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Peanut butter

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Peanut butter is a paste of ground roasted peanuts, usually with salt. Smooth and granular versions come from the same method, differing in how finely the nuts are ground.

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Smooth peanut butter in a ceramic bowl beside roasted peanuts and a butter knife.

What the name covers

Peanut butter is a ground-peanut paste. It is a food product made from roasted peanuts rather than a fermented or cured one. Labels may add sugar, oil or stabiliser. The unsweetened, smooth form described in the research is the simplest version, and it is the one this entry follows.

Smoothness is a texture, not a guarantee of ingredients. Labels must be checked for added salt, sugar or oil.

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Roasting and grinding

Roasting develops the aroma that most people associate with peanuts. The roast level changes the flavour, and the sources do not give a single roast that suits every product.

Grinding decides the texture. Freshly ground roasted peanuts can give a more granular sauce or paste than a fully smoothed butter. The 1912 description combines finely ground nuts with salt, so a fine grind is the historical reference point.

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History

The 1912 USDA page documents a peanut butter made by fine grinding of fresh-roasted peanuts with salt, and it mentions factories making the product. An 1896 US patent by Kellogg covers cooked peanuts, which shows that peanut processing was being patented in the 1890s. The patent does not show who made the first peanut butter.

Smithsonian's history treats the early attributions as disputed. Partial hydrogenation later helped stabilise some commercial peanut butter. Older ground-peanut pastes and modern commercial formulas should be kept apart in any account.

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Allergy and safety

Peanuts are a major food allergen in the United States. Peanut butter made at home or in a shared kitchen needs clear labelling for people with allergy, and cross-contact must be controlled.

The FDA lists peanuts among crops susceptible to aflatoxins. Neither the smell nor the taste of a batch shows whether aflatoxins are present, and no home limit or test is proposed here. The sources give no storage period for the finished paste.

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History

A 1912 USDA page on W. R. Beattie's peanut butter describes finely ground, fresh-roasted peanuts with salt and mentions factories. An 1895-filed, 1896-granted US patent by Kellogg concerns cooked peanuts. Smithsonian's overview says the early history is disputed and that partial hydrogenation later stabilised some commercial peanut butter. Patents and early pages do not prove sole invention or first use.

Ingredients

Roasted peanutsFresh-roasted, as the 1912 source describes.
Amount not stated
The sources give no quantity.
Salt
Amount not stated
Added in the 1912 description; the sources give no quantity.

Method

  1. Roast the peanuts until they are fresh-roasted. No time or temperature is recorded for this stage.
  2. Grind the roasted nuts finely while they are still fresh. A finer grind gives a smooth paste; a coarser grind stays granular.
  3. Add salt, as the 1912 description does.

Places

United States

Historical attestation · Country evidence

A 1912 USDA National Agricultural Library page describes the product and factory production; it does not establish a sole inventor.

See United Stateson the mapLocation source 1 →

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