Making your own nut butter is definitely doable and there is no need for any special product like the Magic Bullet. Got your own tips for making good nut butter or disagree with my stance on the Magic Bullet? Let me know in the comments. Do forgive the dirty talk - I couldn't write about nut butter and the Magic Bullet without going there.
Do You Need a Magic Bullet To Make Nut Butters?
I wanted to make some macadamia nut butter for my Vere inspired banana, chocolate, and macadamia nut baby shower cupcakes. Several people told me that the best way to do it was to use a Magic Bullet. Luckily, Groom 2.0 owned a Magic Bullet, so I borrowed it and gave it a go.
What Are You Talking About? What is a Magic Bullet?
Contrary to what the name sounds like, the Magic Bullet is not a vibrator. It is a super intense mini blender/chopper that is featured on late night infomercials. They tell you that it is great for grinding coffee or even making nut butters.
The Magic Bullet Put to the Test
I loaded up 8oz of macadamia nuts into the larger cup of the Magic Bullet. I'd been warned by Groom 2.0 that he had already broken one by blending for too long. "Use short pulses," he said. Clearly, he understands the importance of foreplay. Don't go too strong too fast.
Groom 2.0 also had suggested that I might end up having to use the smaller cup because nuts would get stuck on the side of the big cup and not blend.
I pulsed maybe 10 times or so. Each time, I felt like I was playing a game of Trouble (the one where the dice are in the plastic sphere that you press to make them roll). The Magic Bullet has no on/off switch - you just press the bullet to make it go. Awww, yeah.
The nuts did, in fact, get stuck to the sides. There are no problems with nuts when using a vibrator.
I moved some of the nuts to the smaller cup and pulsed some more. I had to keep pulsing and then shaking the nuts off the sides.
And then...
After 10 minutes or so, I did have a smooth nut butter! This was quite the exciting climax!
Enter the Ordinary Blender
Jonathan came into the kitchen to watch the Magic Bullet fun. What guy wouldn't want to watch? He asked an important question, "Why not make the nut butter in an ordinary blender?"
We loaded the blender up with 8oz of macadamia nuts and used the same pulsing technique. It had the same problems of nut butter getting stuck to the sides and we had to keep sticking a spatula down in the blender to push the nuts to the middle. After 10 minutes, we had smooth, creamy macadamia nut butter.
If your blender is wimpy and can't even crush ice, I wouldn't recommend using it for nut butters. I would, however, recommend getting a new blender over getting a Magic Bullet. Due to its size, your blender will likely be much more useful to you than the Magic Bullet. Size does matter.
Nut Butter Lessons Learned
If the nut butter you're looking for is available fresh at the store, I'd recommend buying it rather than making it. All of that poking and prodding in the blender was a bit of a pain.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Magic Bullet vs Ordinary Blender: How to Make Nut Butter
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24 comments:
THis is offically my favorite food blog entry ever...
seriously
ever..
we have to get together one day.
I have a magic bullet and I use it for EVERYTHING. It is a blender/food processor in one. It has been used to process one cupcake ingredient or another.
And the fact that they are small is a big plus for me. Bigger is not always better.
I LOVE my Magic Bullet. It's great for making smoothies and omelette's. I'll admit though, I haven't gotten much beyond that. I love that it's easy to clean and makes extremely minimal mess.
If I ever get un-pregnant I plan on making some nice margaritas!
If you want to be sure the nut butter is really smooth, you can push it through a sieve to make sure any larger bits are weeded out. Of course, this only matters in something like the frosting you mentioned.
I had a Magic Bullet but ended up having to throw it away when it started acting funky. now I feel even more guilty for doing so since I haven't been able to get the proper consistency for my nut butters when using the food processor! bah.
although...has anyone ever used their coffee grinder for nut butters? it works like a charm for me.
Yay, a new blog for me to play in!
Love my Magic Bullet. It's perfect for cooking for one person, even if the juicer doesn't work as well as advertised. However, the one time I tried making peanut butter it didn't work out so well. I couldn't get it smooth enough. Perhaps another type of nut would work better, or maybe I wasn't patient enough.
@K.- That "un-pregnant" comment was one of the funniest things I've read today. I believe that margaritas are in your future. The child won't say in there forever!
I'm dying for a Magic Bullet now! Hmm...I wonder if it means I'm food deprived??
LOVE your entries and this one BY FAR is the best I've read!
I was laughing out loud at this post (which is so bad because I'm reading it at work), so thank you for making my day and getting me looked at like a crazy woman here at work! :)
Nut butter and magic bullet? how could anyone not go there!? haha. I LMAO the whole time. If you aint got a sense of humor you aint living life. Rock on with your nut pulsing. ;)
This post almost made me snort out my coffee. Hahaha. Anyway, we have a magic bullet, too, but I haven't tried making any nut butter with it. I'll have to give it a try!
I've had a magic bullet forever and found that it was so many parts that it just didn't feel worth it to drag the stuff out. I'm so with you on just buying butters at a local bulk place.
i too have a magic bullet
given as a gift
and often joked about with regard to the name
it makes great nut butters, pesto, ground coffee, and milkshakes.
easy to clean
and small(which i like)
Raquita - Aww... thanks so much!
Minko - I have a mini food processor that I use for that sort of thing. It's true that small can be good too.
K. - Don't you have a smoothie maker? Is the magic bullet better than that for drinks?
Shari - Thanks. I totally should have done that!
Celine - Interesting. Wish I had thought of that. That would have been quite helpful.
Andrea - Glad you found the blog! Looks like lots of people like their magic bullets. Maybe I should give them another shot.
Melissa - Hah! Always glad to make someone laugh! Thanks so much for letting me know!
CB - So glad you enjoyed! Fun to see you on twitter these days!
Joy - I had no idea how many people own a magic bullet. Making nut butter is fun to do, but like I said, it takes a bit of work to get it right.
Giz - Yeah, I like getting nut butter at whole foods where I can grind it myself at the store. They just didn't sell macadamia nut so I was forced to make it myself.
IHeart - Glad I wasn't the only one to think that about that name :)
I do have a smoothie maker, and it works great for parties or larger quantities. If I just want to make a single serving - like a breakfast smoothie - the Magic Bullet is totally the way to go.
Plus the whole one dish/easy clean up thing appeals (esp married to a man who can't make a PB&J sandwich without using every pan in the house) :)
What did you read, watch, or do before you wrote this :P?
I am assuming you're referring to the blender I donated to you. Yes, it's awesome, take that, Magic Bullet!
Btw, this is my favorite post yet.
I make my nut butters in my full size food processor to Alton Brown's instructions, and not only is it easy, but it makes perfectly smooth butters. Cashew is my favorite.
It's a little known fact that a lot of blender blades will screw on to a standard mason/canning jar - or at least the old one I have does. It's like miraculously turning your full sized blender into a magic bullet for making small batches!
Cooking tip: If you squeeze and massage the nuts more while working away with the Magic Bullet, be careful to keep the top on the blender --- you don't want to get sprayed all over your face with creamy nut butter.
OK, you've made your m-i-l both laugh hysterically and blush simultaneously. Funniest entry ever.
ha! truely a girl after my own heart;) who knew nut butter was so sexy! You inspired me to go home tonight and make my own nut butter;)
Stef, Stef, Stef ... I knew there was a reason I loved you so much (besides the fact that you are an AWESOME friend)!
This was a hilarious post! Loved it!
Oh yeah ... Gil ... you need to get your tush back to St. Louis for a visit! Maybe we can all make a big batch of nut butter toghether : )
Best. Blog. Post. EVER.
I guess everyone likes the racy humor. Hmm... churning away at ideas for future blog posts! Thanks so much for all of your comments. It means so much to me!
K - OK - makes sense. Although you know I relate more to the messy man than to anything resembling neat.
Naomi - Yup! Thanks for the awesome blender and thanks for the props on the blog post!
Jenn - Sounds like a good way to go!
Ben - Interesting! I never would have thought of that. Thanks for sharing!
Gil - Umm.. wow. When are you starting your own blog?
Nancy - ;) Thanks!
Vixen - Enjoy your nut butter. Have fun!
Kimberly - I'm sure Gil will be happy to participate when he comes to town.
Kristen - Comments like that make my day! Thanks so much!
Love it! I've been meaning to try making fresh nut butter in my food processor for a while now! :-) And I know what you mean about pastry tips getting clogged -- that's happened to me when my chocolate is not perfectly melted, and it's SO annoying!
Katy - Yeah, that's an understatement. I get so frustrated when that happens!
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