How do you recombine completely separated tahini?

[Robin Garr]

Southwest Asian kitchen question: How in the heck do you get a big jar of tahini to reassemble after it has completely separated into thick sesame paste and clear oil after months on the shelf? I came up with a solution, which I'll post later, but I don't want to poison the well with my approach: Tell me yours, especially if you know an EASY and EFFECTIVE way.

You do what they do in Israel- warm is slightly, then stir the hell out of it with a butter knife.
Deb

[Robin Garr]

Warming might have worked. Wish I had thought of that.

What I actually did was scoop it out into a big bowl - I literally almost needed a garden trowel, it was that hard - and then gradually work it all together with a stick blender. Then I poured the result back in the jar.

Stick blender was what I was thinking. That glue that forms at the bottom of the jar could truly be used to mortar bricks...

Honestly, I would have been worried about burning out the motor on a stick blender- you guys are braver than I.

Deb

[Robin Garr]

Honestly, I would have been worried about burning out the motor on a stick blender- you guys are braver than I.

I did it carefully, Deb, and if it started to strain, I would lift it up into a thinner current and then gradually work it back down again. Sort of like trying to get your car out of snow. More acceleration is not the right answer.

I would have separated it into oil and chunks and recombined in a regular blender a little at a time chunks in first and a little oil to get it moving and then gradually add all oil back to get to final viscosity with no lumps

You can also add some saturated fat to help, preferably shelf-stable, like coconut or palm fruit oil.

[Robin Garr]

You can also add some saturated fat to help, preferably shelf-stable, like coconut or palm fruit oil.

I would have thought of sesame oil, for flavor integrity. I don't know if it's all that shelf-stable, but then, is tahini itself shelf-stable?

Robin,

Mine has never been refrigerated- that's the way it's stored in the MiddleEast. ( Though they go thru theirs much faster... ). Yours may have a " refrigerate after opening" on the jar, but that's for US lawyers.

Deb

This has plagued me even with new jars from the store where separation has occurred.

I have two thoughts:

take it to the hardware store and have them run it in the paint shaker.

our hand blender has a drink stir attachment which looks like it might do the job. I have not had a chance to try it yet,

I don't think you'd get anywhere with the regular stick blender blade.

I have yet to see a "no stir" brand of tahini but I bet someone will do it in the next few years.

Those are all quite interesting. Good ways. Tiring ways some of them.

Burned out motors.

From my experience. Turn the jar over, up side down, set it on it's lid. Put it in the front of your pantry shelf and keep it there. Every couple days, turn it over. Long time storage, lid down. Two days afore you are ready to use it, turn it over. It's like automagical, it all blends back together and certainly enough that you can use a butter knife to finish the blending.

No. I do not know how or why. I said it was magical. But have used it for years.

And I hate the refrigerate after opening stuff. As above, they don't do it in the middle east and I have not read about any huge outbreaks of food poisoning. What exactly is it that makes something that is safe on a shelf at room temp for months, but if you open it then you have to chill it? I know that cold refrigeration slows bacteria growth but do restaurants with ketchup bottles on the table refrig them every night? Mustard? Soy Sauc... never mind, nothing grows in that much NaCl.

Sorry I got off the subject. Yeah, turn the jar over every 2-3 days. Problem solved.

I'd be curious if the paint can shaker worked, but fear it would break the (usually) glass jar. Maybe it's the Jova brand, metal jar?

What I do is put the whole thing in a food processor, not blender, and that will straighten it out. Also works for almond butter, etc. that has separated beyond stirring-repair.

[Robin Garr]

I'd be curious if the paint can shaker worked, but fear it would break the (usually) glass jar. Maybe it's the Jova brand, metal jar?

What I do is put the whole thing in a food processor, not blender, and that will straighten it out. Also works for almond butter, etc. that has separated beyond stirring-repair.

Thanks for jumping in, Sam! I don't think I would put a glass jar in a paint shaker, but that's just me. I ended up pretty satisfied with the stick blender trick - excavated the stuff from the jar into a bowl and carefully put the stick blender to work, short bursts and stopping immediately to lift the stick up every time the blender stalled.