Can You Use A Meat Grinder To Make Peanut Butter? -

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One of the smart things to do when purchasing a household item such as blenders, coffee grinders, and the likes, is to confirm the item’s versatility – why spend money on spice grinders when you have a coffee bean grinder or a kitchen mortar?

Various kitchen appliances have other uses apart from their primary usage, and if you have a meat grinder you could still grind some vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

But this depends on the kind of meat grinder you have – not all meat grinders can do this, and besides, using a meat grinder to grind nuts will make the meat grinder difficult to clean because the nuts are likely to stick on the plate surface and other grinding mechanisms.

So, can you use a meat grinder to make peanut butter, the answer is a resounding yes, but it depends on the meat grinder/attachments at hand. If you intend to make peanut butter but don’t have the necessary equipment to bring that to life but own a grinder, then you need to get yourself a meat grinder that allows for such attachments.

The KitchenAid food grinder attachments can be very helpful when it comes to grinding your peanuts to make peanut butter. All you need do is, load the hopper with the right quantity of peanuts and boom, here comes your delicious, tasty peanut butter

Note: The KitchenAid grinder attachments I mentioned above works best with a KitchenAid Mixer so don’t feel bad if it fails to work as expected for your grinder. Also don’t expect to get it right at the first pass, you may have to run it through like twice or more to get that smooth, consistent texture a peanut butter is supposed to be.

Why You Should Use Your Meat Grinder To Make Peanut Butter

Reduced Friction

Due to the oil that will be formed during the grinding process, there will be less friction for you to contend with if you’re using a manual meat grinder (which is also a good alternative for making peanut butter, click here for more info).

However, the downside to this is that it makes the meat grinder more difficult to clean afterwards, as you will be requiring lots of soap for the entire cleaning process to make it oil-free.

Quick Grinding

Compared to other options, using meat grinders to make your peanut butter can actually save you time since the peas aren’t hard in any way.

It’s A Healthy Option

Knowing the steps involved in the production of a product keeps your mind at ease, and homemade peanut butter is no different. The homemade peanut butter will be as good and healthy as you want them to be without having any fear of it being adulterated.

Like I stated earlier on the type of meat grinder you have will determine if it’s ideal for making peanut butter or not, so do well to check the specification of the meat grinder in your possession before making any move to produce.

How To Make Peanut Butter With A Meat Grinder

Making a homemade peanut butter with a meat grinder is very straight forward and easy, just ensure you have the ingredients list below, and follow the easy steps I will be outlining shortly to get the best result.

Materials Needed

1 tablespoon full of salt
1 ½ tablespoon of honey
2 ½ tablespoon peanut oil
About 15 ounces of shelled peanuts
A meat grinding machine

Step 1: Ensure Your Meat Grinder Is Clean

Do a background check to be certain that your meat grinder is rid of every form of crumbs from the previous ingredient – you probably don’t want your peanut butter tasting like blood butter at the end of the process. Once you are good-to-go, plug in the meat grinder if it’s electric. But just like I stated earlier, ensure your meat grinder is compatible.

Step 2: Grind Your Peanuts

Pour in your already shelled peanut into the meat grinder and begin the grinding process. Depending on the texture you want, set your meat grinder accordingly. If it turns out that you want a smoother texture, don’t be tempted to repeat the process again as you might have lots of peanut butter stick on the blades than earlier predict – use a food processor if you truly desire smoothness.

Step 3: Pour In Your Milk And Honey

Once you notice the peanut butter coming out from the outlet, begin to add your salt and honey, and ensure they are blended with the rest of the peanut. Once all the peanut has entered the bowl placed underneath the outlet of the meat grinder, thoroughly stir the mixture in the bowl to aid a uniformity.

Step 4: Gradually Mix And Add Your Peanut Oil

After thoroughly mixing the milk and honey with the grounded peanut, gradually introduce your peanut oil into the mixture, and stir thoroughly after every introduction – this is extremely important. It isn’t compulsory to use all the peanut oil specified in this recipe, you can simply stop once you feel you have enough creaminess based on your taste.

Step 5: Pour Your Peanut Butter Into A Pint Mason Jar And Store

Once you have mixed all the content together, scoop your peanut butter into a pint mason jar for easy and safe storage. You are also advised to refrigerate the mixture, not just for the fun of it, but to preserve the shelf life of your homemade peanut butter.

How To Wash Your Meat Grinder After Making Peanut Butter

This is the hard part of the entire peanut making process, but I hope the steps explained below makes it a lot easier than it is.

Materials Needed

The meat grinder manual
Bottlebrush
Dish detergent
sponge

Step 1: Don’t Delay The Cleaning Process

As soon as you finish making your peanut butter, proceed with the cleaning process immediately. Don’t have any reason to procrastinate as this might cause the peanut residue in your meat grinder to become harder to remove – the earlier, the better.

Step 2: Grind Bread Immediately After Grinding Your Peanut

As soon as you finish grinding your peanut, get about two to three slices of bread and put them in your meat grinder. The bread is essential in absorbing the oil created by the peanut, and it also helps to push out any lingering peanut residue on the blades or inside the machine – you can also do this if you just finished grinding meat with your meat grinder.

Step 3: Disassemble The Removable Parts From Your Meat Grinder

Before disassembling the removable parts from your meat grinder, unplug it from the electric source if it isn’t manual. Depending on your model, disassembling the parts of your meat grinder shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Simply follow the manual of your model to do a better job. But in general, a meat grinder should consist of the following parts;

A feed tube, a pusher, and a hopper – these parts are where you are likely to put your peanut, and when assembled, they usually form a single piece.
A screw that forces the meat, peanut, and other content in the meat grinder through the blades
The blades, the metal plates, and the cover.

Once you have familiarized yourself with the instructions from the handbook, you shouldn’t have any problem at all fixing the parts back in place when you need to.

Step 4: Soak The Disassembled Parts Into Water Mixed With Detergent

After removing the parts, soak them into a bucket filled with water mixed with dish detergent, or you can use your sink instead. Soak these parts in water for about 45-minutes to an hour to completely remove the peanut residue and the lingering oil that might be present even after using bread.

Please do not soak the motor part of your grinder if it is an electric model, as it could damage it completely.

Step 5: Use A Sponge To Clean The Parts

Upon completing the soaking time, use your sponge to scrub the parts that need to be thoroughly scrubbed, but ensure you are mindful of the blade section to avoid any sort of injuries due to its sharp nature.

Use your bottle brush to clean inside the feed tube, the plate holes, and the hopper – a bottle brush will get into the angles that a sponge wouldn’t. Take your time to scrub these parts – don’t take it lightly at all.

Step 6: Rinse And Dry The Parts

After thoroughly washing the parts with your sponge, rinse the parts and ensure it is completely dried by using a dry towel. Place the washed parts in a wire rack or any other dry surface to air dry before putting away your grinder.

Tips On Storage

Ensure you keep the parts lubricated with oil to prevent any form of oil during storage.
Try bagging or storing away individual parts with some amount of rice. The rice will help to absorb any sort of moisture that might form during the storage process.
You can also choose to store the parts of your meat grinder in a refrigerator (excluding the electric motor if it is an electric model) because grinder parts work well when they are refrigerated.
Also, try sterilizing the parts with bleach if you oiled them before storage to avoid any form of infection. Use about a tablespoon of bleach and mixed it with about 4-litres of water, then pour into a spray bottle and spray the parts. Thoroughly rinse the parts after spraying to remove the bleach, then proceed to assemble the parts for use.

How Do You Make Peanut Butter Without A Blender/Grinder?

It’s not compulsory to have any sort of food processor to enjoy the nutritional value of peanut butter. Follow the simple steps I will be outlining below to still enjoy the value peanut butter can add to your snack.

Materials Needed

Mortar and pestle
Tray
Frying pan
Spoon
A tight lid container
Salt
Peanut
Peanut oil (not compulsory)

Step 1: Roast Your Peanut

If your peanuts are raw, you would have to roast them before proceeding. Put the raw peanuts in a frying pan and set your cooker to medium heat.

Turn the peanuts regularly to avoid them burning on one side – you know the peanuts are ready when they turn slightly golden brown, and you can perceive the smell. You can use an oven and roast it at a temperature of about 155 to 160 degrees Celsius for about 12 to 15 minutes.

On one of my few trips to Africa, I also discovered a safer way to roast peanuts. The locals put sharp sand into the pan and then allow it to heat up for about 10 to 15 minutes – they also stir the sand in the process.

When the sand becomes hot, put the peanut and stair it with the sand until the brown colour is achieved – this way, there is very little chance of the peanut burning on one side. Simply avoid this step if you purchased a ready-made peanut.

Step 2: Place In A Tray To Cool Down And Remove The Nut Skin

Once you have achieved the brown colour from your peanut, and you are certain it is properly roasted, place them in a tray to cool down.

After cooling, remove the skin from the peanut, or you can choose to leave them on depending on your taste – the skins of peanuts have antioxidants that protect our skin and body cells and they are also a good source of fibre.

Step 3: Grind Your Peanut In A Mortar

After you decide on leaving the skin on the peanut or nut, put them into your mortar and begin to pound. You can do it in batches depending on the size of the mortar.

At first, the peanut will look like they are dry, but continue the process until they begin to release their oils. If you want to hasten up the process, you can add a few drops of peanut oil.

Keep on pounding until you achieve the desired texture you want for your peanut butter, be it crunchy or smooth.

Step 4: Add Some Pinch Of Salt While Pounding

Once you have achieved a certain degree of smoothness, add some pinch of salt based on the quantity of peanut butter you are making, then stir it using a spoon, then continue the process until you have achieved your desired smoothness.

Step 5

Scoop them into your tight lid container, and keep them refrigerated during the entire duration you will use them.

Can I Use A Blender To Make Peanut Butter?

Definitely! Using a high-speed blender will give you a very smooth texture, and you wouldn’t even need to add peanut oil because the oil gotten from the peanut will suffice, thanks to the blender power.

How To Make Peanut Butter Using A Blender

Put your roasted peanut into the container, don’t add any form of oil-water.
Blend for about 10-15 minutes for the best result, and feel free to add any other spice based on the recipe you are adopting.
Scoop into a tight lid container and refrigerate, and you are good to go!

Why Is My Homemade Peanut Butter Not Creamy?

Your homemade peanut butter isn’t creamy because you didn’t process it for long. Just give it enough time to process in the food processor, and you will be certain to have creamy peanut butter.

Does Homemade Peanut Butter Need To Be Refrigerated?

Yes, it does. Leaving it at a normal room temperature will only cause the peanut oil to spoil after a while, and you wouldn’t want that to happen.