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From here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-peanut-butter-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

    15 ounces shelled and skinned AB's roasted peanuts, recipe follows
    **1 teaspoon kosher salt**
    1 1/2 teaspoons honey
    1 1/2 tablespoons peanut oil
  • What is the purpose of kosher salt in Peanut butter? Can it be replaced with something else?
J. C. Salomon
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Aquarius_Girl
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  • A simpler recipe is simply to grind peanuts (roasted or un-roasted) through a suitable grinder (fine meat grinder) and add some normal table salt if you think it needs it (it probably doesn't). Some shops here will grind your selection of fresh nuts at point of purchase, so you can mix and match them, sort of like kids at the soda fountain :-) – TFD Feb 01 '13 at 23:53

3 Answers3

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Alton Brown just generally prefers kosher salt, for reasons that don't really apply to peanut butter, which will be ground down anyway.

What matters is the total weight of salt. Remember, kosher salt tends to weight approximately 1/2 as much (depending on brand) as table salt, per unit of volume.

So you can replace the kosher salt with sea salt, or any locally available salt on a weight per weight basis. The absolute amount of salt to use is also completely a matter of taste and preference.

The purpose of the salt in peanut butter is only to enhance the flavor. It does not participate in any chemistry, and is not sufficiently concentrated to have any preservative effect.

SAJ14SAJ
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  • Salt is there only for taste ? – Aquarius_Girl Feb 01 '13 at 10:18
  • Yes, it is far too little to be a preservative. It is only for flavor. The pb would taste quite flat and boring without it. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 10:19
  • AH! I had once tasted the pb from market, and I found it to be extremely sweet! I started hating it since then! – Aquarius_Girl Feb 01 '13 at 10:21
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    Some pb may have more or less sugar or other sweetener added. In the US commercial brands it tends to be about 2% by weight. Controlling the sweetness level is an advantage of homemade. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 10:24
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Salt is salt if dissolved into a liquid or blended into a paste.

Kosher salt is just larger crystals, it tastes and works the same as any other salt. It is mostly called for because it has become "fashionable".

Kosher salt does have specific culinary uses, but not as a dissolved or blended ingredient.

There is no global standard on table or kosher salt crystal sizes.

As with most recipes that do not specify a weight, use your better judgement on the amount of salt you require. You can always add more latter. Obviously the larger the crystals the less weight per volume there will be.

Also salt that is dissolved or blended tastes stronger than table salt sprinkled on top. Unrelated hint: if you want stronger table salt, grind it a little finer.

Cascabel
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TFD
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  • Also, Kosher salt (in the U.S.A.) doesn't have added iodine, while other table salts (in the U.S.A) do have that additive. I guess many recipes call for Kosher salt because it is perceived as purer/healthier, but as far as I know you can't tell is salt has added iodine just by tasting it. – J.A.I.L. Feb 01 '13 at 11:34
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    @J.A.I.L. You can get table salt with or without iodine in the US. At least here, they normally sit next to each other at the grocery story. – derobert Feb 01 '13 at 11:46
  • @J.A.I.L. OP is NOT in the USA, as are most people in the world – TFD Feb 01 '13 at 20:59
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    @TFD Based on his profile, J.A.I.L is not in the US either, but since OP referenced a US recipe presumably using US style ingredients, describing those ingredients seems quite reasonable so she can compare to locally available ones. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 23:18
  • @J.A.I.L. The choice to user kosher salt is very often based on the size and shape of the crystals, not the lack of iodine or supposed purity. For example, it is much easier to pinch with one's fingers than table salt. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 23:21
  • @SAJ14SAJ Why is J.A.I.L's comment then not on main post? Do you actually "pinch" salt, surely you use a measuring spoon or scale? – TFD Feb 01 '13 at 23:49
  • @TFD Yes, I actually do pinch or pickup salt with my fingers when making eggs, or in savory cookery. Pretty much just like you see all the cooks on cooking shows here. I rarely measure salt. Except in baking, when I always measure, either by volume or weight. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 02 '13 at 00:01
  • I dind't know wether to put the comment here or in the main post. I decided to do it here to complete the sentence "Kosher salt is just larger crystals" as, as far as I knew (thank you @derobert for the correction), **in the U.S.A.** there's less people with iodine deficiencies because processed foods and table salt have *added* iodine. Where I live (Spain) women wanting to get pregnant or those who already are, usually take iodine supplement pills, and I've been told it's not common in the U.S.A. I don't know what might be the situation in India. – J.A.I.L. Feb 02 '13 at 21:18
  • @J.A.I.L. Some countries with regular table sale is iodised have reported iodine deficiencies due to people moving to "fashionable" "natural" salts (not everyone eats processed foods) – TFD Feb 02 '13 at 22:25
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The best peanut butter, in my subjective opinion, contains peanuts and nothing else. Liquidize the nuts in a food processor until it's as smooth as you want it; and you're done.

Peanut butter made this way might go a bit stiff if you leave it, but give it a good stir and it'll go back to normal.

Good wholefood brands sell ready-made peanut butter of this kind, with only peanuts on the ingredients list.

In your recipe:

  • Salt and honey are added for flavour
  • Peanut oil is added to make the consistency thinner

If you like those flavours, then by all means add salt and honey.

Kosher salt comes in flakes or large grains. If you add it late, or don't process the mixture for long, then there will be grains of salt in the mixture; you may like this. I'm fairly sure that since peanuts are oily, not watery, it's possible for grains of salt to remain in there a long time without dissolving.

If you use table salt -- or if you use kosher salt and process for a long time -- the salt will fully dissolve and its flavour will be evenly spread through the mixture.

slim
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  • thanks for your answer. can you tell me the taste of peanut butter which doesn't contain any extra flavour? – Aquarius_Girl Feb 01 '13 at 14:19
  • Like peanuts, ground up! :-) Seriously. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 14:21
  • @SAJ14SAJ I haven't tasted that ever, that's why I asked. It is salty or sweet? – Aquarius_Girl Feb 01 '13 at 14:25
  • Try one of your peanuts--just eat it (but not the shell!) :-) That is what peanut butter without any salt or sweetener would taste like. It is rich and fatty, savory, but not salty and not sweet. Homemade peanut butter also tends to have a somewhat gritty mouth feel. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 14:27
  • @SAJ14SAJ Okay, but you had said that without salt it tastes bland! :( – Aquarius_Girl Feb 01 '13 at 14:50
  • In my opinion it does, compared to pb with salt in it--but that would be assuming the peanuts it was ground from are unsalted. Peanuts and peanut butter are like any other food--salt helps enhance the flavor. – SAJ14SAJ Feb 01 '13 at 14:53
  • Salt is a personal preference. You tend to get accustomed to it, so anything unsalted tastes bland. If you usually put lots of salt in your cooking, you'll probably want salt in your peanut butter. If you usually salt your food lightly, or not at all, you'll enjoy PB with little or no salt. Make a small amount (perhaps with a pestle and mortar). Try it without salt, then try stirring in some salt, and try that. – slim Feb 01 '13 at 18:12
  • I agree that pure peanuts make excellent peanut butter. I used to (as a customer) grind them in a machine in a store called The Good Earth, in Utah. I believe they have to be the right kind of peanuts, though. In my experience it stays fluffy for a really long time after grinding it, though. If oil forms on the top, it's super old (probably months, at least). Nowadays, I just eat Skippy Natural. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 06 '20 at 01:52
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    @Aquarius_Girl Mine just tasted like fluffy peanut butter. It wasn't particularly salty or sweet. It wasn't bland, either. If you've never had it, it would still be recognizeable as peanut butter in appearance, texture, and flavor. I don't think they added salt to the peanuts before grinding, but I could be wrong. – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Sep 06 '20 at 02:09