nut butter issues

[BerryGirl]

I seem to have issues making nut butters in the food processor here at home. How much oil do you add, and what kind? I made some almond butter today, and the only raw oil I have is olive oil, which gave the almond butter a really, um, interesting taste. Please help!

[veganman]

Hi Berry Girl -

I usually just soak and put through the homogenizer. No oil.

I am glad you brought this up though, because it isn't creamy.


Does anyone have suggestions with that?

[EastCoastie]

Hi Berry Girl,

Thanks for asking the question because yesterday I was wondering if anyone has successfully made raw almond butter. I've soaked the almonds and used my Vita-Mix, my K-Tec, my Samson and my Champion and in each instance I ended up with nut mush. Not at all creamy. I'd love to hear from anyone who's had success with this.

Thanks!

EC

[Green Life]

HI

I just put raw, unsoaked almonds in the processor and chop until very fine. Then, I slowly begin to add a very mild, butter tasting olive oil, a drizzle at a time as the machine is turning. Check periodically till it's the consistency you want. Somettimes, I will also add some raw honey and celtic salt all to taste. This process of turning almonds into nut butter takes awhile. It's so much better then the commercial kind and is really easy to make.


Green Life

[GlimR]

How long a time are we talking??? :confused:

[Green Life]

Hi

Ummm well, it depends on your processor, the quantity, ect. Maybe ten minutes or so? You just have to experiment with it, every batch is different because of the ingedients and amounts, ect.

[BerryGirl]

What kind of olive oil? The kind I used is Bionaturae Organic Olive Oil, cold pressed. I guess it's hard for me to imagine a butter-tasting olive oil.

I've had to add copious amounts of honey to make this batch palatable. If almonds weren't so darn expensive . . .

[fuzzywater]

Not sure how much this will help, but I'll have a go.

I heard about a Kitchen Aid coffee grinder through one of these threads and, being a huge Kitchen Aid fan and having contemplating buying a coffee grinder for a while, broke down and bought it. It is WONDERFUL!

So now what I do is grind my nuts in the coffee grinder (sometimes more than one batch depending on how much nut butter I want) and then transfer to the food processor.... whirl it around with a drizzle of oil (I use a combo of olive oil and flax oil). After a fairly short period of time, it gets fairly creamy. I wouldn't really say it's "smooth," but fairly creamy.

Hope that helps a little bit.

[Rawkinlocs]

Hempseed oil may be a better choice than olive - Alissa sells some on her site. It seems as though olive oils that are extra virgin, cold pressed have that "distinct" flavor and I HATE that flavor. It almost ruins everything I make that requires olive oil. Now, there are milder-tasting olive oils that are kinda neutral, but those are more than likely not fitting of the "raw standards" and might say something on the bottle like "Extra Light". They're not as dark in color so more than likely, there was some serioius processing going on. But those are the ones that I have most success with as they don't leave that heavy, olivy taste in my foods.

But hempseed oil is kinda nutty-flavored so I'm thinking it "might" work better with a nut butter, but I've never tried using it for that, so don't sue me if it doesn't taste right...it was just a thought.

Here is my experience with making almond butter...I've made it successfully twice with the Champion (sorry, not the food processor yet...but I'm thinking if you soak, then dehydrate to dry them out a bit it might turn out creamier in the FP and maybe add a little oil if need be and just process it...a LOT, until it's creamy enough for you. Also, are you adding enough nuts to it for your processor cup size? Okay, back to my experience.

Someone on this board (can't remember who to give proper credit...sorry) suggested UNsoaked, but dehydrated almonds. So, I tried that my first time...I just put them in the dehydrator overnight and the next day, I ran them through the Champion using the blank plate. You have to do it slow, don't just put them in the chute and shove the tamper down in there quickly. Do it slow and a little at a time. It will try to overheat on you after a while, so you might have to stop, turn it off and wait until it cools down before doing more.

It was nice and creamy...the consistency was very comparable to what you buy in the jar.

The second time I did it, I soaked and then dehydrated the almonds. It still turned out okay, but there was something different about it that wasn't like the first batch with unsoaked/dehydrated almonds.

[Green Life]

It'a Apollo Olive oil. It's hand picked, stone milled and cold pressed. No heat is used. They have a buttery kind and a spicey kind. The buttery kind is verrry mild tasting not harsh or bitter at all.

[Rawkinlocs]

Oooh Green Life, that oil sounds GOOOD! I'll have to try and find that!! Thanks! :)

[Rawkinlocs]

...and here it is! http://www.apollooliveoil.com/store.php

So, I assume you use the Mistrel Blend, Green Life?

[Green Life]

Hey! Thanks! I couldn't find their web site when I looked for it, LOL!

Yes, I use the Mistral, somettimes I use the spicey. Depends on the dish. For Borsch, I like the spicey.

Green Life

[rawpriestess]

I also use my champion, nuts soaked and dehydrated to raw, I've never tried the nuts unsoaked and dehydrated that sounds good too.

I don't add oil or water.

[BerryGirl]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Unfortunately I don't have a dehydrator, so I'll have to wait on dehydrating the almonds. But I'll try mixing some oils and see what happens. Thanks again!