Go to the Recipe: Smooth and Creamy American-Pistachio Butter
Hello . I love the recipe. I will have to buy the melanger, but for now I will use the store bought Italian pistachio paste:). Is there a possibility to extend the shelf life of the product? I would like to make a product, which I could sell to my customers. What ingredients should I use? Thank You for your answer
I use the dried coconut milk powder when I make Vegan white chocolate, that might work for you.
Is there a vegan substitute for dry milk powder that would yield good results?
will it last only one week? for how long could it be stored?
I would recommend sourcing the best blanched peeled pistachios you can find if you are really trying to keep it vibrant green, also make sure to get it as smooth as possible before it goes to the conch, to minimize the amount of time it needs to spend in it. That should help with the color.
If you stick to just enough time needed to get it smooth you should have no affect. But going too long and keeping it hot for days will start to brown the color.
will the heat produced by the conche after it runs for a long time affect the outcome?
Try melangers.com. They sell an upgraded version; same shell with a motor rated for continuous use for about $250. Mine came with a damaged drum, and their service getting it replaced was excellent.
My only concern is when the pistachio butter cooled, the texture was too thick in room temperature, rather than smooth like it was shown in the video. So, I bet when it runs for 10-12 hours, the pistachio releases its oils to become smoother. Another reason I stopped the conche was the color change of the spread, because I was using the machine for the first time and despite the fact I cleaned it spotlessly, I was afraid the stones affected the color and the taste. It turned out that the color change was normal as seen on the video.Maybe, for a greener color, it's best to use peeled pistachios.
Hi Babis, we give a 10-12 hour recommendation to get to the micron size we were looking for. 10-20 micron. you can test this on a grindometer. But this can vary from batch to batch, machine to machine, nut to nut. so the longer time is just a safer bet to get to that size. If the batch you made got to the grind size that you are happy with then that is great! in less time even. hope that helps.
I made the pistachio butter yesterday. I pulsed the pistachios in the blender straight from the oven, while the liquids were warm. I threw them in my conche (Premium Wonder Wet Grinder 1,5L) and in 3,5 hours it looked super creamy already, so I didn't let it run all the way to 10-12 hours. My question is, why is it best to proccess it for 10-12 hours? I'm looking for a scientific answer.
It would be nice to see more recipes and techniques using this wet grinder in the future here at Chefsteps! 🤞🏻
Thank you so much! I’m a big fan of all of your recipes here on Chefsteps, and finally I’ve got the chance to make this one. Looking forward for something similar using cocoa beans 😁
Hi there, We use the ultra dura + model and will run it for over 24 hours with out stopping, that might not be per the manufacture specs but we have never had an issue. I at this moment have a batch of chocolate running in ours that has been going for 24 hours.
Hi all! I’m writing this post because I’m interested in the conche. I was ready to buy one but the seller told me that the use of this machine is intended for max 3-4 hours continuously. Here my question: is there anyone (or Chefsteps) that can confirm (or not) this information?
I made this with coconut oil, goat milk powder, and only a touch of sugar and salt, as flavor enhancers. It turned our wonderful.
Hello ive never tired The recipe(no conche). But here’s an idea: why not pressure cook the milk powder in jar, it should become nutty right(think beurre noisette) then incorporate into your recipe. Lemme know if it works✌🏽
Hello, I am from Turkey and I can not find Liquid Soy Lecithin.. Is there a good substitute for it? Thank you..
Yes you can, but you'll get a different texture. Depending on where you live it can get hard in winter, and too liquid in summer. Hope it helps.
Love this recipe. But Nutella - like many other nut spreads - is Italian, not French.
Can I substitute Soy Lecithin by Sunflower Lecithin? Are soy lecithin and sunflower lecithin interchangeable by weight?
can I substitute vegetable shortening for coconut oil?
For the pistachios, are the skins taken off before being roasted?
I belive what the world desperately needs is a Slow TV-style real-time and uncut video of the whole 8-12 hour refining process
I think that you could use a Thermomix
the using i have tried making it without using the conche, however it is definately grindy. taste awesome, little bit sweet
i thought it was the sugar that felt grindy so i tried boiling it in side a container, but didnt work. so i am just going to buy the conche. maybe i'll try it with different nuts.
Hi ChefSteps, could you please recommend a decent blender similar to the one you used in the video? I can't spend too much money (around 60-80 bucks) and I find most of them going for about $200+ Also what's the full name for the Conche machine you've used? I've searched web for Conche and couldn't find anything similar to this. Thanks guys!
Dan,
Looked into the link and was really impressed. I cannot believe you are also from Venezuela. I moved from Venezuela to the US in 1999. What a small world. Love the tinker kitchen concept and would love to pick your brain on this and maybe bring the same concept for the Midwest.
almost 1% lecithin??
Above ~0.5% is increses the viscosity, or that is your point??
Hello!!!
Could anyone tell me what else could i use instead of conch? A different way??
I made this using trans-fat free crisco for the vegetable shortening.
The flavor is good (very savory, even with all of that sugar) but the texture is quite a bit stiffer than nutella or peanut butter at room temperature, much more like cooled ganache. Once warmed a bit the texture is much more spreadable. This could make a good center for a truffle or alternative Oreo cookie filling.
I suspect the texture is stiffer than intended due to the fully hydrogenated vegetable oil in the Crisco. Can anyone recommend an alternative brand of vegetable shortening? I am in California.
Why is the shelf life listed only good for a week? Shouldnt this be able to keep 18months+ on the shelf?
Only good for a week??? Good thing I made a whole batch. Also is it supoosed to become solid in the fridge?
I just tried it with hazelnuts yesterday. I cut down the sugar (to 200g) and milk powder (to 70g) and salt (to 7g) but the end result is just ok-ish. I roasted the hazelnuts pretty well, but their flavor just wasn't as strong as the pistachios and even there was only ~half of the dried milk it overpowered the hazelnuts and it was more milky than nutty. Next time I'm going to use even less milk and try it with walnuts (i like the bittery taste from the skin, it's fairly strong so hopefully it wont be that easily masked)
Love the music in this video, super good
From the notes section "If you want a really thick spread, you can replace 100 g of the vegetable shortening with an equal amount of cocoa butter."
I just made it yesterday - totally agree. I cut down the sugar to 300g and I'd say it's still a bit too sweet for my taste (but hey, I'm European). Same thing with milk powder - it's just a bit too milky for me, so next time, it's gonna be more like 80g of that. And I'll most likely use less salt too ;-) But hey, it's amazing anyway!
Is this too sweet for anyone else? It was way too sweet for me. It also wasn't "nutty" enough. Next time I think I'll try about half the sugar. Maybe also reduce the shortening and milk powder as well, though I'm less sure by how much or what the effect will be.
Yeah! That's why I'm starting Tinker Kitchen (see my comment above - building a maker space for food).
What else have you wanted to make / what expensive tools would you like to have access to?
I'm starting a business similar to your idea in the SF bay area, check it out:
https://tinkerkitchen.org/
In fact, I just got a small conche for this and other recipes. It's great fun! Once we open up the Tinker Kitchen space, members can come by and use it (and everything else). Some small items may also be borrowed.
I hope to expand someday. In the meantime, tell any friends in the SF bay, and if you're ever around here come check us out.
Got one of those. Its pretty awesome
not really you can use a vitamix but the texture will be off
Work? Yes but definitely cut back on the added salt Chefsteps pushes salt levels pretty high and its hard to know how much salt is already on the pistachios
Or you can get your own 2 floors up from ChefSteps at indi chocolate or online at http://indichocolate.com/products/chocolate-refiner?variant=7781420993
Actually, I've done the R&D for you already. I've been making bean to bar chocolate on small machinery since 2008. I got so frustrated with the machines that I finally started working with engineers to make a small affordable machines specifically designed to hold up to the rigors of chocolate making (long run times, cocoa butter, etc.). I introduced the Chocolate Refiner in July of 2015 and it's small enough for making chocolate in your kitchen, used by a lot of chocolate makers (including some big, highly respected companies) and inexpensive enough to encourage chocolate making by cacao farmers. You can find them online at http://indichocolate.com/products/chocolate-refiner?variant=7781420993 and in my store, indi chocolate, 2 floors up from ChefSteps in Pike Place Market.
When replacing vegetable shortening with coconut oil, does it make a difference to the flavor profile and would you substitute for equal parts by weight? Also, in an earlier comment, someone asked you about substituting mycryo for cocoa butter but there is no cocoa butter in this recipe. Was that in an earlier version and changed?
Does this work with roasted pistachios that are salted? It is hard for me to find non salted ones
Hi Reggie, definitely! In most cases coconut oil is solid at room temp so you should be fine to sub with it.
Can we substitute the vegetable shortening with coconut oil?
Ugh this recipe looks so delicious but I would need to get a conche. Is there a way to get similar results without one?
Chefsteps rental service. I like it. So many times I have been wanting to try a dish but couldn't since I need something expensive.
The shortening is likely chosen for it's temperature characteristics. You want a fat the melts just the right amount in room temperature/fridge temperature. So if you want to replace it you'll need something with similar characteristics. Butter is close but will melt earlier and has a smaller range where it will be nice and spreadable. My guess is that butter would work, but seeing as I have no conche I can't try it.
Instead vegetable shortening can I use vegetable oil or liquid butter ?
Let me guess: the next project in your R&D lab is a Conche, and you will name it Revel. Damn you. You know I'll buy it.
Hi Daniel, ultimately the non fat dairy powder is for flavor. You can certainly use Iranian pistachios as well. We've found that American pistachios work well due to their higher water content (since they're harvested tree ripened).
I'd assume it's for the same reason you use unsalted butter in recipes that add salt later on. Control. By using non fat dairy powder and fat sperately you can precisely control your amount of fat water and solids which for emulsions is quite important.
The nonfat dairy powder is used, I imagine, for the proteins and sugars. It acts as an emulsifier (keeps the fat from splitting out), a thickener and a stabilizer. To be honest, I don't even know where I could get non-skimmed milk powder but skim milk powder (non fat) is quite easily accessible.
Why am I using non fat dairy powder when I'm adding a ton of fat later on? Is there a technical culinary reason? Or is it just to make fatties feel like they're making a little-less-fat-product?
Also, is the nationality of the pistachios important? Although I master the English language I'm not going to speak to them... And since Iran produce more than twice the amount of pistachios each year, and at a higher quality, can I use those instead?
I got an idea for all of us in the CS community. I think what we should do, is pitch in (kickstarter style) and buy one. Then everyone on that list would be assigned a "timeshare". This way, beside the initial funding, your only other expense would be the shipping cost to send it to the next person down the list. Or maybe Chefsteps could start a rental program?? ;-)
I was so excited to see this recipe as I have attempted to make pistachio butter in the past with mixed success. then came the "Conche" bomb... a conch what??? I learned a lot about this contraption. Cant wait to hear if anyone finds a more layman method that produces mildly similar texture.
