Tahini storage

I made hummus tonight and got quite a workout trying to stir up the tahini. Should I keep it in the fridge or in the cupboard? I've always kept it in the fridge but just noticed that the label does not say to refrigerate after opening. Since I don't use it that often, figured fridge was better?

It seems to separate if at room temperature, but it turns to sludge in the fridge with lots of solids at the bottom. I need a skinnier whisk for my hand held blender to stir that up.

Where do you keep yours?

My instinct would be to store it in the fridge, and then let it warm up to room temperature when you're ready to use it. It's what I do with sesame oil.

The cooler temp in the fridge will delay the oil getting rancid--although I guess it depends on the temp in your house.

Frig. I haven't had an issue with it getting sludgey. Still, I wouldn't dare try to stir any nut butter with a stick blender, even at room temperature - I've burned up way too many full-sized blender motors in my lifetime, blending things that were not nearly as thick.

I rarely even buy tahini any more, I just make it up as needed from hulled sesame seeds (which I also store in the frig). But what I do with peanut or almond butter when I bring it home is turn the jar upside down for a day or two - if it's been on the store shelves for a while and is really hard at the bottom, I might do that once or twice more - then stir it thoroughly with a butter knife before putting it in the frig.

We here in The Middle East don't keep it in the frig.
As to separation - this is a sign that it is good stuff. To "re-integrate" it's best not to try to stir round-and-round but to use an up-and-down motion (eg of a whisk or a fork).

[This up-and-down wave generates liquifaction in an earthquake by the way - but that's the New Zealander in me talking!]

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Originally Posted by margo49

This up-and-down wave generates liquifaction in an earthquake by the way - but that's the New Zealander in me talking!

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Margo! :) Thanks for reminding me, ah, living on or near tahiniland :p

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/qmap/

All of life is just physics!
Liquifaction in an earthquake is just separated tahini in the MACRO!

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Originally Posted by margo49

All of life is just physics!

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Except for the parts that are chemistry (yeah, I know at the submolecular level it's all the same). ;) There in the middle east, how long does a jar of tahini last you? Here in the mideast USA, a 12-oz jar might last a year or longer. I'll still keep it in the frig.

Right! Of course if you just eat it when it is new it doesn't get rancid!

1 kg jar lasts a bit over a week so we buy one every week.
We make our own hummus twice a week and also eggplant/aubergine + tahini on Fridays.
And an occasional salad or steam vegetable dressing with miso+tahini. (Learned that last one in a White Sikh restaurant in Berkeley, Ca, circa 1980 and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

I've always left it in the cupboard at room temp and it's done fine. I don't eat quite as much as the poster directly before me, but probably go through a container in a few months, max

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Originally Posted by margo49

1 kg jar lasts a bit over a week so we buy one every week.
We make our own hummus twice a week and also eggplant/aubergine + tahini on Fridays.
And an occasional salad or steam vegetable dressing with miso+tahini. (Learned that last one in a White Sikh restaurant in Berkeley, Ca, circa 1980 and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

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OK, I have both tahini and eggplant in the fridge. Pretty please tell me how you make eggplant/tahini together? Thanks.

I think aubergine is such a pretty word, makes me think if we called them aubergine instead of eggplant, more people would eat them?

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Originally Posted by margo49

And an occasional salad or steam vegetable dressing with miso+tahini. (Learned that last one in a White Sikh restaurant in Berkeley, Ca, circa 1980 and thought I had died and gone to heaven.

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That sounds pretty dang good. Since I'm always looking for ways to trick myself into eating vegetables, can you post the recipe? Or is it basically mix 1 part miso and 1 part tahini?

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Originally Posted by withm

OK, I have both tahini and eggplant in the fridge. Pretty please tell me how you make eggplant/tahini together? Thanks.

I think aubergine is such a pretty word, makes me think if we called them aubergine instead of eggplant, more people would eat them?

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Martha, google baba ganoush recipes.

I've never made baba ganoush, But several years ago when I watched the DVD of "Bend it Like Beckham" one of the "extras" on that DVD was one of the actresses from the movie making it - like a typical cooking video. I needed to return it to the library, and never noted the ingredients. I'll have to get that DVD back if they still have it. It looked delicious.