How peanuts are made into peanut butter.

The peanuts are first placed into a hot air roaster which raises them to a temperature of 240 Celsius. The oven rocks back and forth to make sure that peanuts roast at an even pace, turning them from white to light brown color.

After roasting peanuts are cooled at a room temperature, but at a fast pace. 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.

he 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.

That is how peanuts are made into peanut butter!