Show HN: Peanut Butter Spinner
cdaringe.com
cdaringe.com
The peanut oil congeals and then you have perfectly mixed smooth pb on demand.
1. Cold peanut butter is a misery.
2. Removing the lid after it's been upside down is an oily mess.
2. Storing upside down is a precaution against oily messes because the oils separate on top of the peanut solids, and so is under the peanut solids when upside down. Also, I mentioned that at the fridge temperatures the oil congeals, and so remains mixed when refrigerated, avoiding any oily mess.
To that point my favorite peanut butter is hot melted peanut butter warmed by being spread over recently toasted bread.
I primarily put peanut butter on toast. Cold peanut butter will tear apart a piece of toast (and also make it into cold bread).
There's no winning here, because putting it in the fridge makes it hard to spread. The best approach is to take out a week's worth or so and put it in a small/airtight container. Leave that out but put the main jar in the fridge.
The separation and mixing is a pain though. Love the mixer idea!
Refrigerated peanut butter sounds like an unnecessary hardship.
Loves cake tho. Little debbie snack cakes, pancakes, waffles, cup cakes.
But not donuts, bread, croissants or thick pizza.
I wish I had the discipline to keep a jar of peanut butter around long enough for it to spoil. :)
Growing up we put the peanut butter in the pantry without separation issues because my parents were either fine with or oblivious to the stabilizing additives in the mass produced peanut butter brands.
Now, when I look at the ingredients list I only want to see “peanuts”! (And maybe <1% salt)
When in a cupboard the oil separates on top, so it can make mixing more difficult by both having the oil spill out when stirring and having the driest peanut bits stuck deep at the bottom.
Upside down places the oil underneath and the driest parts more accessibly near the removable part of the container.
I always imagined after stirring and placing it in the fridge upside down provides that “last mile” guarantee until it gets to temp in the fridge.
After the first use it goes back in the fridge right side up.
I stir it with a mixer (I have these corkscrew-like attachments for my hand mixer that are perfect). Then put it in the freezer.
It gets bounced between fridge and freezer: when it's showing a little hard, it goes into the fridge. When it softens there, back to the freezer.
They do all have this once you have the customary first big spoonful when you bring the jar home.
But this seems a lot safer and less expensive.
I think that someone's suggestion for rotating it slower and longer might alleviate the noise issue.
Never tried this peanut butter brand, so thanks for giving me a suggestion for my next Costco trip.
A few days ago I had one from a canadian brand "nuts to you nut butter inc", which is organic: it was mind blowing, the strong peanut feeling was delicious, it felt like eating peanuts, but it was also so creamy. No idea what they did, but I'm craving for more. I suspect they just used higher quality peanuts.
Ingredients: BEAUTIFUL PEANUTS
He makes peanut butter by the ton. Loading the hopper was quite tricky and getting up and checking a bit fraught. Knowing how much peanut butter is in the big vat thing once it is being stirred is quite hard too, and most sensors become less accurate once coated in peanut butter.
His ultrasound sensor (measuring the distance to the surface of the peanut butter) is a thing of beauty. He used Arduino.
But you can also just store the jars upside down in the fridge. No need to stir.
It actually mixes fairly well even at room temperature, too
Normally I wouldn't mind separation but peanut butter is kind of a pain to stir thoroughly.
Also, I'll there's a lid-based mixer [1, scroll down a bit] that apparently works well, but kind of looks like a mess to clean up. I believe that it is very effective though — much better at getting down to the bottom than any non-invasive solution.
1: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-creamy-peanu...
Since we started buying the Farm Boy 500g Organic Peanut butter[1], I haven't had an issue. It’s a good size, lasts a few weeks (my wife has some every day; I have some periodically), and is quickly stirred well on opening with a simple butter knife without spilled oil.
[1]: https://www.farmboy.ca/products/farm-boy-organic-crunchy-pea...
European peanut butter is solid, with the consistency of refrigerated butter, or of fudge.
US peanut butter is a thick liquid. Over time, it separates and you get peanut oil on the surface. That oil is unpleasant, so this machine can help mix it back in.
Hence, Europeans wouldn't see the need for this, because they have never witnessed the problem this machine is intended to solve.
The moral of the story is: Accept only peanuts and salt as ingredients; all else is duplicitous garbage.
Please view these commercials for reference:
1. https://youtu.be/FqWgTM4di4s, remixed version: https://youtu.be/-gLOALCvlMI
Tahini on the other hand separates very quickly into oil+solid so perhaps could also do with a spinner
Same goes for Tahini, you can get bottles that never separate, or jar of 100% sesame seeds that needs a stir.
"All natural peanut butter", which is what a lot of us like and what the OP is talking about in their article, is made with just peanuts blended, and the oil separates after a while on the shelf.
It processed in Holland.
Why is it different from the US?
From TFA:
> I love peanut butter. I also hate mixing it. There are many products available to mix peanut butter for you, but I wanted my own design that took no effort to use. I'm looking for a "set it and forget it" solution. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, many natural peanut butters are not homogeneous at all times. The oil and the nutty material separate, and thus require mixing to return it to buttery consistency.
I don’t mix what’s in the jar - I tilt the jar (to avoid picking the oil), dip deep and spread on the bread. The peanut butter then has varying densities, but I spread it well, mostly mixing it on the bread. Not buttery smooth, but close enough for me. And tastes great.
I rarely use toast bread though, I guess toast bread could fall apart.
What’s so different about this way of making peanut butter that results in no separation?
Is this better than using the in-grocery grinders?
Add some almond milk and other stuff to the Vitamix and you can make a really nice power shake from the residue, and lose only a few grams to the soap and water cleaning required.
Edit: works best if the jar is stored upside down for 1-2 days.
They are called "dough hooks".
Hand mixers that ship without these are incompletely delivered.
I do need this but I don't want to put too much effort into it.