Why oil collects at the top of some peanut-butter jars - and how to prevent it

Many peanut butters have an oily substance floating on top. It's the natural peanut oils rising to the top. Yet some peanut butters have no oil on top. Why?

Following is a transcript of the video.

Does your peanut butter have a pool of oil on top? Don't pour it out! It's actually a good sign of how natural your peanut butter is.

All peanut butters in the US must contain at least 90% peanuts. That other 10% can be more peanuts or it can be a mix of seasonings and other oils. You can tell the difference just by how much oil pools at the top. Here's why.

Grinding peanuts releases their oils. It's these oils that make peanut butter so creamy. Peanut oil is also a liquid at room temperature. So as the peanut butter sits, the oil rises and collects at the top. But what if your peanut butter has no oily pool?

That's often a sign it has added oils like cottonseed, rapeseed, soybean, or palm oil. They mix with the peanut oil preventing any oil at the top.

If you prefer all-natural peanut butter, mixing that extra oil back in can be a mess. But pouring it off will leave you with a dried-out peanut butter.

So how do you get rid of it? Store it upside down! The oil will rise up to the bottom. Then just flip it and spread that delicious goodness. Bon appétit!

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