Separation Anxiety: Peanut Butter

The Struggle:

Let’s face it, we are spoiled. Growing up we had one of the world’s greatest treats, peanut butter. Whether you prefer smooth or chunky peanut butter. I remember seeing “natural” peanut butter for the first time as a naive child and asking my mother “what’s wrong with that peanut butter”? Then once my mother explained that it was the oil from the peanuts I vowed to never eat it. While thankfully I was able to appreciate this as I grew older. But for most people they still have an aversion to that oily layer. So how do you avoid this when you are making homemade peanut butter?

“How to avoid separation in home-made peanut butter?” 

Easier Than You’d Think

To make the best home-made peanut butter (or nut butters). You will need a conch, a conch is a machine that grinds things into fine pastes. But what if you’re like me and don’t have this obscure $200+ single use piece of equipment? Well, the next best thing would be a blender or food processor. So if you are okay with small particles in your peanut butter then these will work fine. The real secret ingredient here would be to add liquid soy lecithin. And before you ask, yes, it needs to be liquid soy lecithin powdered soy lecithin will not work the same for this application. The liquid soy lecithin will help bond the peanuts to any natural oils that may be released during the processing. The liquid soy lecithin will also help bond the peanuts to any added oil or shortening that is added to the nut butter. It’s easy to add to an existing recipe as well. The soy lecithin can be added directly to the nuts in a ratio of 0.25% – 0.5% of the total weight of the recipe. Place them in a food processor and begin blending. 

Depending on the intended use of the nut butter it may need the addition of different fats to create the desired consistency. Vegetable shortening will give a firmer more spreadable texture whereas vegetable oil will give a loose free flowing texture. Either one of these works when making nut butter. So add a small amount to your recipe until the butters reach your desired consistency. The liquid soy lecithin will keep these nut butters smooth and homogenous for as long as you need them with minimal to no separation. The next time you are looking to make your own peanut butter, cashew butter, or even Brazil nut butter. Make sure you are adding some liquid soy lecithin to keep the oil perfectly distributed in your nut butter.