Post by FOTH on Oct 10, 2011 15:53:27 GMT -6
Peanuts, unfortunately, do not grow in my location. It’s too high, too cold and the season is too short. So I do the next best thing, which is to order large bags of Valencia peanuts from a grower in an adjoining state. They last very well when vacuum packed into smaller bags, and I like to grind my peanut butter fresh.
Valencia peanuts, being grown in New Mexico, are not nearly as likely to have mold spores on the skins as varieties grown in hot, humid locations, but I usually remove the skins, just in case. It probably isn’t strictly necessary to do this, and as I make the peanut butter fresh in small batches to be used fairly quickly, I don’t worry if a few of the skins remain behind. I get the skins off by rubbing the batch between my palms, then pouring them from one bowl to another outside with the wind blowing. They come off far more easily after the peanuts have been roasted.
Ready for roasting...
I add a bit of melted coconut oil to each batch, to give it a smoother texture. Plus it tastes great, is good for you and is the main sort of oil that I use and store. The bread knife is for helping to dig coconut oil out of the bucket. When temperatures are in the 50s or low 60s in the house, one definitely needs a tool for freeing chunks of the stuff, as it becomes rather obstinate!
Coconut oil being a solid at room temperature, I set it on the stove for melting before stirring in...
Right now I use a blender for grinding the peanuts, but have used a small, inexpensive grain mill (not the one I use for my wheat/other flour) set on its widest setting in the past. This is the peanut meal, on its way to being ground finer:
Adding the oil, which eases the mixing process. Somewhere along the way I will sprinkle in a bit of salt, too...
Finished product, all ready to eat!
The coconut oil, being more solid than other oils, tends not to separate from the peanut butter and need to be stirred back in, even if left out of the fridge for a while.
I'm sure others have different ways they like to make their peanut butter, and I would be interested in hearing about some of your favorites!
Valencia peanuts, being grown in New Mexico, are not nearly as likely to have mold spores on the skins as varieties grown in hot, humid locations, but I usually remove the skins, just in case. It probably isn’t strictly necessary to do this, and as I make the peanut butter fresh in small batches to be used fairly quickly, I don’t worry if a few of the skins remain behind. I get the skins off by rubbing the batch between my palms, then pouring them from one bowl to another outside with the wind blowing. They come off far more easily after the peanuts have been roasted.
Ready for roasting...
I add a bit of melted coconut oil to each batch, to give it a smoother texture. Plus it tastes great, is good for you and is the main sort of oil that I use and store. The bread knife is for helping to dig coconut oil out of the bucket. When temperatures are in the 50s or low 60s in the house, one definitely needs a tool for freeing chunks of the stuff, as it becomes rather obstinate!
Coconut oil being a solid at room temperature, I set it on the stove for melting before stirring in...
Right now I use a blender for grinding the peanuts, but have used a small, inexpensive grain mill (not the one I use for my wheat/other flour) set on its widest setting in the past. This is the peanut meal, on its way to being ground finer:
Adding the oil, which eases the mixing process. Somewhere along the way I will sprinkle in a bit of salt, too...
Finished product, all ready to eat!
The coconut oil, being more solid than other oils, tends not to separate from the peanut butter and need to be stirred back in, even if left out of the fridge for a while.
I'm sure others have different ways they like to make their peanut butter, and I would be interested in hearing about some of your favorites!
