The Fresh Loaf

News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

How to store peanut butter

  • Pin It
adri's picture

How to store peanut butter

I went to the supermarket the other day and as special, they had peanut butter (called "peanut cream" due to legal reasons).

I was curious so I bought one jar - and I have to say: It's not that bad at all :D

But now my problem: The jar has 350g (12.3 ounces) so it might last for a couple of weeks or maybe a view month. How do I store it once the jar is open? Can I store it at room temperature or do I have to put it in the fridge?


clazar123's picture

Follow the recommendations on the container, if you can read it. If not, refrig prob couldn't hurt it. If there is dairy or eggs,refrigerate.

adri's picture

If there were recommendations on the container or anyone in of my friends or family would have had peanut butter before, I wouldn't ask.

Well, it is vegan. I still put it in the fridge. It's not that it was expensive, but still... let's see, what my wive will say if there is another jar in the fridge.

cerevisiae's picture

The more processed peanut butter - which usually contains sugar and hydrogenated fat - should keep fine at room temp. Less processed peanut butter - usually labeled "natural" and contains only peanuts and salt - is usually okay at room temp for a while, but if you're not going to use it quickly, better to put it in the fridge.

That said, if you do put it in the fridge, it will be a lot firmer and harder once chilled, so you may want to take it out a while before you use it to make it easier to spread.

Also, if it's natural peanut butter, it probably has a layer of oil; I recommend storing the jar upside down to keep the oil close to the bottom. Then it's less likely to spill when you stir it. Of course, if you have the other kind of PB, that's not an issue.

adri's picture

Thanks a lot!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

in a cool cupboard or pantry.  

gary.turner's picture

I have never refrigerated peanut butter, nor have I ever had any 'go bad'. This experience goes back to my youth, nearly 70 years, when my mother kept it on the counter; even pre air conditioning in Texas summers. I do remember the non-homogenized p-butter separating. If you didn't stir it well at each use, the last half or so of the jar would be quite dry. There were a series of arguments in the 'fifties, and probably long before then, about how to get the p-butter off the roof of your mouth. The consensus most effective means seemed to be to fill your mouth with water and sit on a hot stove until it boiled, softening the peanut butter.

Maverick's picture

If it needed to be refrigerated it would say so. The fact that it doesn't means you don't have to but can. I have never heard it called peanut cream but it seems to be a fitting name.

May I suggest peanut butter spread on celery with raisins on top?  We call these ants on a log (sometimes I use chocolate bits instead). Of course peanut butter and jelly (I use jam) sandwiches are one of my kid's favorites. It can sometimes be hard to find vegan chocolate, but it is in places you might not expect. Chocolate and peanut butter are a great pairing. Using peanut butter as a dip for apples is good too.

Edit: just realized this was several months old.