In a similar spirit that @huelzcool embarked on their “Duel” DIY experiment — I likewise will attempt to hack my own DIY Huel recipe. Taking my cue from the well-known Soylent hack — Schmoylent — I christen my Duel hack, Schmuel :¬)
Though yesterday’s dispatch email prepared me for a four-five day wait — I was pleasantly surprised that after ordering Sunday evening, my “Schmuel” order just arrived today! Only 1 working day from the day I ordered. And conveniently just in time for lunch! Pretty impressive. No?
500ml water into my food processor. 3 scoops of “Schmuel” on top of the water. Spin it around for a minute and a half or so. People Chow time!
The “pancake batter” appearance is exactly what I was expecting — based on all the Soylent reviews I’d read over the past few years. That’s an apt description for the color anyway. Consistency-wise, 500ml of water and 3 scoops of powder, was probably the same consistency of melted ice cream. A good consistency for sucking it through a straw. But a straw wouldn’t stand up in it. For that, I’d use less water.
The taste made me immediately remember the “utilitarian” adjective I recall from another review I read once. Sweet? Yeah. But not too sweet. Vanilla-ey? Yup. But I love vanilla. And to my palate anyway, the “Shmuel’s” vanilla flavor is no stronger than the vanilla flavor of Haagen-Daz vanilla ice cream. It tastes equally as sweet as ice cream — come to think of it. So if you don’t like how sweet Haagen-Daz vanilla ice cream is, then you won’t like “Schmuel”.
I wouldn’t reach for this over my favorite premium dairy ice cream, mind you. It’s not a “dessert replacement powder” after all. Besides, if it tasted too good, it would be too tempting to over-indulge on it like over-indulging on any other super tasty health halo effect food. And who among us haven’t been there? Right? ;¬)
In summary. My initial taste-test tells me this “Shmuel” powder is easily hackable. By adding some of the other plant-based protein sources I’ve had success with in the past (Spirulina, peanut butter, hemp seeds, additional pea protein, etc.) I know I won’t have any problem concocting a very delicious and healthful performance shake — customized to get a macro-nutrient balance tailored to my individual specifications.
“Schmuel” revison I (lunch yesterday) held me for about 4⅓ hours. For “Schmuel” revison II (dinner last night) I replaced 500 ml of water with 500 ml of unsweetened whole bean soy milk. I also threw in the last 100g of powdered peanut butter I had left over from an older protein shake recipe of mine.
That batch was a lot thicker than the first. Too thick for a straw. Light brownish-gray in color. Noticeably sweeter than the first batch. Prolly because the peanut butter powder comes with little shards of sweetened chocolate in it.
That batch was a failure. It sucked! — to be blunt about it. Not sure if the peanut butter powder was too old or what. With yesterday’s lunch batch, I found myself enthusiastically licking the food processor bowl clean. But with the revision II dinner batch last night, although I ate most of it, it was a Gitmo-esque force feeding session to tell you the truth.
Ah! But then came “Schmuel” revison III (breakfast “today morning”) ;¬) 250ml water + 250ml unsweetened whole bean soy milk + 3 scoops “Schmuel” powder. 45 second spin cycle. Chow Time People!
A little bit thicker than yesterday’s revision I. But still easy to suck through a straw. Remarkably less sweet than yesterday’s. Less vanilla flavor too. In fact, the standout taste by far in this batch, is that distinctive, unmistakable taste of pea protein.
I say “taste”. But a more appropriate word is probably “note”. The pea protein “note” is subtle. I could see how somebody who’d never had pea protein before, would probably describe the vague, almost non-descript flavor of pea protein as “artificial”.
This revision III breakfast batch was a success. I’m thinking all it needs is either 100 ml or so more water. Or 100ml or so less soy milk. In any case, I enjoyed this morning’s batch so much, that not only did I enthusiastically lick the food processor bowl clean like I also did for the lunch batch yesterday — but today I even very carefully licked the blades of the food processor clean too (don’t try that one at home, kids) ;¬)
Lunch batch (“Schmuel” revision IV): 350ml water + 250ml unsweetened whole bean soy milk + a very light dash of ground cinnamon + 3 scoops “Schmuel” powder + the contents of 1 probiotic acidophilus capsule. I let this batch sit and chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes before sucking it down.
Bona fide milk shake consistency this time. Still easily sucked through a straw. Pleasing level of sweetness. Mild vanilla flavor. The cinnamon is only perceived as a very, very subtle aftertaste.
I’m drinking “Schmuel” revison IV as I type this. And I can’t 100% put my finger on the taste. All I can say for sure is, I like this particular hack the best so far!
The tiny dash of ground cinnamon seems to have transformed the pea protein notes into more of a flavor of either almond milk and/or rice milk_. The closest thing I can equate the taste to at the moment — recalling other beverages I’ve had in the past — is a mixture of hints of all of the following…
a white rice-based drink served in Mexican restaurants State-side called, Horchata
my own homemade brown rice milk (which is really just brown rice Horchata)
Rice Dream Original Flavor
almond milk
pancake batter
Now. For tongue safety reasons, I need to sign off right here to give the licking of this food processor blade my undivided attention.
Alternatively, the second way that you can acquire the “base” ingredients, is to buy them in their “premixed” format — which is "the short-cut, one-step way" to implement your own “Schmuel” hacks.
Even though essentially the same “base ingredient” information is already laid out in @huelzcool’s “multiple-steps” thread, the top-most sticky post at the very top of the forum landing page, was posted yesterday in response to two threads discussing "the short-cut, one-step way" of acquiring those exact same “base ingredients”.
In any case. Once you’ve acquired the “base ingredients” — either the longer, many-steps way or by taking a short-cut — then just come back to my recipe thead here, and take it from there.
TIP: Bookmarking my user profile page, is a convenient way to always have my DIY "Schmuel" recipe tips handy ;¬)
They cannot specify because if they do the post will get locked. Actually, @LeggyMountrumpian why did you post this review here, and not on another site where the hosting party would not mind?
“Schmuel” revision V (dinner). Ditto on the numbers from the revision IV batch: 350ml water + 250ml unsweetened whole bean soy milk + a very light dash of ground cinnamon + 3 scoops “Schmuel” powder + the contents of 1 probiotic acidophilus capsule.
The liquid ratios to the 3 scoops (100 grams according the “Schmuel” label) of powder are the perfect balance for a standard milk shake consistency. This time though, I let it chill in the freezer compartment of the fridge for 12 or 15 minutes or so.
As I’m drinking this revison IV “Schmuel”, I’m wondering what effect — if any — the 15 minutes in the freezer might have had on the taste? I’m thinking: Either I’ve become desensitized to the original sweetness and the vanilla that I described yesterday — and the pea protein notes I talked about earlier today — or has something about the chilling, hella reduced the intensity of the sweetness, the vanilla and the pea protein notes?
Either way, they’re a lot less intense with this tasting, than I originally perceived them. Mind you, I did add a teensy-weensy more ground cinnamon this time. So that might have something to do with the reduced intensity of those properties. Though I still can’t say I really taste the cinnamon distinctly.
The bottom line is, I feel like I made a good choice with my DIY “Schmuel” hackathon approach :¬)
My posts in this thread are not reviews. They’re recipes.
If you’re not “Schmuel”-curious, @Quidditch, then why did you post here? I would not be offended in the least if you ignored my posts entirely. Honest I wouldn’t.
Besides, the protein powders targeted at the sports and athletics market, are not in “direct competition” with powder makers that market to your general Joe Q. Office Worker.
Your average muscle head jock is used to necking down not-neccessarily-gourmet-flavored performance powders and potions. We just bite the bullet and get the goop down our gullets without whining about it not tasting like Chateaubriand. Some of us have been “taking it like a man” everyday for years before “Schmoylent” and “Schmuel” were even a SchmUML diagram on a programmer’s white board.
Joe and Joline Q. Office Worker on the other hand are much more finicky. They insist on haute cuisine-level food replacement powders that taste like Pineapple Rum Flambe or something just as Marks & Spencer-ey.
Even if one powder maker monopolized the posh market, there would be nothing wrong with another bandwagon jumper-onner catering to the other end of the spectrum who prefer McDonald’s flavor or Doner Kebab In A Pita With Hot Sauce flavor.
Reading a lot of the posts in this forum, it sounds like Huel’s non-athletic types won’t be really happy with any food powder, unless it taste exactly like the junk food they’re replacing with the powder. That’s a totally different group of people from those who typically buy athletic- and sport-focused products.
Huel’s monopoly is safe, from that standpoint.
So relax. And embrace the concept of, “To each his own” Research has show that adopting a more inclusive outlook in regards to “the others” you sometimes have to begrudgingly encounter in your life, will make you a happier person in the long run :¬)
The inevitable monotony of a mono-option meal plan — and the accompanying inevitable drudgery — has befallen me today. Having read some other of today’s most recent posts, I detect some kind of trend.
On autopilot, I went ahead and whipped up a batch of “Schmuel” as usual. Except this time, the pancake batter look, got me to wondering how well might this stuff fare as actual pancakes.
So I fired up the griddle and gave it a shot!
My typical 600ml liquid + 100gm powder mixture — while thick enough for drinking as a shake — make for thin pancakes when ladled onto the griddle in perfect little circles the way mom taught us.
If I had given the actual pancake idea some forethought, I would have used maybe half as much liquid.
I’ll cut to the chase. As actual pancakes, “Schmuel” is an abject failure. This particular batch was at least. Either a lot less liquid or a lot more “Schmuel” powder could probably work.
Also, if I tried making actual pancakes out of “Shmuel” again, I would use my non-stick griddle. The griddle I used this time was an old, badly scuffed one that I eventually remembered too late into the process, that I’d previously given up on several years ago because of its long ago-discovered uselessness as a pancake griddle.
“Schmuel” revision VI. 450ml water + 250ml unsweetened whole bean soy milk + a very light dash of ground cinnamon + 3 scoops “Schmuel” powder + the contents of 1 probiotic acidophilus capsule + 1 sachet of melted creamed coconut.
The extra water is to counter the extra thickness that the melted creamed coconut adds to the mix. I melted the creamed coconut by putting the unopened sachet into a bowl. Then I poured boiling water onto the unopened sachet until it floated in the bowl. Starting from its room temperature solid state, it took maybe 3 minutes to melt into a liquid state.
Microwaving would have been quicker. But its easier to overcook those little sachets in the microwave. Then the coconut turns from white to brown and the sachet explodes in the microwave.
In addition to imparting the scrum-deli-umcious coconut flavor to “Schmuel”, the coconut oil also gives it a creamy, smooth, Jello™ Pudding-like texture. Not to mention adding the nutritional boost that coconut is renown for.
I’d bet a lot of people would enjoy this tasty, nutritious “Schmuel” hack! I love it myself.
For “Schmuel” revision VII, I cut the pure “Schmuel” powder with some of its constituent ingredients that I already had in my pantry…
500ml water + 1 scoop “Schmuel” powder + 1⅛ scoop Organic Pea Protein Powder + ⅞ scoop Organic Soy Flour + ⅜ scoop Golden Ground Linseed + a killer experimental secret spice I’ve chosen to play close to my chest and keep closed-source for the time being ;¬)
This batch having only ⅓ of whatever emulsifying agent is blended in the premixed “Schmuel”, the consistency this time is that of whole dairy milk. Plus, I only used water — no soy milk — this time.
With only ⅓ of the sweetener and vanilla of every other hack so far, the taste of this batch is best described as — exactly what I’d always imagined people mean when they describe the flavor of Rosa Lab’s Soylent 2.0 as “neutral”.
The two words that best describe the sweetness of this hack, are natural and subtle. The two words that best describe the vanilla flavor — just barely.
I was pleasantly surprised that adding the straight pea protein powder didn’t make for a stronger taste of pea protein! The soy flour added no discernible taste either. If either of them did bring anything to the flavor table, my “secret spice” did a killer job of neutralizing them on their way past my taste buds.
This is my favorite “Schmuel” hack so far. The reasons are 1) this one’s the most nutritionally personalized of them all so far. And 2) The Soylent 2.0-like neutralness.
Today marks my 1 week anniversary as a member of the soylent generation. And I commemorated the occasion with the inclusion of an ingredient in “Schmuel” revision VIII, that would have no doubt gotten the thumbs-up from Charlton Heston ;¬)
750ml water + 1 scoop “Schmuel” powder + 1⅛ scoop Organic Pea Protein Powder + ⅞ scoop Organic Soy Flour + ⅜ scoop Golden Ground Linseed + a very light dash of ground cinnamon + 7 grams of Spirulina powder + the contents of 1 probiotic acidophilus capsule
Having used Spirulina a lot in the past — and therefore knowing the strong green flavor the brand I use adds to things — I upped the amount of water this time to 750ml.
Faith and Begora! Just like Saint Patrick’s Day at Mickey D’s, I’ve got a green shake here! A green shake that tastes like Soylent™ 2.0.
So I’m celebrating my 1 week anniversary as a “lenter” — with a delicous Soylent Green shake! How about that? :¬)
Spirulina’s green flavor is not everybody’s bag. But I like its green-ness so much, I sometimes — as unbelievable as it might seem — actually crave it.
The trick to enjoying the taste of Spirulina powder is to 1) Buy the purist, highest quality powder you can afford. Nutrex™ Pure Hawaiian Spirulina Pacifica is my personal favorite. Now™ Foods Organic 100% Pure Spirulina Powder is my second go-to option. And 2) Use only whatever your particular brand suggests as a single serving — 3 grams in the case of Nutrex™; 7 grams in the case of Now™ Foods.
Once you’ve gotten used to the green flavor of a single serving of Spirulina powder, then gradually increase your serving size to meet whatever particular nutritional requirement you are aiming for.
