According to the 2016 study, researchers found that storage temperature had the greatest impact on the quality of natural peanut butter compared to alternate factors, such as grinding time, peanut variety, and more. Knowing this, is it perhaps better to store natural peanut butter in the fridge over the pantry?
Answers may vary depending on who you ask. If you’re eating peanut butter on a daily basis, and it only takes a few weeks or less before that jar is empty, there’s no harm in keeping it in the pantry, according to Food Network. HuffPost, on the other hand, reports that natural peanut butter can safely remain in the pantry for a month or more. The general consensus, however, is that if you take your sweet time finishing off a jar of natural peanut butter (like, say, several months), you’re better off shoving it in the fridge once you’ve opened it. The reason is that those oils that sit towards the top of the jar can turn rancid if peanut butter isn’t stored in a cool, dry location. If it’s the thick of summer and your home is particularly hot or muggy, these oils may go rancid sooner rather than later. Before storing natural peanut butter in the fridge, give it a quick stir and it can stick around for as long as six months.