# Canning Peanut Butter



## Rockfish

I have read instructions (here and on the internet) for canning homemade peanut butter. But I have also read that you can safely can homemade peanut butter because the ph is too (I forget, too high or too low).

Any comments?

Really, I want to make some and send it by mail to someone, and of course it won't be refrigerated-thus my canning question.

Thanks.


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## Lydia

What all do you put in your home made peanut butter?


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## Lydia

Rockfish said:


> I have read instructions (here and on the internet)


 Hehe! I just re-read that. I thought we were on the internet here.


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## Ohio dreamer

Naw this isn't the internet, we have good solid information here. The internet is full of junk.

Sorry, I have no clue on canning peanut butter. My gut says the between the fat content and the density that it would be a no-no for home canning, but I've been wrong before -but I'll never admit it .


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## blooba

I would be worried about the density but here ya go
Jackie Clay knows all....lol
http://www.backwoodshome.com/advice/aj84.html


> Making homemade peanut butter is easy, not to mention very tasty. All you have to do is throw one cup of roasted peanuts into a blender with two Tbsp. of vegetable oil and as much salt as you want (probably Â½ tsp.). Then whiz until it is peanut butter. You will want to refrigerate and use it, as it will go rancid easier because it is without chemicals to keep it fresh.
> 
> To make crunchy peanut butter, simply whiz a first batch to the &#8220;chopped&#8221; stage, dump them into a bowl, then do the next to &#8220;creamy.&#8221; Mix the two and you have great crunchy peanut butter.
> 
> Taking it a step further, you can home-can your peanut butter to keep it from going rancid by packing it tightly into clean canning jars to within one inch of the top, wipe the jar rim very clean, then place a previously boiled warm lid on the jar and screw the ring down firmly tight. Process the jars in a hot water bath for one hour.
> 
> Remember, this old fashioned peanut butter will need to be stirred before each use, as the oil will tend to rise to the surface when it stands. Great stuff, though.


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## Lydia

Mmmm, just like Adam's brand.


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## judylou

Sorry but making homemade peanut butter is fine. Canning it isn't. Not only does the oil in it turn rancid but the oil insulates any botulism spores and prevents the heat from killing them. Since it is eaten fresh with no further cooking any toxins which might have developed wouldn't be destroyed. 

Plus it is VERY dense, much more dense than many of the other items which aren't approved for safe canning, and that density only compounds the heat penetration problems. Lastly, it is a low acid food so would require extensive pressure canning IF it was even possible to do it or know long.

Is the potential risk honestly worth it?


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## suitcase_sally

*Peanut Butter*

4 qts. shelled, skinned, roasted Virginia peanuts
2 qts. shelled, skinned, roasted Spanish peanuts
2 tablespoons salt

Grind nuts in a food chopper or blender; add salt and regrind until smooth and creamy. Pack into hot jars, leaving 1" headspace. Adjust caps. Process half-pints and pints for 1 hour at 190Âº in a water bath canner.

If shelled, salted nuts are used, omit salt.

This is from the Ball guide.


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## judylou

> This is from the Ball guide.
> Reply With Quote


Can I ask what Ball Guide Sally? Those old instructions for canning peanut butter haven't been included in the BBB for at least 20 years if I recall correctly. Perhaps longer if it was the 1978 revisions that removed it.

Nor is it in the Ball Complete Book. NCHFP makes it very clear that the only approved storage options for any nut butters is either fresh with refrigeration or frozen.



> _...should be made in small batches and kept refrigerated or frozen. Homemade nut butters can quickly go rancid at room temperature unlike their commercially prepared cousins that have special additives._


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## suitcase_sally

Well, the Ball guide no longer has directions for canning moose, muskrat (marsh rabbit), opposum, rattlesnake, turtle, blackbirds, oyster, ----ake and morel mushrooms, but that doesn't mean that it's unsafe. Prior to 5 years ago, there were no recipes in the Ball book for Basil-Garlic tomato sauce, but that doesn't mean that it was unsafe to do so?

You must remember, the Ball guide has to confine their book to a reasonable size. Tastes change over time and what is now popular was unheard of 15-20 years ago. (Anyone eat sushi in 1950? No.) You must take the Ball guide as just that , a "guide". You must know the principles of canning and use common sense. 

More and more people today are using "Anti-bacterial" hand sanitizers and now the medical world is saying that you are doing yourself more harm than good by eliminating the good bacteria, giving the bad bacteria easy entry to the body. 

All this "proper" and "good" food is the reason Dannon is selling yogurt with "probiotics" (and making a fortune). I say, let the kids eat a few handfuls of dirt and they will be just fine.

I'm off my soapbox now. Just use common sense, and you, too, can live to be 100.

I use the Ball guide, but it is just one of my books. No one appointed Ball the "God of canning", the be-all to end-all.


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## suitcase_sally

suitcase_sally said:


> oyster, ----ake and morel mushrooms,


Why does this stupid site mess with any portion of a word, even taken out of context? The mushroom is called "s-h-i-t-a-k-e"!


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## judylou

> Tastes change over time and what is now popular was unheard of 15-20 years ago. (Anyone eat sushi in 1950? No.) You must take the Ball guide as just that , a "guide". You must know the principles of canning and use common sense.


Oh I agree completely but since I also teach canning classes and have to keep my certification current I also have to know the reason why many things were removed from the books and the USDA bulletins we get are for that purpose. Recipes are often removed because of further testing and research results rather than because Ball has to contain the size of its book or because people are no longer interested in eating it. 

And peanut butter, or any nut butter, was removed in 1978 because advanced testing proved that because of the oil, the density, and the low pH, home canning of it was a moderately high botulism risk.

As always, it is your choice whether to adhere to current guidelines or not. But for those new to canning it's best to give them all the details and let them make up their own mind rather than just tell them it is safe.


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## Ohio dreamer

suitcase_sally said:


> Why does this stupid site mess with any portion of a word, even taken out of context? The mushroom is called "s-h-i-t-a-k-e"!



:hysterical: I wondered what that was!! I guess there is a thing such as too censored.


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## kyweaver

Might I ask why not just store the peanuts, and make the PB when needed?


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## wottahuzzee

suitcase_sally said:


> Why does this stupid site mess with any portion of a word, even taken out of context? The mushroom is called "s-h-i-t-a-k-e"!


Try "shiitake." Two i's.


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## sss3

Suitcase Sally -How much Peanut Butter does that recipe make? Thanks.


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## NCLee

judylou said:


> Oh I agree completely but since I also teach canning classes and have to keep my certification current I also have to know the reason why many things were removed from the books and the USDA bulletins we get are for that purpose. Recipes are often removed because of further testing and research results rather than because Ball has to contain the size of its book or because people are no longer interested in eating it.
> 
> And peanut butter, or any nut butter, was removed in 1978 because advanced testing proved that because of the oil, the density, and the low pH, home canning of it was a moderately high botulism risk.
> 
> As always, it is your choice whether to adhere to current guidelines or not. But for those new to canning it's best to give them all the details and let them make up their own mind rather than just tell them it is safe.


Well said Judy. 

FWIW, I've been involved with canning for close to 60 years now. Helped my Mom when I was a kid and she was canning everything via the waterbath method. She canned sausage by sealing the jars with hot sausage grease. We didn't get sick from her canning. However, I still vividly remember hearing on the radio about a family of 4 in our area dying from botilusm from home canned foods. Mom had experience in this method of canning. She knew exactly what to do to the food before, during, and after canning it, to improve the safety factor. And, yet, while not in our family, people were dying. 

One of the things I've also come to realize that Mom didn't face some of the challenges faced by cooks today, whether the food is canned or not. Her food for canning was produced at home. Most of the foods that could be contaminated were produced locally. Thus, they weren't exposed to all the "stuff" that's in today's food chain. 

For example, chickens were handled like any other meat in the kitchen. No special precautions just because it was chicken. Now, with the risk of contamination so high from store bought chicken, I sometimes feel that I need to sanitize the whole kitchen after cutting up a bunch for canning. If memory serves, the last time I heard about 80% of store-bought chicken is contaminated. 

FWIW, I have canning manuals going back to sometime in WW1. Not dated, but I can tell from the wording and the drawings the time frame was around 1918. That manual is full of things that we can't use today, if we want safe home canned foods. Same with my Mom's 1953 Ball Blue Book, just not as much. Then, there's my 1970+ pressure canning guide that came with my first pressure canner. 

Since the early 70's I've also been buying canning guides by various publishers. And, have watched the changes in methods and processes over the years. Remember when it was considered acceptable to seal jelly with wax. Stores had big supplies of Gulf paraffin along side the other canning supplies. Research has shown that's not a safe method, as jelly canned with this method is subject to mold. Mold that can penetrate all the way through the contents of the jar. 

Fast forward to sometime in the 1990's. New research determined that processing of tomatoes needed to be changed. The newer hydrid tomatoes didn't have the same pH and the old versions. Thus the need to add acid to the tomatoes and/or switch to pressure canning. 

Would I recommend that people waterbath their tomatoes the way Mom did it? NO! Would I recommend that people can sausage the way she did? NO! Even though we didn't get sick from her canning, there's no way to know if the next jar she pulled off the shelf may have been the one in a hundred that was laden with botilusm toxin. 

I urge all those who are new to canning to follow the current guides to the letter. After becoming experienced, then make your own decision as to how much risk you're willing to take with your family when you choose not to follow current recommendations. Even though I know how to do many of the old methods, I don't use them, simply because I want to keep the risk to my family as low as possible. 

That said, it's your kitchen, thus your choice as to what you want to do there. 

Lee


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## morning.lovelyday

judylou said:


> Sorry but making homemade peanut butter is fine. Canning it isn't. Not only does the oil in it turn rancid but the oil insulates any botulism spores and prevents the heat from killing them. Since it is eaten fresh with no further cooking any toxins which might have developed wouldn't be destroyed. Plus it is VERY dense, much more dense than many of the other items which aren't approved for safe canning, and that density only compounds the heat penetration problems. Lastly, it is a low acid food so would require extensive pressure canning IF it was even possible to do it or know long. Is the potential risk honestly worth it?


 Anything canned/bottled commercially can be done at home. What's the difference?


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