Since the Ninja® Food Chopper is limited to two batches of nut butter per day without burning out, I performed the following two experiments.
This is my second batch of almond butter, using 1 cup of slivered blanched almonds but only 1 tsp. of sunflower oil this time. I wanted to see the difference there might be between yesterday's batch and today's.
A tip on sunflower oil: It does not solidify in the refrigerator. I put it in the fridge yesterday to prevent rancidity, and when I took it out today, it was as clear as yesterday. This is a good thing, as the smallest bottle I could buy was pretty large and my previous bottle went bad. Now I know I can keep it in the fridge.
To proceed, then, I used the same technique I had used in my previous post.
Yesterday's batch {on the left} was definitely grainer than today's batch {on the right}, as you can plainly see. Today's batch was also thicker, and the mouth-feel, including roof-of-the-mouth stickiness, was more like store-bought peanut butter. I may do another blanched slivered almond test down the road to see if even less oil would work, but for now I am happy with this result. Therefore, it is on to the pistachios!
The first test of pistachio better was a failure. As you can hopefully tell in the picture, the best I was able to achieve {even after adding 4 tsp. of oil} was a paste that looked more like pesto than butter. This proves that each different nut will need a different amount of oil. I will try the pistachios again tomorrow starting with 2 tbsp. of oil.
That brings me to a mathematical point. Will it be possible to calculate the amount of oil needed based on my few tests and an examination of the fat content of each nut? It seems that almonds are 78% fat, while pistachios are only 72% and peanuts come in at 76% (Lagakos). This may seem like a small amount, but cooking is chemistry; even a small amount can cause an explosion. With this data, and the final amounts of oil used for each of the three different butters, I should be able to create a formula for how much oil to add based on fat content.
Well, back at it tomorrow with oil tests of almonds and pistachios. I will have to wait for nut sales at Sprouts to do any other tests.
The pictures on the page appear smaller than they are. To see them larger, simply double click on the picture. Also, I always welcome your constructive criticism. Click on the Comment link below next to the icon of a pencil; it may say “No” or have a number in front of it.
References:
Lagakos, William. "Calories In Nuts Chart: Which Are The Lowest Calorie?" BuiltLean.com. BuiltLean, 31 July 2013. Web. 13 May 2014.
This is my second batch of almond butter, using 1 cup of slivered blanched almonds but only 1 tsp. of sunflower oil this time. I wanted to see the difference there might be between yesterday's batch and today's.
A tip on sunflower oil: It does not solidify in the refrigerator. I put it in the fridge yesterday to prevent rancidity, and when I took it out today, it was as clear as yesterday. This is a good thing, as the smallest bottle I could buy was pretty large and my previous bottle went bad. Now I know I can keep it in the fridge.
To proceed, then, I used the same technique I had used in my previous post.
That brings me to a mathematical point. Will it be possible to calculate the amount of oil needed based on my few tests and an examination of the fat content of each nut? It seems that almonds are 78% fat, while pistachios are only 72% and peanuts come in at 76% (Lagakos). This may seem like a small amount, but cooking is chemistry; even a small amount can cause an explosion. With this data, and the final amounts of oil used for each of the three different butters, I should be able to create a formula for how much oil to add based on fat content.
Well, back at it tomorrow with oil tests of almonds and pistachios. I will have to wait for nut sales at Sprouts to do any other tests.
The pictures on the page appear smaller than they are. To see them larger, simply double click on the picture. Also, I always welcome your constructive criticism. Click on the Comment link below next to the icon of a pencil; it may say “No” or have a number in front of it.
References:
Lagakos, William. "Calories In Nuts Chart: Which Are The Lowest Calorie?" BuiltLean.com. BuiltLean, 31 July 2013. Web. 13 May 2014.
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