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I'm looking for a food processor that I can make nut butters (peanut & almond) in. No reviews on Amazon show any promising information about being able to blend nuts to a buttery texture and the ones I've bought so far have just ground them up into dust.

Are some food processors better than others for making nut butters? If so, what makes them better? How can I choose the best one for this task?

Aaronut
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Matt
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  • I've edited this to be a more general question about selecting equipment; please note that this site is for Q&A - product polls/recommendations aren't allowed. – Aaronut Jun 17 '11 at 03:03
  • I wish you luck. I've tried 3 different food processors, and the nut butters always have small chunks in them. I'll eat it but my kids won't. If you find one that really makes smooth nut butter, I'd love to know. None of the ones that I have tried have been crazy expensive ($25 - $200), but they all seem to have about the same speed and power motors. I was thinking about trying a coffee grinder, but I think it may gum it up. – Kirk Aug 24 '11 at 03:30

4 Answers4

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Resurrecting this thread in case people end up searching for it.

The only requirement for which food processor is that the motor is powerful. Underpowered will tax the motor too much. If the FP says that you can knead bread dough in it, it almost certainly will be fine. Run long enough with a cutting blade, and you will get a smooth butter.

Blenders mainly have powerful enough motors, but they are not shaped properly to get thick/pasty substances in contact with the blades. My Vitamix would work for a cup of nuts, but more would be too annoying.

Top end Breville FP that I have will make smooth nut butters, with the caveat that some nuts (hazelnut. Walnut) always feel somewhat “pasty” in comparison to peanuts or cashews. I don’t add additional oil, so perhaps if I did so the mouth feel would be better.

ProfessorE
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My little Cuisinart makes nut butters with just the regular chopping blade. It's not as fast as a blender would be, but if you just let it chop for a few minutes, you end up with a nice smooth product. The unit's probably pricier than you need for making nut butters. About any low speed FP with a decent sized chopping blade should work.

Wayfaring Stranger
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You don't want to use a food processor for making nut butters; they are poorly suited to the task and you can ruin one trying.

Instead, you need to get a higher-powered device, either a Vitamix or an Indian Food Grinder, either of which have the horsepower to make a decent nut butter. Even then you'll need to be cautious and grind in bursts to avoid overloading/overheating. If you're going to be making a lot of nut butters, though, maybe you should consider actually buying a nut butter machine?

I have a Preethi Mixie grinder, and I've made cashew butter in it.

Vitamix: http://www.vitamix.com

Indian Food Grinder: http://www.perfectpeninsula.com/EcoTwin.html

FuzzyChef
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I use an Oster blender. It has a specific speed for "nuts" only. Don't know how much it cost because it was a gift, but I love it.

AtlasRN
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