How do I mix organic peanut butter?

August 9, 2009 6:48 PM

How do I mix organic peanut butter without making a godawful mess?

I googled and found this Slashfood piece that honestly doesn't offer much by way creative alternatives. I just stick a knife in there and mash it around real good but it winds up all over my hands and oil runs all down the side and gets on the counter top. Should I dump the whole jar into a bowl and mix it and put it back? Best practices, please.

posted by The Straightener to food & drink (24 comments total)

Start slow.

Really, that's the answer. You're splashing the oil all over because you're trying to stir too fast.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:49 PM on August 9

We always just turned the jar upside down.
posted by royalsong at 6:50 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

I haven't tried it, but something like this might work.
posted by you're a kitty! at 6:50 PM on August 9 [2 favorites]

Buy a peanut butter hand crank. I've used one and will attest that they work. It still takes a little while to really get the oil mixed in, but it works and it's pretty much mess-free.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 6:51 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

that's brilliant that peanut butter stirrer. It would be just as easy to stir if they would leave an extra inch in the jar but they don't.
posted by caddis at 6:55 PM on August 9

I pour a little bit of the oil out and then stir in the rest after I've used a serving of peanut butter. It means the peanut butter is a little less oily, but that works okay for me. I sort of enjoy slicing the peanut butter, personally.
posted by jessamyn at 6:58 PM on August 9

You definitely don't need anything more than a knife, and you don't need to remove the contents from the jar. If possible, turn the jar upside down for a few minutes before. I stick the knife in and make very slow up and down motions, to get the oil off the top. Then the stirring becomes more vigorous and comprehensive. Presto! Mixed peanut butter.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:59 PM on August 9

I get a chopstick and poke a few holes all the way to the bottom of the peanut butter then start alternating stirring/smashing with the chopstick.
posted by wiretap at 7:01 PM on August 9

I second the hand-crank stirrer, I've used it for a few years and it works great.
posted by octothorpe at 7:14 PM on August 9

I have the peanut butter hand crank suggested by pseudostrabismus. I transfer the organic peanut butter to the jar and crank away. (I don't think I could eat regular peanut butter anymore, the organic tastes so much better)
posted by francesca too at 7:18 PM on August 9

Fantastic, the nearby kitchen gadget shop says it stocks these peanut butter stirrers you have brought to my attention. I will purchase one.

Thanks, AskMetafilter.
posted by The Straightener at 7:21 PM on August 9

I also use a chopstick, at least to get things started.
posted by Rhomboid at 7:32 PM on August 9

Keep it in the fridge! It congeals the oil a bit and makes mixing much less messier.
posted by gnutron at 7:35 PM on August 9 [1 favorite]

That peanut butter stirrer is pretty fantastic. But I've got an alternative for you.

Take your hand mixer, and put only one beater in. Stick that fully into the jar of peanut butter, then turn it on slowly, while holding the jar tightly. Some nice vortex action gets going, and the oil on top gets mixed in while the rocky sediment on the bottom gets broken up.

Pop the beater into the sink or dishwasher. Stick the jar in the fridge, and it'll separate less slowly.
posted by fontophilic at 7:45 PM on August 9

I second computech_apolloniajames. A normal butter knife is fine, so long as you lift it up and down a few times to get rid of the oil on top (think churning butter). Once that´s done just angle the knife and run it along the walls and back down, to flip the layers around. When it´s almost mixed you can then stir with the knife.

As a bonus you can run the knife against the lip of the jar to scrape off any extra peanut butter at the end, or use what´s on the knife to butter a piece of toast or something.
posted by Orange Pamplemousse at 7:56 PM on August 9

I've got one of the peanut butter cranks but I find it unwieldly and it doesn't get the oil-free dross that gets caked at the bottom of the jar, so I end up having to stir it with a knife anyways. I prefer the method gnutron mentions of putting it into the fridge until it congeals and only then stirring it. Once it's all admixed you can take it out of the fridge and it takes quite a while to separate again.
posted by XMLicious at 8:11 PM on August 9

I just microwave mine for ~10-20 seconds to soften everything and make it mixable and spreadable. I also store mine in the fridge so this is usually necessary to get a good consistency.
posted by sararah at 8:18 PM on August 9

This is silly, but it works. I stick a beater blade into a power drill. You definitely want to start very slow to blend the liquid oil part way before moving the beater up and down and cranking the drill speed.
posted by O9scar at 8:49 PM on August 9

Store the jar upside down. When you turn it right side up to open it, you will have the oil distributed equally throughout.
posted by oceano at 9:19 PM on August 9

Here are the stirring directions on the Crazy Richard's website:

To stir, slide a stiff butter knife down the inside of the jar; while rotating gently, pull blade toward the center of the jar, allowing the oil to fill the space created. Rotate the jar as you gently raise and lower the blade in the center of the jar in a mixing motion until the desired consistency is reached. You may refrigerate the jar to slow the oil separation, but it is not necessary.

I've never had a problem when just using a knife. It's fun to dig a deep crevasse and watch the oil seep down. It's the same feeling I get when making an omelette, pulling cooked egg away from the side of the pan and making space for raw egg to rush into. Terraforming, causing floods.
posted by painquale at 2:07 AM on August 10 [1 favorite]

I was visiting my sister last week and she had an organic peanut butter that was no-stir - I don't know how they did it, but it had a consistency closer to skippy and not at all like crazy richards. So either they blend it? or I can find out the brand because it was delicious. Or I can find out the brand and ask them how they process it to be no-stir.

[An aside: Painquale - so how do you deal with mashed potatoes and gravy? Is the gravy pool allowed to breach the wall of the mashed potato fortress?]
posted by 8dot3 at 7:29 AM on August 10

The reason the oil is there is because prepackaged natural peanut butters in jars (even organic ones) have been sitting around for a while. Find a store that lets you grind the peanuts into a tub right there. You'll use most of the batch long before more than a few drops of oil have had a chance to separate. Our local Whole Foods has a grinder with organic peanuts.
posted by mediareport at 7:56 AM on August 10 [2 favorites]

Painquale - so how do you deal with mashed potatoes and gravy? Is the gravy pool allowed to breach the wall of the mashed potato fortress?

No. Food mixing can only happen during the primordial ontogenesis of a meal in the kitchen. Once the meal has been served, order must be maintained and the fortresses and townships have to be defended. Be civilized!
posted by painquale at 11:57 AM on August 10

I came here to say what mediareport did. Most co-ops and quite a few groceries have peanut butter grinders. It's not always by where they sell the jarred peanut butter. Sometimes it's by the bulk food bins, the coffee grinders, or even the bakery.
posted by BrotherCaine at 8:20 PM on August 10