can i make almond butter with my solostar juicer?

[kaybee]

Hi--

Is anyone familiar with the Solostar Juicer and whether I can make almond butter in it with unsoaked almonds? Its a single auger juicer--plastic auger, and it does have the homogenizing capability; ive used it to make dips and spreads with soaked seeds, grains, etc and it works very well for that, but i seem to remember the manual that came with it saying to only put soaked nuts/seeds through it... while i know soaked is better health-wise, it just isnt possible to make creamy almond butter with soaked almonds--unless theyre dehydrated, and i havent got a dehydrator at the moment. I used to make almond butter in the food processor, but right now I havent got and cant get a food processor; all Ive got for the next 4 months is the juicer.....has anyone used a solostar for processing raw, unsoaked nuts, or will it crack the auger or damage the machine ?

thanks--

[Sheryl]

I would not recommend it. Other similar juicers say you can do almond butter, but they MUST be soaked or you void your warranty. Even soaked you have to drop them in an almond at a time or jam it.

How about a $15 coffee grinder?

[ambiguous]

Hi Kaybee

I have a Solostar and have tried making almond butter with dry almonds a few times. I wind up with either almond meal or an almost plastic-like extrusion that backs up the juicer and is quite warm.

If you try it, I would recommend not forcing too many almonds in at once--that will give you the weirdly hard plasticy stuff--not sure how else to describe it. Adding oil to the almond meal that should result is probably your best bet.

I know I was disappointed with my experiments, since the company advertised the ability to make nut butter but I couldn't really make it. I actually find my vitamix better for doing nut grinding, but any strong blender should turn nuts and oil into something resembling nut butter. I don't know that we can ever get the taste and consistency of what's sold in a jar with home equipment, although I know some people say the Champion juicer works well.

Oh yeah, and while I don't think you'll crack the auger, it's definitely possible to crack the outer housing. Tribest was great about replacing it, but the Solostar 1 (which I have) has been discontinued, so I think getting replacement parts will be more difficult as time goes on. I think what cracked mine was actually wheatgrass--I would juice the pulp a second time to get more juice from it. Not such a great idea, I guess.

[kaybee]

hmmmm...sounds like im stuck without it for the next few months...thanks anyway guys.... i used to grind them to a powder in my coffee grinder then stick the powder in the food processor for a while...took about a billion years to keep it from heating too much but it was worth it..... but im in rome for the semester...no blender, no food processor no dehydrator etc and theyre just too expensive here...i do have a coffee grinder...maybe will try adding oil to the powder but most oils really alter the taste..... im having a hard time staying raw here because i am craving carbs and protein--bread, crackers, cookies, also dates and avocados which i cant get or afford here...... already use ground sesame as a craving curber, but was hoping i could get the almond butter too or something.....

seems like kind of deceptive advertising that the juicer companies claim you can make nut butters...but it has to be with soaked nuts....anyone whos tried that with soaked nuts knows that the stuff you get from soaked nuts is NOT the same as nut butter from the store.... ah well, at least the juicer works great for juicing stuff....

AMBIGUOUS: REGARDING YOUR SOLOSTAR PARTS: you can get an upgrade kit for about 65 dollars that is all new attachments that fit right on the base you have. i think i got mine from vitalityplus1.com they say they actually get more juice from it, and ive found it to work better with less leakage from the machine....although as ive found even with the old parts you have to tweak it a bit....if u try to use the homogenizing function with something too watery it gets a bit jammed and you have to take it apart and release the liquid.... but overall ive been happy with the solostar II parts, theyve sort of re-shaped some of the stuff and the strainer is alot longer,......i broke my solostar 1 auger when i stuck a knife in there.......brilliant, huh? anyway, might be worth looking into or at least when your parts break down. funny, ive never had a problem with the outer housing and i used to juice my wheatgrass twice too...but i found all the 2nd time produced was just more icky foam instead of juice..... good luck----

kaybee

[ambiguous]

Kaybee, thank you SO MUCH for your advice. I'd been thinking about getting a new juicer because all my pieces were breaking, but this looks like a way better plan.

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with raw in Rome. Adding a good olive oil to your veggies can be filling . . . I don't really have other ideas. Good luck!