FoodBanter.com - View Single Post

Bob Muncie

wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:46:47 -0400, Bob Muncie >
> wrote:
>
> wrote:
> :> On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:58:52 -0400, "h" >
> :> wrote:
> :>
> :> :
> :> :"Stepfann King" > wrote in message
> :> . 122.115...
> :> :> Dan Musicant ) wrote in
> :> :> :
> :> :>
> :> :>> I've made nut butters in the kitchen for many years, usually peanut
> :> :>> butter. It's a money saver and you can see with your own eyes exactly
> :> :>> what the ingredients are.
> :> :>>
> :> :>> I roast the nuts in the oven, although I have made raw cashew butter a
> :> :>> time or two. My sometime problem is getting a machine that's up to the
> :> :>> task. I used to work with a Waring blender, and after burning out a few
> :> :>> motors (they were available for user replacement), I bought an Osterizer
> :> :>> 10 speed and it lasted for over 20 years on the original motor. It
> :> :>> finally burned out about two months ago. This old Osterizer was 125
> :> :>> watts only. Besides the glass blender jar I had a $10 plastic accessory
> :> :>> that they called a food processor attachment, which I have only used for
> :> :>> grinding meat on occasion. It's designed very well and does a very nice
> :> :>> job of meat grinding.
> :> :>>
> :> :>> So, in looking for a replacement for my old Osterizer I figured I'd get
> :> :>> another Osterizer, naturally, inasmuch as the old one lasted 20+ years
> :> :>> and I still wanted to be able to use the meat-grinding food processor
> :> :>> attachment. I did some homework and found that the current Osterizer
> :> :>> blenders are rated at much higher power -- from 450 watts up to 600
> :> :>> watts or so. About two months ago I picked up a #6694 450 watt 12 speed
> :> :>> Osterizer Blender at Walmart for around $25. However, it burned out this
> :> :>> morning making a new batch of peanut butter. I suppose I can get a
> :> :>> warranty replacement which will work fine for smoothies and such and
> :> :>> grinding meat, but evidently I need something more robust for nut
> :> :>> butters. I had been eyeing the "Beehive" Osterizer, which I can get for
> :> :>> around $55 at Walmart. It's supposed to be 600 watts, supports 2 speeds
> :> :>> and a flash button (the food processor attachment requires flash). I
> :> :>> thought I'd post first to get people's opinions and experience before
> :> :>> shelling out more money, perhaps vainly.
> :> :>>
> :> :>> Dan
> :> :>>
> :> :>> Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net
> :> :>>
> :> :>
> :> :That's a ridiculous amount of effort. Why don't you just go to your local
> :> :"health food" store and grind your own? My local hippie store has roasted
> :> eanuts (peanuts and salt are the only ingredients) for $1.50/pound and a
> :> :self-serve grinder. You dump in however much you want and the machine poops
> :> :it out into a plastic container (or you can bring your own). You then weigh
> :> :it, pay, and leave. No roasting, no mess. You are working WAAAY too hard.
> :> :The amount of money you are wasting in time and messy clean-up is seriously
> :> :un-frugal.
> :>
> :> My local best price market (AFAIK) has the same kind of setup but the
> :> cost is way more than $1.50/lb. It's more like $2.50. The nuts don't
> :> look anywhere near as sound as the ones I buy, either. On top of that, I
> :> cull my nuts. I look at them carefully, pull out any impurities, any
> :> questionable nuts. You don't get that kind of control with PB in a jar
> :> or at a store's grinder, where you get what's in the hopper, period.
> :>
> :> Dan
> :>
> :>
> :> Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net
> :
> :I disagree on two aspects.
> :
> :1) The cost does not justify buying a grinder. If it costs $175 for a
> :grinder, how many lbs of PB could you have bought? For me, I'd probably
> :have to replace/repair the grinder long before I reached a cost value
> :vs. buying the PB commercially (name brand and natural in the jar).
>
> I have no intention of dropping $175 on a machine to make PB. My old $25
> Osterizer did the job for 20+ years. I'm probably either going to try to
> make due with the warranty replacement for my $25 Osterizer (bought in
> May), or keep that as a second and get an Osterizer Beehive for ~$60 and
> try to baby that effectively.
>
> :
> :2) I disagree with the "You get what's in the hopper" if you grind your
> wn in the store's that have the grinders. The ones that I have seen
> :have a variety of fresh nuts available, and what goes in the hopper is
> :your choice. And since the only thing going into the hopper is nuts,
> :what impurities would exist? You might as well have said "I don't eat
> ut in restaurants ever, because I can't control the cleanliness of
> :levels of impurities introduced to the food I ordered". Does not
> :compute. Just like anything else you didn't grow yourself, or raise from
> :a baby, you will never be able to control "jack" about impurity levels
> :for most of what you consume. I don't even want to consider the number
> f bug/worm body parts that exist in any "pure" bulk item you purchase
> :for your own consumption/processing (like flour for example). Was it
> recessed without the use of pesticides from seed? Was it's genomes
> :modified? How about that roast you bought? Was it processed from birth
> :without growth hormones, or the grain/grass it consumes completely
> :without impurities? Assuming that anything you consume short of having
> :raised/grew your own is not realistic.
> :
> :Regards,
> :
> :Bob
>
> Maybe I can help make this "compute." My local market that I go to 95%
> of the time has a nut grinding machine but I'm stuck with what's in the
> hopper (quite unsightly "roasted peanuts"). They don't look nearly as
> good as what I buy in bulk elsewhere. What impurities? Well, what I'm
> getting in bulk has a few, some questionable looking nuts, discolored,
> some evidently diseased, etc., and I find bits and pieces of what I'll
> call "foreign matter," not peanuts, which I discard. I am unaware of any
> place locally where I can choose the nuts that I put in their grinder.
>
> I do eat out in restaurants, but only a fool would assume that
> everything you are served in restaurants includes only what you'd prefer
> to put in your own cooking. But that's a different thread, and I'll
> leave it at that. Yes, I'm aware that there are food quality issues
> galore, again pretty much beyond the scope of this thread.
>
> Dan
>
> Email: dmusicant at pacbell dot net

Dan - I wasn't being facetious with the "does not compute" statement. I
mean't that in, it does not make sense to me. Maybe all the grinders
I've seen in the stores where quite different than the ones you are
familiar with.The ones I've seen, you scoop whatever nuts you want from
open bins into a bag of some type (normally paper), than poor from the
bag into the hooper, place the container beneath a spout near the table
surface, turn on the machine, and it grinds at a level you want (ruff
vs. smooth). So yes, you can do quality control on the nuts.

I just took it one step further with the restaurant scenario because as
an analogy, whatever someone else had ground sometime during the day
earlier would also be introduced into your container. Nothing
more/nothing less. And than I wanted to point out that even generic
none processed ingredients are just as likely to have something none
product related in content.

That's all.

Bob