The Peanut Was Just Beginning To Become A Major Crop In the South, A Man Named George Washington Carver

Had Just Discovered Many Uses For The Peanut.

But The Kellogg Brothers Had Just Started To Create The Peanut Paste When They Decided To Leave It And Work

On Their Cereal Which Is now The Kellogg Cereal

Now After Many Years Of Work It Has Become

PEANUT BUTTEROne Of The Most Successful Products of all time

George Washington Carver invented three hundred uses for peanuts. He did start popularizing uses for peanut products including peanut butter, paper, ink, and oils beginning in 1880. However, Carver did not patent peanut butter as he believed food products were all a gift from god. The 1880 date precedes all the above inventors accept of course for the Incas, who were probably first. It was Carver that made peanuts a significant crop in the American south in the early 1900's.

Peanut HistoryPeanuts are not nuts at all but legumes, which have the peculiar habit of ripening underneath the earth. Peanuts are native to South America but are grown today in many countries with warm climates, such as India, China, West Africa, the USA and Australia.The grinding of peanuts into an edible paste goes back 1,000 years to South America. The making of a more refined Peanut Butter began in the USA just over 100 years ago.

Cleaning and PreparationAs peanuts grow in the ground, they have to be cleaned of stones, soil and any other contaminants. In a process called aspiration air is blown through them to remove light unwanted material. They are also shaken on a gravity table which removes lighter contaminants at one end and heavier contaminants at the other.

RoastingThe nuts are roasted until they are an even color. This takes about 20 minutes, by which time the temperature of the nuts reaches about 150C. They are cooled quickly by passing cold air through them. This prevents overcooking and makes it easier to remove the skins.

BlanchingThe next stage is called blanching, which is the technical term for removing the skins. This can be done by either brushing the peanuts with stout bristles or rolling them against rubber rollers.

GrindingPeanuts are ground into a paste in a mill. Different grinding plates are used to produce smooth and crunchy pastes. With some crunchy varieties finely chopped nuts are added after grinding. Air is removed that might be trapped in the Peanut Butter by passing it through a partial vacuum.

Setting and PackingDuring milling the Peanut Butter is heated to 80C to add molten stabilizer. This stops the peanut butter from separating in the jar. The stabilizers used are monoglycerides and/or edible lipids.

The Peanut Butter is then cooled to between 35C and 50C, poured into jars and allowed to set.

Joey Dunaway