Can you make nut butter???

[tvillemom]

I've been trying to come up with a GREAT nut butter. Homemade....it just AIN'T happening! I've run it through my juicer (with the blank on...I have an Omega 8005, which advertises you can make nut butter) and it comes out hard and dry, I've used soaked, dehydrated almonds....and almonds that were just soaked. My nut butter comes out grainy.:o I REALLY want to make SMOOTH nut butter. Oh yeah, I even ran it though the juicer...and then put it in the FP with oil and water to "cream" it....still grainy!
Has anyone made CREAMY nut butter successfully??? I'm considering buying a vitamix....but also wondering if there is another appliance that "does the trick"??? If you make your own, what do you do??HELP!

Wendi

[RawVegan4Health]

It's hit or miss for me. I have made it successfully iwth just my fp before, only to have the next batch not work out. I have the most luck with cashews generally, but even they are tricky sometimes. Depending on how creamy you are talking about, it could be impossible. There is always some texture.

[Conscious Midwife]

Cashew in the food processor is all I ever due. Sometiem I add honey, sometimes I don't. Oh and I don't soak, Cashews seem to become flour before oils release fully then it's awesome and creamy.

[mel_s12]

I dont know if anybody has ever heard of a Bamix before? It's one of those handheld appliances but it's really amazing. I dont think you can buy it in stores.. I've only ever seen it at home shows and online. Anyways, it comes with this other gadget and you can make nut butters with it. It's awesome!

http://www.bamix.com/en/deluxe/index.shtml

[tvillemom]

Really cool gadget....but I could not figure out the cost, or how to order one. Any ideas?
Wendi

[Zella Juice]

I use walnuts because they are so oily...even after soaking and dehydrating.

just put the walnuts and almonds in the food processor and let them process until they are all mushy. sometimes I add some coconut oil and a little salt.

I have found that when I use olive oil...I don't get the taste I like. But nut butters need some sort of oil. So using the natural oils from the walnuts works..or coconut oil works. From there...I can make that into fudge by adding a date and cocoa paste.

hope this helps

[spiralgirl]

tvillemom,

Okay, I'm ready to blow you away because I made amazing nut butter the other night and I don't have fancy stuff. I'm using a coffee grinder Braun brand(from Wal-Mart), also using an old Braun Multipractic 100 food processor that goes to about 460 watts.

Here ya go for amazing butter. I posted a picture here. (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=23704&page=8)

Onto the recipe:

1 cup of nuts (I did cashews and almond mix but whatever you want to do of just do almond, also I doubled this the next time)
1 TBSP of cold processed oil to start with (I used extra virgin olive but you can use whatever you have) Sesame might be too strong.
1/4 tsp of salt (I added none and sprinkled a bit in after it was made). If using sea salt it can be a bit strong.

Grind your cup or two cup of nuts up in the grinder until and nice powder, then put it all in the food processor. Turn on your food processor on low (you could try high, but mine had I, II, or a IV marking). Then while the processor is running you slowly add 1 TBSP of oil in a time until you get the consistency you want. It will be different depending on the nuts you have. For my almond/cashew mix it took me 5 TBSP of oil. That's it, if you want to add sweetener you can and a really small amount of salt will help bring out the nut flavour.

Now mine was a bit crunchy and I could have processed it more but was happy it turned out as I was about to spend $10.59 on a small Maranatha bottle but held off.

Let me know how it turns out. :D

P.S. Love your scripture verse. ;)

[tvillemom]

Thank you spiralgirl! I will try pulverizing my nuts in the grinder first. I should have thought. I used to make cashew butter like that, and I am trying not to use too many cashews right now because of their acidity. I should have thought to DEHYDRATE my soaked almonds, and then put them through the grinder first....I WILL do that next time!!
I also like the idea of using some walnuts for their oil content!

Thanks ya'll!!

Wendi

[Veganforlife]

Really cool gadget....but I could not figure out the cost, or how to order one. Any ideas?
Wendi

Here's one:

http://www.kitchen-universe.com/detail.aspx?ID=4148

[tvillemom]

Thanks Veganforlife! Wondering how powerful it is??? Thanks again for the link.

Wendi

[spiralgirl]

tvillemom,

Yes, dehydrating your nuts would bring out the flavour more for sure. I wanted it right away and couldn't wait but will try that next time.

The second batch I made I used sunflower, pumpkin, almonds cashews and it turned out well too.

[tvillemom]

Ok...for now, I've taken the "almond butter" that was TOOOO crunchy (it just went through the juicer, and then into the FP and was TOOO crunchy still) and I have now put it into the DEHYDRATOR! I'm hoping to bring out the flavor, crisp it up, and then put it into the coffee grinder (which I should've done first!) I'll grind it and try the "butter" again. I figured I had nothing to loose, and didn't want to let my original, "not-really-that-good" butter go to waste! I'll let ya know what happens. Maybe the extra effort will pay off!

Wendi