How long to keep homemade peanut butter?

[Saphellae]

I'm about to make peanut butter with some peanuts I bought at the store in their shell, which will be alot better than the stuff you buy in the store. 5 bucks for a bag and it'll be more than enough peanuts for the two of us.

So my question is, how long can I keep it in the fridge for? I know separation is normal and it may need a bit of a stir once in a while.

[JillBurgh]

Don't know the answer but I'm curious about this, too. So I'm bringing it back to life!

[lulu]

I'd like to know too.....

[Barb L]

My hubby eats the natural and keeps it in the fridge, you do have to stir it before you use it. They say it will keep for two months !

[Russellkhan]

I get the stuff you grind in the machine in the store, and keep it in the cupboard for up to a month with no problems. Not that anything has gone wrong after a month, it just usually runs out by then.

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by Russellkhan

I get the stuff you grind in the machine in the store, and keep it in the cupboard for up to a month with no problems. Not that anything has gone wrong after a month, it just usually runs out by then.

I buy the fresh ground peanuts at Whole Foods. You turn the knob on the grinder and out comes nothing but freshly ground peanuts. This is without a doubt the best peanut butter I'ver ever had and makes awesome peanut butter cookies, by the way, because of the intense flavor. No other additives. I keep it in the fridge, I don't know why I just do and I've kept it for a month with no problem. There is nothing to stir since there is no added oil and the peanuts don't seem to give off any of their own. Not sure about keeping it in the cubboard, since I've never done it but if you have with no problems then I guess it's okay.

Now I'm curious to know how the original poster (Saphellae) makes the peanut butter. It's probably a lot cheaper and just as easy so hope she shares with us. I wonder if adding a bit of peanut oil will keep it easier to spread. I take mine out of the fridge about an hour before using it to soften it a bit.

[JillBurgh]

Originally Posted by DramaQueen

I buy the fresh ground peanuts at Whole Foods. You turn the knob on the grinder and out comes nothing but freshly ground peanuts.

Oh I hate to ruin this for you, but I feel like it's my duty to share this story..

The last time I was at WF, there was a girl- maybe 10 or 11 - standing at the peanut butter machine with her finger up inside the spout area. She was digging her fingers around in there and LICKING HER HANDS. She would get them all clean and then shove em back in for more. Then she turned her head upside down and peered up inside to see if she was missing any last morsels of peanut butter. I was HORRIFED. I just stood there with my mouth agape in shock. I was about to go yell at the child and thought better of it. I looked for her parent(s) and didn't see anyone around that fit the bill. I said what are you doing? And the girl just walked the other way. I immediately got an employee and explained what I saw and that it needed a good cleaning. Whether that meachine was cleaned up or not I'll never know...

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by JillBurgh

Oh I hate to ruin this for you, but I feel like it's my duty to share this story..

The last time I was at WF, there was a girl- maybe 10 or 11 - standing at the peanut butter machine with her finger up inside the spout area. She was digging her fingers around in there and LICKING HER HANDS. She would get them all clean and then shove em back in for more. Then she turned her head upside down and peered up inside to see if she was missing any last morsels of peanut butter. I was HORRIFED. I just stood there with my mouth agape in shock. I was about to go yell at the child and thought better of it. I looked for her parent(s) and didn't see anyone around that fit the bill. I said what are you doing? And the girl just walked the other way. I immediately got an employee and explained what I saw and that it needed a good cleaning. Whether that meachine was cleaned up or not I'll never know...

Yep, I hear that. Kinda makes you sick, doesn't it? Hopefully the employee did something about it but if they're like most clerks, waitstaff, cooks and restaurant employees, they could give a rat's patootie.

In Vegas, our local paper, the Review-Journal features a column every Wednesday called "Restuarant Report." It is written by the Clark County Health Department and shows the demerits given to certain restuarants examined that week. It's enough to make stop eating out. If you knew half of what goes on in restaurants and the things the kitchen is cited for, you would think twice about cooking at home instead.
I know this type of thing (as in the Whole Foods incident) is common and I guess you have to decide to take your chances. I wonder how often the peanut grinding machine is cleaned on the inside, wiping away any peanut mold that might accumulate. That's one reason I asked how the original poster grinds her peanuts. I prefer to KNOW what goes on in my food preparation.

[Maverick2272]

I keep it in the cupboard but never had it around longer than a month, it was still good at that point when we used it up.
The wife is always trying to put it in the fridge but I always take it out and place it back in the cupboard. Now she has her jar in the fridge and the rest of us have ours in the cupboard.
One thing I am curios about: When you grind it at the store, don't you just get ground peanuts? How does it make peanut butter?

[DramaQueen]

Originally Posted by Maverick2272

One thing I am curios about: When you grind it at the store, don't you just get ground peanuts? How does it make peanut butter?

It isn't peanut butter as you know it, with hydrogenated shortening, sugars and several other ingredients. It's just plain ground peanuts. When you grind them they become the consistancy of thick peanut butter without the runnier , smooth texture of the jarred product. There is enough natural oil in the peanuts to give it a spreadable consistancy. There is a slight amount of chunkiness to it but the flavor is intense because it's just a plain concentration of peanuts with nothing else to interfere with the taste.