Facts about: Peanut Butter

[dannibear]

It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
By law, any product labeled "peanut butter" in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts.
Peanut butter's high protein content draws moisture from your mouth. That's why it sticks to the roof of your mouth.

You will discover that peanuts are actually legumes, not nuts, and they originated from Brazil, and that even the Incas appreciated the delicious taste of peanut butter many centuries before us!
As for health benefits, the unsaturated fat content in peanut butter helps reduce the risk of heart disease by 25% (if you eat 1oz per day), its rich folate and niacin (vitamin B3) content helps increase the HDL (good cholesterol) level by as much as 30%, all while being a very good source of proteins (up to 25% of peanuts consists of proteins) and dietary fiber; the most unique property of peanut butter, though, is its high content in Resveratrol, a substance that's been shown to have very strong anti-cancer properties.

 

[dannibear]

How the peanut butter is made.

In September and October, when conditions on the ground are perfect (not too wet or too dry), the peanuts are harvested by machines which start by pulling the plants from the ground, breaking away the roots, and shaking out excess soil. Peanut plants are placed in an upside down position for a few days to dry. When the dried plants are harvested, they are placed in wagons and given additional drying time, after which they are inspected by the Federal or State Inspection Bureaus for quantity and valuation purposes.
Peanuts are taken to shelling plants before they are sent on to manufacturing plants. In the shelling plants, the peanuts are sorted and excess debris such as dirt, sticks, and rocks are removed. After the peanuts area cleaned and separated by size they are shelled and packed for shipping.
Peanut butter manufacturers receive the fresh peanuts and begin the process of turning them into peanut butter. The peanuts are first placed into a hot air roaster which raises them to a temperature of 240 degrees Celsius. The oven rocks back and forth to make sure the peanuts roast at an even pace, turning them from white to a light brown color.
After roasting, the peanuts are cooled at room temperature, but at a fast paste. Suction fans are used to pull the warm air out of the room. The quick cooling process keeps the peanuts from continuing to cook and helps to ensure that the natural oils will remain in the peanut.
Once roasted and cooled the peanuts are placed in a blancher machine. The blancher machine removes the outer skins by lightly rubbing the peanuts between two belts. The two kernels of each nut are then split and the heart in the middle is removed. The heart of the nut is not used in peanut butter because it is too bitter.
No waste is created in the process of blanching and shelling the peanut. The skins are passed on to farmers who in turn include the excess in pig feed. The hearts are given or sold to manufacturers of bird food!
The roasted and split peanuts quickly find themselves in a large stainless steel container. From there, the nuts are dropped into a grinder where they are ground into a paste at a reasonable pace. Care is taken to not grind the peanuts too quickly as doing so would produce heat and allow the peanuts to begin cooking again.
Additional ingredients are added to the ground peanuts in order to create the peanut butter we all know and love. They include salt, sugar, and hydrogenated vegetable oil. The hydrogenated vegetable oil is considered a stabilizer as it keeps the natural peanut oil from separating from the peanut butter and rising to the top of the jar. No artificial ingredients or preservatives are ever added to peanut butter. Oddly enough, peanut butter is one of few foods that will never need refrigeration.
Mixing the peanut butter paste heats it to approximately 60 degrees Celsius. Before jarring, the paste is cooled back down to 38 degrees. Once the machines fill the jars with peanut butter paste they are moved to the capping machine. The caps themselves are pre-prepared with aluminum seals inside. The caps are placed on the jars, which are then heated. The heating process causes the aluminum to fall to the top of the jar, where it forms a tight seal. Another machine will then print the production and expiration dates on the jar. Unopened containers of peanut butter will stay fresh for up to a year.

 

[Brother Mike]

umm

Hotdogs = Of the devil

Peanut Butter = Not so much of the devil..

Many Peanut butters contain Hydrogenated Oils, Sugars, Salts to keep it together or else it separates. This kills off any health benefit.

best brand is sugar free (If you can find that) and no stabilizers.

Jesus Is Lord.

 

[dannibear]

I never said everyone should eat hotdogs and
peanut butter. Or that they were healthy. In the
second post where I pasted the process of making it,
it says it has all that in it. And I posted what hotdogs
contain, fat and all in my other posts.
I post these things because I find it interesting how
they are made, and always loved that show 'Unwrapped'
where they show you how different candy is made.

Plus I find it annoying when my family says
'[insert random food here] oh no!! that has
[insert ridiculous ingredient here] in it!!'
Like how hotdogs apparently had dog meat and
cow tongue in it. FDA might not be strict on
food, but they sure wouldn't let that pass....lol.
That is when I should eat a hotdog in front
of them and go 'mmmmm....dog.'

 

[Brother Mike]

umm.

I'll just mark both off the list....

Well, at least I still have sausage, and Twinkies.

Jesus Is Lord..

 

[dannibear]

I don't know if they do it in your area, but the places
where they sell food at the fairs here have fried everything...
they have fried twinkies, fried oreos, fried butter even...kinda
weird. It's past disgusting. It's just weird.
I didn't even know you could fry butter...