# Why am I making bad peanut butter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991 "2017-04-22T15:48:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/1 "2017-04-22T15:48:18Z")
Since I live in a small town in Eastern Europe, I couldn’t really find peanut butter anywhere or at least haven’t looked hard enough, so I decided to make my own, but I am doing it wrong apparently. I have no idea how to cook or anything, but still, peanut butter should at least be easy to make, but I can’t make even that. I like the smell of peanuts, but whenever I finish making peanut butter in the blender, I get some disgusting smell that stinks up the entire house. I have tried using different blenders, different types of peanuts, salted and unsalted and I think that they were roasted, and different lengths of blending, but it’s always the same, the only difference is in the thickness. Also, apart from the awful smell, my PB tastes weird I guess, I haven’t tried PB in my life, so I can’t say that I know how its supposed to taste, but mine’s extremely sticky and it doesn’t really taste like peanut should, but like I don’t know…wet paper. So long story short, how to make the simplest possible peanut butter without optional ingredients, what to use and for how long to blend? Also, can you eat it alone or do you need to put it on something else, like bread,etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/2 "2017-04-22T16:01:07Z")
Peanut butter only has two ingredients: A little more than 99% peanuts and a little less than 1% salt. Most commercial peanut butter is really what consumer advocate David Horowitz called peanut flavored shortening. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/3 "2017-04-22T17:05:45Z")
Using a blender takes too long. The motor may be overheating and transferring that heat to the blades which can affect the flavor of the finished product. Try a food processor instead. If you’re THAT much of a PB fan invest in a PB maker. Does the job quickly and efficiently. A side benefit would be making PB in quantity and selling/bartering with friends and/or food shops in the area. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/4 "2017-04-22T17:44:47Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Peanut butter only has two ingredients: A little more than 99% peanuts and a little less than 1% salt. Most commercial peanut butter is really what consumer advocate David Horowitz called peanut flavored shortening. Almost all peanut butter in the US has at least _three_ ingredients: peanuts, sugar, and salt. If the OP is looking for the taste of Jif or Skippy, they need to add one to two tablespoons of sugar for every cup of peanuts. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/5 "2017-04-22T18:05:53Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Almost all peanut butter in the US has at least _three_ ingredients: peanuts, sugar, and salt. If the OP is looking for the taste of Jif or Skippy, they need to add one to two tablespoons of sugar for every cup of peanuts. You forgot hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is what transforms it to peanut flavored shortening. But that doesn’t change the fact that real peanut butter only has two ingredients. Check out the ingredients list here: > **[Natural Chunky Peanut Butter | Smucker’s®](https://www.smuckers.com/peanut-butter/natural-peanut-butter/natural-chunky-peanut-butter)** > > Stir up something special with Smucker’s® Chunky Natural Peanut Butter, made with two simple ingredients: fresh-roasted peanuts and a dash of salt. It's great for sandwiches and snacks, and also adds just the right crunch to recipes, dips, and... ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/6 "2017-04-22T18:10:13Z")
Seems like most recipes call for roasting uncooked peanuts yourself, or even re-heating ones that were already roasted. The warmth helps them blend better, and using a good food processor to blend and blend and blend, beyond the point you think you should, seems to yield the best creamiest results. A little kosher salt (not iodized table salt) helps flavor, and you might need to add some peanut or other vegetable oil to make it a bit smoother (just a teaspoon at a time). Looking at the ingredients on my Kroger peanut butter, which I dare say is just as good as Jif or Peter Pan, it lists both sugar and molasses, so maybe try some brown sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/7 "2017-04-22T18:17:07Z")
Are there particular varieties of peanuts that are or are not suitable for making into peanut butter? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/8 "2017-04-22T18:37:43Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > You forgot hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is what transforms it to peanut flavored shortening. But that doesn’t change the fact that real peanut butter only has two ingredients. I disagree with both of these points. First, even most “natural” peanut butters sold in the US contain sugar (or other sweeteners), whether or not they use vegetable oil as a stabilizer. To clarify, “most” does not mean “all”. You can find sugar-free peanut butter, but you really need to check the ingredients, as “homemade”, “organic”, or “natural” does not necessarily mean sugar-free. Second, are you following the “no true Scotsman” rule for peanut butter labeling? Given that most peanut butter people in the US experience is heavily sweetened, it follows that “real” or “traditional” peanut butter is sweetened. It is the unsweetened variety that is the oddball. Peanut butter does not require salt at all, so “real” peanut butter should only have one ingredient, right? ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/9 "2017-04-22T18:46:22Z")
I had a Champion juicer that made real good peanut butter , I used roasted salted peanuts and that was all. You could buy a food processor that would work better than a blender. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/10 "2017-04-22T18:54:14Z")
**Moderator Action** Moving thread from General Questions to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/11 "2017-04-22T20:03:00Z")
Until our late lamented health food store closed, I would just take a container there (they would also sell you one), get the tare weight, fill it with broken peanuts and then throw it into their PB grinder. Out came a ribbon of unsalted, unsweetened PB, they weighed it again and you paid them for the net weight. Bonus: if you refrigerated it promptly, the oil never separated. It was delicious. My son’s supermarket in Redmond, WA has both a PB grinder and one other nut grinder (maybe almond or filbert, I forget). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/12 "2017-04-22T20:18:49Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Peanut butter does not require salt at all, so “real” peanut butter should only have one ingredient, right? That’s the stuff I buy. I like peanut butter that’s made out of nothing but peanuts: no salt, no sugar, no other sweeteners, no added oil. As I mentioned in a recent thread, [this is the brand I like](https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery-food/peanut-butter-jelly-and-honey/peanut-butter/natural-crunchy-peanut-butter.html). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/13 "2017-04-22T20:41:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery-food/peanut-butter-jelly-and-honey/peanut-butter/natural-crunchy-peanut-butter.html](https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery-food/peanut-butter-jelly-and-honey/peanut-butter/natural-crunchy-peanut-butter.html)"]this is the brand I like. Great product labeling. \*Ingredients Peanuts. Warnings Contains peanuts.\* 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/14 "2017-04-22T20:54:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As I mentioned in a recent thread, [this is the brand I like](https://www.wegmans.com/products/grocery-food/peanut-butter-jelly-and-honey/peanut-butter/natural-crunchy-peanut-butter.html). That is some back-to-basics stuff right there. I started making my own after being dissatisfied with the price and availability of unsweetened versions. If you have a food processor, it is one of the easiest things to make at home. I personally like no sweeteners, about half the salt, and a good splash of [Dave’s Insanity Sauce](https://store.davesgourmet.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DAIN). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/15 "2017-04-23T15:12:50Z")
Peanut flavored shortening would have a lot less peanuts. Peanuts is still the main ingredient, followed by sugar. And the vegetable oil is in the less than 2% part, along with the salt. You can’t call something “peanut-flavored” when the vast majority of it is peanuts, IMO. (I got this just from the Great Value Smooth peanut butter I happened to see on the table beside me. In other words, an actual “generic” brand of peanut butter.) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/16 "2017-04-23T17:55:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Peanut flavored shortening would have a lot less peanuts. Peanuts is still the main ingredient, followed by sugar. And the vegetable oil is in the less than 2% part, along with the salt. > > You can’t call something “peanut-flavored” when the vast majority of it is peanuts, IMO. > > (I got this just from the Great Value Smooth peanut butter I happened to see on the table beside me. In other words, an actual “generic” brand of peanut butter.) Get a jar of real peanut butter (Smucker’s is one of the few national brands that qualifies) and compare. It’s like the difference between purple Kool-Aid and grape juice. You can even tell the difference by looking at it. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/17 "2017-04-23T18:40:17Z")
It’s the classic dichotomy of nut-sure vs not-sure. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/18 "2017-04-23T22:27:14Z")
> [@quiltguy](#): > > Using a blender takes too long. The motor may be overheating and transferring that heat to the blades which can affect the flavor of the finished product. Doesn’t even have to be an overheating motor. Sheer action of the contents will heat it just fine all by itself. Run vegetables in a blender long enough and you got soup, and I’m not meaning gazpacho. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/19 "2017-04-24T00:35:49Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Doesn’t even have to be an overheating motor. Sheer action of the contents will heat it just fine all by itself. Run vegetables in a blender long enough and you got soup, and I’m not meaning gazpacho. But just heating the contents would not affect the flavor too adversely. When making peanut butter in a food processor, near the end the “butter” is easy to pour hot lava, just from the friction of the blades. That is normal. On the other hand, if the OP’s blender had plastic or rubber parts that did not handle heat well, that could explain a foul smell. How that would affect the _taste_ of the final product is a mystery, unless he has a bad gasket or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991/20 "2017-04-24T00:52:58Z")
I used to make delicious almond/cashew butter for my mom. And me. 🙂 It was really good. But it could never ever approach the smoothness of the commercial crap. Which does affect the taste. But you really have to have a grinder that will mash the peanuts into paste. A blender or food processor will never do that, no matter how long you run it. It just keeps chopping and heating it up, and, yes, the heat will change the taste somewhat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-am-i-making-bad-peanut-butter/784991.md?page=2)