Peanut butter is widely used as a spread on toast and in sandwiches, however, peanut butter also has a range of uses in other dishes which do sometimes require it to be blended with other ingredients. In these cases, it may be necessary to heat up the peanut butter to reduce it’s viscosity and make it more suitable for use with other ingredients. So is it safe to heat peanut butter in the microwave?
It is possible to heat peanut butter in the microwave, however, you do need to be careful not to overheat the peanut butter which means that it should be added to a microwave-proof bowl and then heated for only around 15 to 30 seconds before rechecking it see what sort of state it is in. as overheating peanut butter will result in it going hard.
Does Heat Ruin Peanut Butter?
Peanut butter is pretty much like any food and it can be heated without too much of a problem provided that it is not overheated and it burns some of the ingredients. This is because the product contains a combination of oil and peanuts which can be heated to a relatively high temperature and then used in dishes.
However, once cooled even a little bit of the peanut butter will again become highly viscous. So if you want to create a peanut-based sauce you will need to dilute the peanut butter with additional ingredients which ideally should be something like peanut or vegetable oil.
To do this the additional thinner needs to be mixed into the peanut butter while it is still.hot as it can be stirred in easily at this point in time.
How To Melt Peanut Butter On The Stove?
The other alternative to heating peanut butter in the microwave is to actually heat it on a stovetop in a saucepan. This generally is a safer way to heat the peanut butter because the heat can be applied slowly and constantly stirred to get a nice smooth consistent texture.
The key to heating peanut butter without a problem is to ensure the heat is relatively low and if there are any additional oils being added to dilute the product that they are placed in the saucepan with the peanut butter as this will more evenly distribute the heat.
An example of where I use this process is to make a satay sauce with a combination of sweet chilli and soya sauce blended with peanut butter to create the mixture.
Does Peanut Butter Solidify In Fridge?
Peanut butter like other spreads such as honey or Nutella will become increasingly vicsous and solidify in the fridge. This also applies when the product is placed into cupboards in winter when the temperatures can get relatively low.
Additionally, it is possible to freeze peanut butter solid as well in the freezer if so desired and it will quite happily store for at least 6 months without any significant problems and can be readily thawed out and reused as required.
Does Peanut Butter Go Out Of Date?
Most peanut butter that is produced commercially does have a best-before date rather than a use-by date that is usually around 18 months to 2 years in length. This means that the peanut butter is at its best when it is under 2 years old, however, it is still edible after that period particularly if the container remained unopened.
However, periodically you do need to replace your peanut butter if you are eating and extremely slowly after a couple of years as it will eventually deteriorate. The most common reason that the peanut does deteriorate is actually because of cross-contamination with breadcrumbs and butter which will deteriorate faster than the peanut butter itself providing a way for bacteria to colonize the jar.
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