At our house we go through A LOT of peanut butter. We eat peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter and crackers, on toast, on pancakes…..we like several candies made with peanut butter. Papa and I even put peanut butter on our ice cream. We’ve noticed lately that we both get some pretty serious heartburn especially after eating peanut butter, so I decided to try making our own and see how we like it, and if the heartburn issue will resolve. I was amazed at how easy making your own actually is. It can be made in a food processor or a heavy-duty blender. I don’t own a food processor, but may have to invest in one soon. The uses for one are varied to the point I think it would be a wise investment. Remember, the premise behind being a Modern Pioneer is not to do without and create an added work load, but to provide better simpler things for youself and your family, using the modern conveniences available to us. If we ever go off grid, that will change, but for now, we use our resources to our advantage.
I have a Vitamix. It is an old one, not like any that they sell these days, but it works great so that is what I decided to use for my first batch of peanut butter. As you can see, the pusher is narrow and wooden and the container is metal, rather than transparent like the ones sold today.
I gathered my supplies. The list of ingredients couldn’t be more simple….Peanuts. That’s it; Peanuts. I bought some bulk at a local health food store before Christmas for candy making and ended up not using them. They have been vacuumed sealed in a half gallon mason jar since then. I measured out 1 pound for my first batch.
The peanuts filled the container about 1/3 full. After about 45 seconds of blending, I took the top off to check progress. The peanuts were beginning to look crushed, although I did have some trouble getting my pusher to work them down well. I think the wider one made today would make that job go much faster. Or the addition of a food processor to my kitchen which would make pushing down the peanuts unneccessary. (Yes, I am trying to talk myself into buying a food processor or more importantly building my case to convince Papa the we NEED a food processor! 😉 )
After more grinding, stirring, grinding and stirring, we got a pretty nice consistency for peanut butter. It is not as creamy as store bought, but the flavor is great. Once we get used to the consistency I think this will be a kitchen staple.
Because of no additives, this does need to be kept in the refrigerator. As I poured it up in the jar, I noticed that there was some not so creamy parts in the corners of the container. This will be solved with added stirring or the purchase of a food processor which will have a round container and no corners for the little bits to catch and hide. Papa and I have both tasted this and no heartburn! I think we have a winner! One more thing we can do for ourselves, with help of our modern conveniences. This is what being a Modern Pioneer means to me. 🙂
