Old Fashioned Peanut Butter
Oho North Carolina firm still produces it
for folks ulm remember the old-time
taste.
According to J, E. Dcbnam. Jr.,
president of Jimbo's Jumbos. Inc.,
Hdenion, North Carolina, there are
many North Carolinians and Ameri¬
cans who still prefer the unique "old
fashioned" peanut butter made exclu¬
sively from fresh roasted peanuts.
Peanut butter, a young food inven¬
tion of almost eighty years, actually
got its start as a health food, created
by a St. Louis physician in 1890. This
physician, seeking an easily digested
high-protein food for his patients,
ground roasted peanuts in a meat
grinder and added salt to enhance the
flavor and found that he had discov¬
ered a delicious highly-palatable. as
well as very nutritious, food.
Since that unusual beginning, as a
prescribed medical food, peanut butter
has grown to the point that it takes
500 million pounds to satisfy Ameri¬
can appetites.
This old fashioned peanut butter
made jn Edenton is manufactured al¬
most entirely upon request and has all
of the qualities of the first peanut but¬
ters. It sticks to the roof of the mouth,
it has a delicious fresh-roasted peanut
flavor, and separates when allowed to
sit for a period of time in storage.
Peanut butter grew to its popularity
by being recommended for invalids and
for use in hospitals and sanitoriums.
It did not take long, however, for this
unique flavor and food combination to
grow to popularity in all areas of the
United States. As the demand grew for
peanut butter, we have seen the industry
develop to satisfy the needs.
From small hand-operated blanch-
crs. roasters and grinders, we have seen
the development of mass production
for processing fresh roasted peanuts
into peanut butter with the different
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WILSON
consistencies of cither chunk style or
smooth peanut butter.
The color and flavor of peanut but¬
ter is determined by the roasting of the
peanut; therefore, it is important to
have accurate roasting equipment. Spe¬
cial machinery has been developed to
roast the peanuts to the exact color
requirements and flavor desired. After
the peanuts are roasted, the skins are
removed mechanically by gentle brush¬
ing. The fresh roasted peanuts arc then
ground at a constant pressure to form
the peanut butter of the desired tex¬
ture. The texture of the peanut butter
can be determined by the disc used. At
this point salt is added to the peanut
butter to enhance the delicious fresh-
roasted peanut flavor. Chopped pea¬
nuts can be added to the old fashioned
peanut butter to give a crunchy tex¬
ture. The peanut butter is then pack¬
aged into one-pound containers and
can be shipped anywhere in the world
where there is a peanut-butter lover.
The old-fashioned peanut butter has
the same keeping quality and shelf-
life as any commercial peanut butter.
The main difference being that the pea¬
nut butter will separate (oil settles to
the top of the container) if allowed to
sit in a moderate temperature for a
long period of time without being dis¬
turbed. Once separation has occurred
it is a simple matter of stirring the pea¬
nut butter to regain its original con¬
sistency.
This old fashioned peanut butter is
made almost exclusively from Virginia-
type peanuts. (North Carolina leads
the nation in production of Virginia-
type peanuts.) Generally, this quality
peanut is found in the best grades of
salted or cocktail peanuts, peanut can¬
dies and roasted-in-thc-shell. Jimbo’s
Jumbos uses a select peanut to assure
peanut butter lovers that they are get¬
ting a quality product, and one full
pound of peanuts is needed to make
one pound of old fashioned peanut but¬
ter.
Jimbo’s Jumbos was founded in
1946 and the first packaged product
was raw peanuts in small bags and
during the Second World War the de¬
mand for blanched peanuts (skins re¬
moved) developed. From that time,
methods of dry blanching, salting, and
bulk roasting in the hull have been de¬
veloped at Jimbo’s Jumbos. At the
present time their products include
roastcd-in-the-shell, bulk and small
packages; salted cocktail peanuts in
cellophane bags; water blanched pea¬
nuts; granulated peanuts for ice cream
manufacturers; and the Old Fashioned
Peanut Butter.
During the holiday season this com¬
pany assembles gift packages of their
products that have extensive reception.
These gift packages have been mailed
to all parts of the United States and
many parts of the world.
At the present time the majority of
the old fashioned peanut butter stiles
is by mail order; and advertising is by
word-of-mouth, that is, someone hears
about the peanut butler or tries it and
tells others of his good fortune in ob¬
taining an old fashioned peanut butter
just like he remembered from days
past.
Most of the old fashioned peanut
butter caters are of a middle-age to
older group who very distinctly remem¬
ber the original peanut butter and how
good it tasted. This old fashioned pea¬
nut butler appears to be something
that the older generation has exclu¬
sive rights on. as the young people are
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THE STATE. NOVCMDtR IS. 1969
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