peanut butter
- Related Topics:
- peanut
What is peanut butter made from?
When did peanut butter become a staple in American households?
Who was the first to commercially produce peanut butter?
What process improved the shelf life of peanut butter in the 1920s?
What are some common uses of peanut butter?
peanut butter, creamy food made from ground roasted peanuts, frequently spread on bread and used in cooking and baking. Rich in protein, fat, and fiber, peanut butter has been a staple in American households since the late 1920s, when a hydrogenation process allowing longer shelf life was patented.
History
The peanut plant (Arachis hypogaea) is native to tropical South America. Peanut pastes, derived from roasted and mashed peanuts, have long been part of the culinary tradition of Indigenous Andean peoples, going back at least to the Inca. Although the invention of modern peanut butter is popularly attributed to the famed agronomist George Washington Carver, its origin remains debatable among food historians. It was first produced and sold on a commercial scale in 1894 when George A. Bayle, Jr., a food products entrepreneur in St. Louis, Missouri, picked it up from a local doctor who was making it in his home kitchen. In 1904 it was featured at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Meanwhile, John Harvey Kellogg, a physician whose vegetarian diet as a Seventh-day Adventist led him to innovate health foods, patented his own peanut butter product for his patients in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1895.
The product was already gaining in popularity—peanut butter production increased from 2 million pounds in 1899 to 34 million pounds by 1907—but until the 1920s its sale was limited by poor shelf life. In 1921 chemist Joseph Rosefield patented the use of partial hydrogenation, a chemical process already being used for commercial lard and butter, for peanut butter production. The process converts the naturally occurring oil in peanut butter to a solid or semisolid at room temperature, preventing the separation of peanut butter oils and solids. The process allowed for a more stable product that could withstand shipping and be stocked in warehouses. Rosefield licensed the process to Post Consumer Brands, which in 1928 produced the first brand of peanut butter, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, marketed throughout the United States. In 1932 Rosefield ended the partnership and launched a competing brand of peanut butter, Skippy. In the late 1950s Proctor & Gamble Company created the third major brand of peanut butter, Jif, by using sweeteners as well as non-peanut oils in the hydrogenation process.
Types and uses
To promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers, in 1971 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a standard of identity for peanut butter requiring that it contain at least 90 percent peanuts to be called “peanut butter.” The standard also governs the types of stabilizers used. Products that do not meet the standard are called peanut butter spreads.
Many of the most popular brands of peanut butter contain sugar or other sweeteners and hydrogenated oils, while some brands consist of only peanuts and salt. In addition, there are low-fat peanut butter spreads, organic peanut butters, and a variety of artisanal peanut butters, some made with such ingredients as bananas, berries, chocolate, and jalapeno peppers.
Peanut butter may be blended smooth (creamy) or contain peanut pieces (crunchy). It is frequently eaten on toast or in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one of the earliest recipes for which was recorded in an article written by Julia Chandler Davis for a 1901 Boston culinary magazine. The marketing of the novel marshmallow creme in the early 1910s led to the creation of a sandwich featuring peanut butter and marshmallow, first mentioned in a leaflet in 1914. Later known as the “fluffernutter” sandwich, it was popularized as a wartime alternative to meat sandwiches during World War I. During World War II, U.S. soldiers made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the rationed ingredients provided by the military. The popularity of peanut butter-based sandwiches then skyrocketed, becoming a lunchtime favorite of American families.
Peanut butter is used in baking, particularly in cookies. It is a popular filling in chocolate candy and is found swirled in some chocolate ice creams. Peanut butter can be blended into smoothies as a source of protein and calories or added to pancakes or oatmeal. A childhood staple for many Americans, it can be served on apple slices or atop celery sticks—often topped with raisins as “ants on a log”—for an afternoon snack. Non-sweetened peanut butter is used in savory sauces and dressings.
