A while back, in a vegan forum to which I belong, someone asked whether it made any difference (or rather, how much of a difference it made) in the fat content of a jar of nut butter to pour off that layer of oil at the top of natural nut butters.
I described a method whereby you could determine it on a case by case basis, but they weren’t up to the hassle. So, I said I’d get back to them with my results. I’m now ready to report on some preliminary measurements.
First, let me say, if you’ve never seen a layer of separated oil floating at the top of your jar of peanut or other nut butter, you’re eating the wrong kind! 
Seriously, the way the mainstream nut butters avoid this natural separation is by — you guessed it — unnatural means. It’s one of the many wonders of hydrogenation that this pesky process is perturbed at room temperature.
It’s really not much of a hassle and can be kind of a fun visceral experience to dig in there and stir things up. And, there’s always the trick of turning the jar upside-down for a while to get the oil at the bottom for easier mixing.
But, this post isn’t about making it easier to keep that fat (healthy though it may be in an unadulterated nut butter), rather to satiate our curiosity about this vegan equivalent to “blotting” — that oh-so-disgusting, napkin-drenching, pizza-eating preparation. 
Here’s what I did. Using my kitchen scale on the grams setting, I weighed what I was able to pour off from four different nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew, and sesame [tahini]). Over the course of several months (it’s just me, after all), I managed to accumulate 3-4 measurements for each type.
I’d planned to take an average for each type and use that for my calculations, but I soon discovered sometimes you just don’t get much to drain off at all. This can happen if it hasn’t sat for long or has had a rough ride in the car or had been tipped on its side for a while, etc.. So, what follows are from the most successful separations and serve as an indication of what’s possible. I figured, if there wasn’t much savings in the best examples, then we’d know it was a vain attempt, a waste of time, and not worth the dryer nut butter thus obtained.
Note: About that last point, stirring in a little water helps keep it spreadable.
Here’s what I found. Given a 16 oz jar of nut butter, with 14 to 15 servings of 2 Tablespoons each, it is possible to save up to two grams of fat per serving. Not too shabby.
Nut
Butter |
Total
Fat |
Servings |
Fat Per
Serving |
Max
Pour |
Less Per
Serving |
| Almond |
255 g |
15 |
17 g |
25 g |
1.7 g |
| Cashew |
225 g |
15 |
15 g |
23 g |
1.5 g |
| Peanut* |
238 g |
14 |
17 g |
21 g |
1.5 g |
| Tahini |
252 g |
14 |
18 g |
28 g |
2.0 g |
*Chunky
