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Just in case you don’t know this already, there’s a machine out there that can make your meal preparation far, far easier than it is right now. Food processors. Have you got one?
There’s a good chance that you do. But unfortunately, most of these food processors waste their potential in the back of a cupboard because people just don’t know the truth.
You can actually make a whole lot of different, amazing things with a food processor. You’d probably be shocked by how many uses it has.
And once you master one of these awesome machines you can make nut butter in a matter of minutes. As a matter of fact, you can make all kinds of nut butter at home.
Homemade walnut butter? Yep. Homemade almond butter? Yep. Homemade hazelnut butter? Nope. Oh wait, I mean YES. You can make any nut butter you can think of.
When choosing a food processor for making nut butter the biggest question you have to ask yourself is which brand is best suited for this job. We’ve picked out 5 models that offer good value for money:
Contents
Best Food Processor for Nut Butter
The Best Food Processor for Nut Butter
#1 – Breville BFP800CBXL
Our top option is a somewhat expensive model, but it’s a pretty flawless choice for making nut butter.
The first thing that you’ll notice about it, is that it is a nice sturdy device. It has a large, strong base, making it very unlikely to fly off the table.
It’s well-designed for longevity. Everything from the base to the bowls to the blades are all of the highest quality.
It’s not going to break down on you. Not unless you hit it with a hammer a couple of times.
The bowls are huge. Especially the larger of the two which will be the one you’ll be using for nut butter.
It can hold up to 16 cups which is a pretty perfect size. You can fit plenty of nuts into that and the result will be a sizable helping of butter.
You won’t come across a more powerful option either. It comes equipped with a very tough motor and high quality blades too.
It will make quick work of any nuts you throw in there. You’ll have a bowl full of nut butter before you know it.
There’s a few other features worth noting. It’s got a silicone seal, which reduces the chances of liquids leaking.
There’s a safety system in place which prevents the motor from running unless the lid is locked in place. And it has an LCD-display system too. Very fancy.
So I guess there’s a couple of obvious downsides here. It is a big machine so it will take up quite a bit of space. This also means that it might take a little bit more time to set up.
In addition to that, you will have to hand wash the bowls. Blades and discs are fine for the dishwasher, but the lid and bowls must be hand-washed.
Another slight issue with this one is that on the off-chance some part breaks, you’ll probably be spending quite a bit of money to get it replaced.
It’s the best machine with the best parts, so it’s understandable replacements will cost more. But not to worry, it’s highly unlikely to break as I mentioned before.
#2 – Cuisinart DFP-14BCNY
The original food processor. You knew that this one was going to be somewhere on this list.
It’s a pretty great choice in its own right. It’s pretty close to the Breville in most regards although it is not as powerful, nor can its bowl hold as much.
The motor is not as strong, the blades aren’t as sharp and it’s a 14-cup bowl as opposed to a 16-cup, so for me the Breville has the edge.
Don’t get me wrong though, the Cuisinart does have an awful lot going for it. Definitely a couple of advantages over the Breville here
It’s probably only about three quarters of the price of the Breville. If you consider the difference there is in power and size that’s actually a pretty great bargain.
And another great thing about this one is that the bowls are actually dishwasher friendly. As are the blades and the lid so there’s no hand-washing at all with this one really.
On top of all that, it’s also fairly easily and not too expensive to replace broken parts. Again, it’s not likely to break but if it does, it’s less catastrophic than with the Breville.
It’s not as heavily weighted as the Breville either but it’s still not a cause for concern that it will topple over.
In terms of extra features, there’s not a whole lot. It has all the blades and discs you need and it also comes with a handy spatula, but that’s about it.
Although there’s not much else you need when making nut butter, the Breville does have more extras.
Overall, if you can’t afford the more powerful, versatile option, the Cuisinart is fine. It’s a reliable brand and this is a great product.
#3 – Braun FP3020
This machine is even cheaper still and all things considered it’s not a bad choice at all for making nut butter.
There is some issues that take it down a couple of notches but let’s discuss the positive aspects a little bit first.
It’s not significantly smaller than the other two models. It can hold 12 cups which will still get you quite a bit of butter.
The Braun has seven different blade options and has eleven speed settings. This is actually pretty rare for a food processor.
Of course you can usually buy additional blades and discs for other machines, but this one offers you seven in the box. For a great price too.
Since we’re talking about nut butter right now, it’s not that hugely important. You don’t really need a whole load of different blades and speeds to make butter.
It’s still pretty cool to have that variety though. And you’re probably going to want to use your food processor for something else at some point. You’d be crazy not to.
On the flip side, it’s got a less powerful motor than the others and although it’s actually quieter, power is still something you should be looking out for.
It’s also quite strangely built. The other options are big but they have a slim design that’s suited to cupboards and countertops.
The Braun is a wide, clunky machine and it’s not really all that sturdy. Despite its size, it still has a tendency to rattle while the motors running.
The risk of it falling off the counter is there but it also doesn’t have the same silicone seal as the Breville. It does tend to make a bit of a mess with all of it’s shaking about.
It’s fine for the most part and pretty good value for money but these can be pretty big problems.
#4 – Black+Decker FP6000
So this is another pretty reliable machine. It’s also the cheapest of these four options so far and for what you get it’s a good bargain.
It does have the least powerful motor and also has just a 10-cup bowl. Again, the bigger the bowl the better but you could still get a decent amount of butter out of this.
It comes with all of the blades and discs that the others do. So you will have the same variety outside of just nut butters.
It’s a pretty lean model. Unlikely to take up too much space in the cupboard or on the countertop.
It’s base also has suction cup feet, so although it’s not necessarily sturdy it’s still unlikely to jerk around much.
Something important that this machine lacks is durability. Many people have had issues with the base being fragile.
The blades have also been known to wear themselves down after about a year of use. Blunt blades are practically useless against nuts, so this is a problem for making butter.
For the most part this is decent value for money but the durability issue will put it a level below the others.
#5 – KitchenAid KFP0722CU
The cheapest option by quite a wide margin. But needless to say it’s also the weakest one.
If you’re on a budget though, it will still probably get the job done. This machine is popular because it’s cheap and not because it’s massively high-performance.
But that doesn’t mean that it won’t make decent nut butter. With a less powerful motor, it probably just won’t be as smooth as you might like.
Nor will it be made as quickly as possible. And of course, it’s got a 7-cup bowl so you won’t be able to make a whole lot of it.
But look, the KitchenAid is durable. It’s not going to give up on you any time soon and it’s pretty tiny too.
So it will take up very little space and is extremely easy to clean. It’s a great choice if you don’t want to spend too much.
Considerations Before Buying a Food Processor for Making Nut Butter
There is a pretty wide variety of different food processor brands. You can make nut butter with pretty much all of them, but they each have their own features.
There will be advantages and disadvantages to whichever brand you choose and so there are several different things to consider before buying.
Power
Depending on what you are using the food processor for, its power might not be that much of an issue.
For food processor recipes that don’t need to be completely pureed into a smooth consistency, you don’t necessarily need a very powerful machine.
But that’s not the case with nut butters. Unless you want the butter to be extra, extra crunchy, you’re going to want a processor that packs a punch.
The power of the food processor depends on the quality of the motor. You’ll need a processor with a good strong motor, otherwise the nuts won’t get sufficiently chopped.
The blades are also a factor. You can have the strongest motor in the world but if the blades are low quality you’ll have the same problems as a weak motored machine.
And if you’re worried about the noise that a powerful machine is going to make, don’t be. Food processors are usually pretty quiet. Well the large ones are anyway.
Smaller food processors with smaller motors actually tend to be noisier, believe it or not. And they’re also significantly less powerful.
So while a processor with a weaker motor isn’t exactly useless, it’s not a great fit for making nut butter.
Durability
Now because you have a strong motor, you’re also going to need the rest of the machine to be pretty strong too.
What I mean is that while the blades are making quick work of the nuts, you don’t want the processor to topple over or even fly off the counter.
This can be an issue with some small, or just less robust machines that are being used for jobs outside their capabilities.
What you’re going to need is a well-built, sturdy food processor that won’t launch itself around your kitchen like an escaped bull.
A good sturdy processor is also going to keep running while the blend is smooth and sticky.
Long-term durability is also pretty important. You don’t want your machine to pack it in after just a year of use. The sturdier the product, the less likely this is to happen.
So again, these machines that aren’t as strongly built are fine for less taxing jobs, but for nut butter they’re not the best choice.
Size
Linked to the durability issue, size is also something worth considering. The bigger the bowls the better.
A processor with small bowls isn’t going to be that efficient for nut butter because you’ll be able to produce less of it.
And a smaller food processor could leave you with a mere two servings of nut butter for every spin.
You don’t want to have to set up the food processor every time you want a peanut butter sandwich, so big bowls are key here.
On the other hand, if you have a good sturdy machine with larger bowls, it’s going to take up more space than a less well-built one.
If you are space conscious and perhaps your cupboards are already pretty packed with other appliances, this is naturally going to be a factor in your decision.
However, if you plan on using the food processor for nut butters, it’s worth making the space for a bigger machine.
Otherwise, your puny food processor is going to go rogue on you. And then you’ll end up cleaning partially processed peanuts off the ceiling.
Cleaning
If you can, try and get a processor that is at least partially dishwasher friendly. There are some nowadays that are, but in a lot of cases you still have to hand wash most parts.
In the case of some of the better models, the bowls and lids will have to be cleaned by hand.
So try and limit your work by getting one that has dishwasher safe blades and discs. Making nut butter gets very sticky, very quickly.
You don’t want to have to spend as much time cleaning up as it took you to make the butter in the first place so don’t give yourself unnecessary extra work.
The goal of a food processor is to lessen the amount of elbow grease that goes into your cooking. Having to clean the whole machine by hand is counter-productive to that.
In fact, the knowledge of how much cleaning up is involved will probably make you less likely to tackle the nut butter in the first place.
So don’t deprive yourself of delicious homemade nut butter. Just make a point of checking that there is some dishwasher friendly parts in the machine you choose.
Conclusion
There’s definitely not shortage of options when it comes to making nut butter.
Whether you’re short on space, looking for something that will last, or you just want to find the cheapest option, there’s a food processor out there that will do the job for you.
So that’s nut butter covered. Your food processor can do anything do so why stop there? Ever thought about homemade hummus?
