At Twin Oaks, we make tofu about 4 days during a typical week. We produce the tofu in a building we call the Tofu Hut. Around 25% of the members in the community are involved in some way with the production of tofu. Those who work in the Tofu Hut specialize in different areas and assume different levels of responsibility.

Making tofu all begins with the bean soaker, who soaks the locally-grown soybeans in large barrels of well-water on the night before a production day. The kettle operator arrives at the Tofu Hut early in the morning (around 5:00am) and gets all the equipment and supplies ready for production. One of the kettle operatorŐs first tasks is to start up the wood furnace used to heat the kettle. Once the first batch of soybeans is put through the grinder and the soybean slurry in the kettle reaches a critical temperature, then the real action of making tofu beings. For the next 8-9 hours a crew of 4 people, who are replaced every 3-4 hours on rotating shifts, work together repeating the same labor-intensive process over and over again.


After the soymilk is pumped out of the kettle, the next task is to curd the scalding-hot soymilk by stirring in a sea-water extract called nigari. It is the job of another worker (the trays person) to remove the whey from the curd by using weighted-down strainers and a vacuum pump. When enough whey is separated from the curds, the curds are poured into rectangular trays and then wrapped in specially cut-to-size cheese-cloths. Lids are placed onto the curd-filled trays and pneumatic presses are used to press the curds into firm rectangular blocks of organic tofu. When pressing is complete, the 12-lb block is cut into 1-lb pieces using a homemade slicing device. We then place the tofu in a cool water bath to help decrease bacteria growth and retain and insure the freshest flavor. We then weigh and vacuum pack the tofu in 12-lb and 1-lb packages. Lastly the tofu is pasteurized and cooled to give it itŐs just-made taste and 60-day shelf-life.

Okara, the grainy part of the soybean, is a copious byproduct of making tofu. We save and cool some of the dayŐs okara to make our mushroom pate and the rest is used as compost for our organic vegetable gardens.

On a normal production day, 16 cycles are completed, meaning 16 full kettles of soymilk are pumped out and made into roughly 1600-lbs of tofu.