The type of peanut butter that separates & must be mixed...

[Fairacre]

You know the type, sold in jars containing just peanuts and a bit of salt. The oil always separates and rises to the top, and must be mixed back into the ground peanuts before using. I've been eating this type of peanut butter for 35 years now, starting back in the day when you could only find it in "health food stores". Each time I open a new jar I have used a butter knife to laboriously stir in the oil, trying to get it evenly distributed to the bottom of the jar.

Now after all these years I've finally thought of an easier way to accomplish this task. I may be the last person on the planet to have thought of this, but in case there are a few other folks who could benefit from this tip, I offer it here:

Empty the entire jar into a mixing bowl and stir it together with a hand-held electric mixer!

It does the job thoroughly & quickly, and very neatly. No more oil spilling over the rim of the jar, no more stiff remnants of unmixed ground peanuts lurking at the bottom. It also makes the peanut butter nice and soft with a lofty texture. After mixing it can be put back in the original jar. You can use a piece of bread to wipe out any remnants left in the bowl and enjoy it as a snack.

 

[freemotion]

Something that also helps....when we buy jars of it, usually several at a time, we store them upside down until ready to use.

I prefer the kind that you grind yourself at the store. It can sit for weeks and weeks in the fridge without separating. I wonder why the stuff in the jar separates...is it months and months old? We live too far from that store to get the fresh stuff very often.

 

[big brown horse]

Great ideas you two!

 

[Fairacre]

I have tried storing the jars upside down and it helps a little, but usually the oil rises to the bottom-side that is now up, and still must be mixed back in. Perhaps it does have something to do with the age of the product, it would be interesting to find out more information from the makers of these products. And also to learn if the fresh-ground stuff had more nutrients.

I've tried but do not like the fresh-ground peanut butter, the texture is too stuffy for my tastes, plus I find it rather bland. It must be that little bit of salt in the jarred products that I like. Smuckers has this "natural" variety available in conventional grocery stores, and both Super Target and our local grocery chain Publix has their own store-brand variety. But I get ours at our Whole Foods Market (like a "health food store" the size & scope of a supermarket), they offer their store brand for cheaper than the other stores.

Once the jarred peanut butter is mixed back together it must be stored in the refrigerator, where it doesn't separate again. Can you store the fresh-ground PB in the pantry or must it stay in the refrigerator? If you leave it in the pantry, will it separate there? Or go bad before it does?

 

[freemotion]

Hmmm, I hadn't thought of that....maybe it is room temp storage that makes it separate. I get my fresh-ground at Whole Foods, too, when I can. They have choices: No salt for about $2 per pound and salted for about $4 per pound!!! And honey roasted which I never got and never will, so I never looked at the price. I get the salt-free....and add sea salt when I make the sandwich. I don't understand the price difference for....salt!

I like that I can slice slabs of it to make my sandwich, and it doesn't come dripping out when I take a bite, especially with my bad habit of eating sandwiches while driving.

Yup, the oil just goes up, but it is a little easier to stir....maybe. DH does it for me! I dump the whole jar into a mixing bowl when I open one for the dogs. I mix their supplements into it and put it back in the jar, and they get a slice each night. My older dog leads me to the fridge by 10 PM just in case I forgot. And vibrates his hummingbird tail. So CUTE!