By Katy Killilea
Natural nut butters are great for families trying to avoid trans fats or for kids who attend schools that have banned peanut butter. But it’s hard to settle on a satisfactory strategy for blending the separated oil back in. Dump and scrape the separated goo into a shallow container and mash it with a fork? Mix it with whatever spreading knife is handy and splash it onto your sweater? Haul out the Cuisinart and give it a whiz? Store the jar upside down in the fridge and hope for the best? Not elegant solutions.
Here, to save the nut butter mixer’s day, is a gadget from inventor Bob Witmer of Ohio. A hook, inserted through a rubber gasket in a metal lid, gets vigorously cranked and the nut butter becomes utterly smooth. Once the job is done, you pull the hook out through the gasket, which very tidily cleans off every bit of butter from said hook. You then replace the Witmer Peanut Butter Mixer lid with the lid that came on the jar originally.
In terms of the natural nut butters available here, one-pound-size glass jars are prevalent, and the Witmer “Model 100 for 16 ounce jars” fits right on these. Witmer makes other sizes for larger jars, for that rare person who is both a bulk shopper and a strict natural food enthusiast. When my package first arrived from Witmer, I used it on a jar of cashew butter. I liked how the gadget works so much that I washed it off and mixed a jar of tahini. In both cases, less than a minute of cranking thoroughly reintegrated the oils, and the cleanup was simple. Anyone who mixes more than a few jars a year would do well to get one of these–it is reasonably priced and takes up very little storage space.
Details:
Model 100 Crank Mixer for 16-ounce jars: $9.95
To order online: witmerproducts.com
I used Bob Witmer’s suggested peanut oil for my popcorn last night. Very nice.
Thanks for reviewing my old fashioned natural peanut butter mixer. I’m always pleased to hear that it has made a messy job much easier for others…in fact, after years of splashing peanut oil on my wife’s counter top, and turning leaking jars upside down, I finally experimented with a variety of concepts and items from the local Goodwill store until I settled on the current version of a single curved rod that cleans itself upon removal from the jar. We now make this product in Ohio, close to the Smuckers plant. Personally, we use about a jar of natural peanut butter each week and start out by removing about two spoonsful of oil from the top to use for popcorn. This also reduces the amount of fat and calories. We then mix thoroughly with our stirring devise and keep at room temperature. (We don’t care for cold peanut butter on warm toast.) We often use Smuckers no-salt peanut butter. Regarding adapting the smaller mixer for larger jars, we now have eight mixers available for most sizes, all with the food grade gaskets. So, to everyone out there, best wishes, thanks for trying our product… and keep mixing!!
Whoa! JC–I know you have 4 kids but 2 jars a week???
One more thing: is there anything better than crunchy roasted almond butter on graham crackers? I feel I could eat this for every meal and snack for life.
Maybe cashew butter occasionally, for variety.
I agree: upside down upon arrival home from grocery store; upon opening, mix with the good ole Witmer (or what have you), then store upside down in the fridge.
Ah, the simple pleasures that make life so grand.
I store them upside down when I bring them home from the store. The week or two that they sit there, really helps the oil mix in and the salt settle back in to the mix. Then I still have to mix it, but much easier, and much less likely to get that oil on the sweater…..
I do the jar upside down too—after the initial big stir.
Hmm… We just store the jar upside down (on a plate, in case of leaks), and that keeps the oil from separating too drastically. Anyone else do that?
Oh Erin, you and your crafty farm wife ways! I am glad to know that the same crank works on a bigger jar–I think I’ll have to doctor up a large lid too.
We have this and I love it!
I had to modify it because I bought the small size and we always buy a big jar of peanut butter. We drilled through a large lid, put the crank in and ta-dah — we now have a big peanut butter stirrer!!
this looks great. i end up microwaving the peanut butter for a few seconds and then attempt to stir it with a big butter knife. this looks much easier! thank you.
This might just change my life!
I had no idea this product even existed. We go through at least two jars of peanut butter per week, and mixing the jar has become one of my least favorite tasks. Needless to say, I’m ordering the crank mixer asap. Do I sound like an infomercial or what?