okara (resulting soybean solids) for cooking projects. I panfry oatmeal/okara burgers made with poultry seasoning, tomato paste, salt and pepper, and mixed with pulverized peppers and onions. I then freeze them up for my husband's midnight snack attacks. Easy to throw onto a pan to re-heat and make a wholesome and delicious sandwich! There are lots of other things to cook with okara, so don't just throw it away.ONE of these days I'll try some of the other functions of the Soyajoy, such as making soup or another kind of plant-based milk. Lovely machine. Have fun with yours!!!Thanks!Giving it 3 stars because product arrived in box that was open. Price should have been discounted to reflect that.I love this machine. I drop 1 star because the price is so high. I wish I could buy it directly from Amzon.com.