I started with 360 grams (12¾ oz) of raw almonds, which measured to approximately 2½ cups. After blanching and peeling the almonds, I put them in my Black & Decker food processor with the chopping blade and let her rip.
The first thing I need to add to the recipe card is earplugs. That thing was loud! The nuts got to the first stage, powdered, nicely within about 5 minutes. After several scrapings of the bowl, though, nothing more seemed to happen. The powder was not moving. I shook the processor to get the powder to fall into the blade, but it appeared to just be thrown out again. I ran the processor for a total of 35 minutes with no progression to the second stage.
To see if making butter was even possible with almonds, I poured the entire thing into my Oster Fusion smoothie blender and ran it. Very quickly the powdered nut at the bottom of the blender butterized. Unfortunately, there was no movement of the nuts above into the blade, as the butter created a barrier.
Off to the Internet I went to see what my problem could be. Only two clues presented themselves. Most of the recipes use roasted nuts and I used raw. I am not sure if that will make a difference or not. However, it is something I will have to test in the future. The other clue is the machines used. One person was using a $600 KitchenAid food processor; another was using a professional Vitamix blender. It is a possibility, therefore, that the machine has something to do with the process.
Searching the Internet for an inexpensive food processor that is guaranteed to make nut butter is not an easy task. Eventually, I just settled on looking at processor prices. On Target.com, the second-least-expensive food processing system was the Ninja#8482; Master Prep™ Professional (their italics, not mine). For those of you who do not know, a Ninja is basically a blender with the motor at the top instead of the bottom. The containers also come with multiple blades. The question, then, was would this machine make a nut butter. Thank God/Gaia/Zeus/Odin/Cthulhu for YouTube. Somebody actually posted a video of them making peanut butter using the Ninja™. It took under a minute, although they did use an oil to speed the process. Because of this video, I wrote to the company to ask if the machine did, indeed, make peanut butter. They replied that they could not guarantee it since the machine was a chopper and not a food processor. The video and the price convinced me to give it a try. I am really hoping it works, because I can then replace two countertop machines with one that fits into a cabinet.
I have placed my order with Target, which had a $10 lower price than Wal*Mart, and got a 2-year Target warranty just in case I blow out the motor making nut butters. Since it does have a blender pitcher, I will also attempt to use it to make my smoothies; they advertise the machine can make snow from ice cubes. It is supposed to arrive around the 12th. At that time, I will be able to get the ingredients for test #2.
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
The first thing I need to add to the recipe card is earplugs. That thing was loud! The nuts got to the first stage, powdered, nicely within about 5 minutes. After several scrapings of the bowl, though, nothing more seemed to happen. The powder was not moving. I shook the processor to get the powder to fall into the blade, but it appeared to just be thrown out again. I ran the processor for a total of 35 minutes with no progression to the second stage.
To see if making butter was even possible with almonds, I poured the entire thing into my Oster Fusion smoothie blender and ran it. Very quickly the powdered nut at the bottom of the blender butterized. Unfortunately, there was no movement of the nuts above into the blade, as the butter created a barrier.
Off to the Internet I went to see what my problem could be. Only two clues presented themselves. Most of the recipes use roasted nuts and I used raw. I am not sure if that will make a difference or not. However, it is something I will have to test in the future. The other clue is the machines used. One person was using a $600 KitchenAid food processor; another was using a professional Vitamix blender. It is a possibility, therefore, that the machine has something to do with the process.
Searching the Internet for an inexpensive food processor that is guaranteed to make nut butter is not an easy task. Eventually, I just settled on looking at processor prices. On Target.com, the second-least-expensive food processing system was the Ninja#8482; Master Prep™ Professional (their italics, not mine). For those of you who do not know, a Ninja is basically a blender with the motor at the top instead of the bottom. The containers also come with multiple blades. The question, then, was would this machine make a nut butter. Thank God/Gaia/Zeus/Odin/Cthulhu for YouTube. Somebody actually posted a video of them making peanut butter using the Ninja™. It took under a minute, although they did use an oil to speed the process. Because of this video, I wrote to the company to ask if the machine did, indeed, make peanut butter. They replied that they could not guarantee it since the machine was a chopper and not a food processor. The video and the price convinced me to give it a try. I am really hoping it works, because I can then replace two countertop machines with one that fits into a cabinet.
I have placed my order with Target, which had a $10 lower price than Wal*Mart, and got a 2-year Target warranty just in case I blow out the motor making nut butters. Since it does have a blender pitcher, I will also attempt to use it to make my smoothies; they advertise the machine can make snow from ice cubes. It is supposed to arrive around the 12th. At that time, I will be able to get the ingredients for test #2.
As always, I welcome your comments. Click on the Comment link below; it may say "No" or have a number in front of it.
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