Peanut, Peanut Butter!
Peanut, Peanut Butter!!
Just about everyone loves peanut butter and has fond memories of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Do you?
And did you know that peanut butter is terribly easy to make? It is! Well, there's the tedium (if one sees it that way) of shelling them first (unless you buy shelled peanuts, of course), but shelling can be a good thing to do while watching TV or having a conversation, or it can be a good activity to share with children (who will love eating the peanuts and anticipating peanut butter), or it can just be a good meditative experience.
No matter how you accomplish having shelled peanuts, it's so easy to turn them into peanut butter.
Fact #1: Use USDA Certified Organic peanuts, unless you have grown your own using organic practices. Non-organic peanuts are one of the most pesticide-contaminated crops, as they are frequently rotated in a field with cotton, which is a glyphosate-heavy crop (so, you might also consider buying clothes or fabric made from cotton that is certified organically grown, but I digress … ).
Fact #2: Though we can eat raw peanuts, you should make your peanut butter from roasted peanuts. It's simple to roast them in the shell (or not in the shell), and you'll find directions below.
Fact #3: Peanuts do not grow on trees the way other kinds of nuts do – they grow underground! They are a legume (the same as beans, peas, clovers, alfalfa, etc.) Furthermore, they don't grow from the roots – they are truly unique! After the peanut-butter-making directions, there is a section about how peanuts grow, and how you can grow them. There are also links to videos of peanut plants growing and peanuts developing. It's truly fascinating!
Okay – here are the super-easy instructions for making peanut butter …
Preparing the peanuts:
If you have raw peanuts in the shell, you need to roast them first. You can roast them in the shell, or roast shelled peanuts.
First, sort your peanuts-in-the-shell to remove any that are broken, damaged, etc., and make sure that they are dry.
You can choose whether or not to salt them.
Oven roasting:
First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
On a shallow baking pan or dish, spread out the peanuts in a single layer.
Ready for the oven ...
... and into the oven.
If you would like them salted, you can sprinkle salt over them now (or, see Alternative #2 below).
Roast the peanuts-in-the-shell for about 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Check them now and then, stirring once or twice during cooking.
The peanuts will continue to cook in the shell after they are removed from the oven, so remove them just before doneness.
Let them cool about ten minutes.
Alternative #1: You can also roast shelled peanuts, for 15-20 minutes. Stir once or twice during cooking.
Alternative #2: You can pre-soak the peanuts-in-the-shell in a salty brine, then allow them to dry before roasting.
Alternative #3: To roast in a microwave: put shelled peanuts in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 2.5 minutes. Stir, then microwave for another 2.5 minutes.
Alternative #4: To roast in an air fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 300 degrees F. Put shelled peanuts in the basket and cook for about 15 minutes. Shake the basket, then cook for an additional 8 minutes at 350 degrees F.
If you have roasted them in the shell and they are cooled: remove from shells.
Each nut (seed) has a papery skin, but it's very easy to remove just by squeezing between your thumb and forefinger. It should slip right off.
Making peanut butter:
Pile the skinned peanuts into a food processor and – whir away! Keep stopping to check until you see that the peanut butter is the consistency you want (you may need to scrape the sides of the bowl and stir a bit before whirring again.)
That's it!!
Alternative #1: For a super-creamy butter, some people like to add some peanut oil at the end of the process, then whir some more.
Alternative #2: Some folks like to add a sweetener during the process, such as honey.
Alternative #3: Other things that could be added during processing: salt, cinnamon, other spices, melted chocolate.
Or, just have plain old pure peanut butter.
Now you are ready to enjoy!!
Homemade peanut butter can be stored up to one month, in an airtight container, at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Storing it in the cold will make it last longer before the oil turns rancid, but will also make it harder to stir.
Now you can make your homemade peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. The homemade jelly and homemade bread are more things to learn.
(Did you sing the song “Pea-nut, peanut butter (and jelly)” when your were a child?)
Growing Peanuts – Fun and Easy!!
Getting and selecting peanut seeds:
First, you need your peanut seeds. There are a number of varieties. You will probably have the most success with a variety suited to your zone and growing conditions. I got my original seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange ( www.southernexposure.com ), which has a nice selection. I chose Tennessee Red Valencia, as they do not require as long a season as the deep south varieties. The seeds within the shell are red-skinned. This is a pre-1930's heirloom.
I started growing peanuts in my home garden. I chose peanut seed from my own harvest for our first planting in Grow City. Since then, we have selected peanut seed from the Grow City harvest in the fall for the next Grow City planting the following spring (May.) So far this has worked well.
How do you know which ones to plant? First, eliminate ones that are broken, too small, or have some other problems.
From there, choose according to the trait or traits you wish to encourage in future crops. At Grow City, we are experimenting with choosing those that have a higher number of peanut seeds in the shell, to see what happens over time. One might choose according to the largest peanut seeds, or something else.
Crack open the chosen peanut shells and drop the peanut seeds into a container. Do some more weeding-out, if needed, to remove seeds that are too small or have other problems.
Choosing a planting location:
Peanuts grow well in sandy soil, but I have successfully grown them in clay soil at home. Mainly, the harvest will be a little harder to lift from the soil. They just need soil that is loose, rich, and well-drained. Make sure your planting location gets at least eight hours of sun per day. Remember, you can also plant peanuts in containers!
Planting:
Plant each peanut seed about two inches into the soil, and about 6” to 8” apart. Keep well-watered (but not overly) after planting (seeds will germinate in five to ten days) and as young plants grow.
Growing:
The plant will produce pretty yellow flowers (as peanuts are legumes, you will see how the flowers resemble those of beans and peas.)
Now, here's the most super-cool thing of all about peanut plants – how the peanuts develop. They don't grow from the roots! They are fruits that develop from the center of the flowers, the ovaries (think of an apple developing from the center of the apple blossom after the petals fall.)
Here we go …
After the pretty yellow flowers are pollinated, they fade and then grow long, slender stems. These stems droop down to the soil where the ovary touches the soil. The peanut, or fruit, then grows from there, into the soil, and under it.
Showing peanuts that are attached to stems, not roots
So, a good practice, after you see the flower petals fade, is to mound up soil around the plant. This enables the stem to reach the soil better. You also want to be sure the soil is consistently moist from the time of young plants, to flowering, and after mounding.
As peanuts develop, unseen, the plant will eventually start to yellow. When this begins, you can stop watering.
A lush crop of peanut plants in Bed #2 at Grow City, on July 18, 2023
Harvesting:
You can harvest your peanuts in autumn. But how do your know they are ready? Do an exploratory dig. Use a garden fork to gently lift the base of a plant. Do the peanut shells look fully-formed, dry, and brown? If pale, leave them in the ground and wait longer to try again later. You can break one open to see if there are fully-formed peanut seeds inside.
Now comes the really fun part – digging for treasure! You might be able to gently pull up a plant and everything that was beneath the soil, or you might need to coax it a bit with a garden fork. Either way, give the peanut cluster a shake to drop some of the loose soil from them. Digging for peanut treasures is especially fun to do with children!
The revealing of peanuts:
The Harvest:
Next, you can hang the plants in a place that is out of the sun, is dry, and has air circulation. I hung them in my potting shed.
After the leaves are all crispy-dry, remove the peanuts from the plants. Compost the old plants.
Allow the peanuts to dry before storing or roasting.
(Alternative: To dry, you can also remove the peanuts from the plants after harvest and hang them in a net bag.)
Now you have your own harvest of peanuts and your are ready to go all the way back to the beginning of this post – to Roasting!
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Videos of peanuts growing:
Animation with narration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLu1oW6rRrM
Real life/time-lapse, no narration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC-nwg4nm6s
This is long, but excellent. We see a peanut plant, a photo a day, from the time the seed is planted. There is good information along the way. There is also a segment with close-ups of blooms developing the long stems, drooping to the soil, etc. They did not wait for the leaves to yellow before harvesting – they still had a harvest, but there were a number of immature peanuts left on the plant. This person is growing the plants in containers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNL63i79rQ
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