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I'm looking for a food processor that I can make nut butters (peanut & almond) in. No reviews on Amazon show any promising information about being able to blend nuts to a buttery texture and the ones I've bought so far have just ground them up into dust.

Are some food processors better than others for making nut butters? If so, what makes them better? How can I choose the best one for this task?

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I've edited this to be a more general question about selecting equipment; please note that this site is for Q&A - product polls/recommendations aren't allowed. – Aaronut♦ Jun 17 '11 at 3:03
I wish you luck. I've tried 3 different food processors, and the nut butters always have small chunks in them. I'll eat it but my kids won't. If you find one that really makes smooth nut butter, I'd love to know. None of the ones that I have tried have been crazy expensive ($25 - $200), but they all seem to have about the same speed and power motors. I was thinking about trying a coffee grinder, but I think it may gum it up. – Kirk Aug 24 '11 at 3:30

3 Answers

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My little Cuisinart makes nut butters with just the regular chopping blade. It's not as fast as a blender would be, but if you just let it chop for a few minutes, you end up with a nice smooth product. The unit's probably pricier than you need for making nut butters. About any low speed FP with a decent sized chopping blade should work.

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Same here, except that I always pulse it manually while the nuts are still pretty chunky. – dmckee Aug 29 '11 at 20:27
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I use an Oster blender. It has a specific speed for "nuts" only. Don't know how much it cost because it was a gift, but I love it.

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You don't want to use a food processor for making nut butters; they are poorly suited to the task and you can ruin one trying.

Instead, you need to get a higher-powered device, either a Vitamix or an Indian Food Grinder, either of which have the horsepower to make a decent nut butter. Even then you'll need to be cautious and grind in bursts to avoid overloading/overheating. If you're going to be making a lot of nut butters, though, maybe you should consider actually buying a nut butter machine?

I have a Preethi Mixie grinder, and I've made cashew butter in it.

Vitamix: http://www.vitamix.com

Indian Food Grinder: http://www.perfectpeninsula.com/EcoTwin.html

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