Almond Butter from Living Tree Community

[vegankristen]

The local natural foods store here offers raw almond butter from two different companies: Marantha and Living Tree community. I know Marantha is not truly raw, but does anyone know about Living Tree?

Thanks!!
Kristen

[violetflame]

I ordered both the raw almond and raw tahini butter from Living Tree Community and YES, they are RAW. They sell both a raw and non raw nut butters, but if it says raw on the label it should be their raw nut butter. They also sell other raw goodies that you can check out on their website. I have gotten sun-dried tomatoes, and coconut oil, and raw black sesame butter from them. YUMM> They also sell raw cocao nibs.

http://www.livingtreecommunity.com
Peace,

violetflame

[vegankristen]

Wow..thanks so much for the verification. I was so bummed when i found out that Marantha wasn't really raw b/c that was the only brand the store had, but then they started carrying Living Tree, so that's great to hear!

I made truffles and chocolate-coconut thumbprint cookies with the almond butter..MMM! Cant wait til they get out of the dehydrator!!

Kristen!

[Revvell]

is not really raw? How can they list "organic raw" on the label then?

Injoy ~

Revvell

[flutterfly]

East Wind Community also has a wonderful assortment of raw nut butters. I order about 10 at a time and save a lot of money.

[rawpriestess]

In answer to the one question, "if it says organic raw" on the label, how can it not be raw?

Well, it can be raw which means not cooked, but it does NOT mean not heated.

Also, anything that is canned is boiled to seal the lid, it may be raw, but it is heated.

Pork and beans go in the can raw, but the canning process is what cooks them, this is just to show how much heat actually goes into the canning process.

Same with canned tomatoes, etc.

[Revvell]

RawPriestess,

Thank you for the explanation yet, Marantha is bottled, not canned as is all the almond butter I know of ~ unless I'm missing something?

So, are you saying that everything in a jar is also heated or cooked?

Thanks ~

Revvell

[Sharon in Colorado]

Whether the container is glass or tin, you still need to heat process it to seal the lid and remove any bacteria. Thus "canning"... we call it that when we make jams and jellies, etc. even though we are using those glass containers.

Oh on an off note, I've been able to reuse all my old canning jars by purchsing the plastic ball tops and that way I can store leftovers etc. As most folks know, the metal lids shouldn't really be re-used. Wal-mart sells the tops...they are great and I use them all the time!

[Ahimsa]

Sharon-
Will you explain why the metal lids shouldn't be reused???

[Sharon in Colorado]

I think the metal lid part shouldn't be reused because I've seen mine get rusty, and don't think that's a good thing to come into contact with food.

However the band part can be used, but then you'd have to find something to wrap around the top of the jar, like plastic or foil or something. For me, that would risk leakage or whatnot and wouldn't be worth the trouble.

That is why I suggest using those plastic lids that Ball sells. They are called "Plastic Storage Caps" and you can get them for the wide or the regular mouthed jars. I like the wide mouthed ones, easier to get spoons and things into.

http://www.polsteins.com/alcorbal8pkp.html

I got this idea from a friend and I love to be able to store my salsa, minced garlic in olive oil, pestos, nuts etc in those Ball canning jars using the plastic storage caps. You can get them (the jars) in so many sizes too, and for a box of 12 of them, you can't beat the price!

[Revvell]

Isn't Living Tree's almond butter in a jar? Not seen it locally yet, how else would they sell it?

Yup! yup! yup! There's is in a jar also, so, how is it theirs is raw and Marantha is not if what is said about canning is true?

Thanks ~

Revvell

[joy]

While the canning process usually always involves some form of pasteurization, I think the real problem with almond butters like Maranatha is the temperatures to which they're heated in the grinding process. I've heard those machines run at temperatures of 500-1000 F. This certainly doesn't mean the product is heated to that temp, just that it comes in contact with a hot machine and therefore isn't exactly "raw."

It's possible that the Living Tree stuff is ground at low temperatures, probably with a slower machine.