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The title says it basically all. Below you see a glass of peanut butter of which the content is partly so liquid you could easily drink it. The label on the glass says "Creamy" but I have never had a glass with such a liquid peanut butter, may it be creamy or crunchy, not even of the same brand.

How come that this peanut butter has such a liquid consistency? Putting it in a fridge did not change the concistency.

peanut_butter_liquid

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  • If you flip the jar when unused, some of the oil may float 'up' the right way.
    – Sm WnL
    Commented Dec 2, 2017 at 21:57

1 Answer 1

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What you can see in the jar is peanut oil, which has separated and floats on top. It means, you have bought a non-homogenized product, possibly an "all-natural" or "organic" product.

Just stir the oil into the thick paste at the bottom and use as usual.

For a discussion on how to best achieve this, see What's the most effective way to mix a jar of natural peanut butter?.

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    Organic raw ingredients have no bearing on the separation of the oil.
    – jscs
    Commented Dec 2, 2017 at 22:43
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    @JoshCaswell no, but organic is often non-homogenized.
    – Stephie ♦
    Commented Dec 2, 2017 at 22:44
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    I make my own peanut butter (peanuts + food processor + 20 minutes) and keeping it from separating is an ongoing challenge. Mixing the oil back in, then sticking it in the fridge will keep it from separating, but often makes it to firm to spread (takes about 2 days to warm up enough to start separating again, but is spreadable after only a few hours). I've found that adding some vegetable shortening and carefully guaging how long I blend it has better results, but it still separates eventually. Not sure that would help a store bought jar any, though.
    – Draco18s no longer trusts SE
    Commented Dec 2, 2017 at 23:34
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    This Answer is correct: Any peanut butter made of simply ground peanuts without added stabilizers (hydrogenated fats, palm oil, and such) will naturally separate the solids from the oil. Completely normal and healthy. When stirred to recombine, some peanut butters will be thicker or thinner than others because of the variety of peanut plant and amount of oil present.
    – Basil Bourque
    Commented Dec 3, 2017 at 6:16

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