There is oil on top of my tahini — is that normal?
Yes, and it is the sign you want. Sesame seed is about half oil, and without an emulsifier that oil slowly rises while the jar stands still. Stir it back through and the tahini is exactly as it should be.
Why it separates
Tahini is ground seed, not a sauce. Nothing holds the oil and the solids together, so gravity does its work: oil up, sesame down. Industrial jars often contain an emulsifier to stop this, which is also why they never quite taste of sesame alone.
In the Bayaz Tahini Box there is one ingredient and nothing else, so separation is built in. A jar that never separates has had help.
How to stir it back
Let the jar come to room temperature first; cold tahini is stiff and fights the spoon. Use something narrow and flat, a butter knife works better than a round spoon, and work from the bottom upwards instead of stirring circles on top.
Give it a minute. The paste first looks lumpy, then turns smooth and glossy. Store the jar upside down between uses and the next stir takes ten seconds.
When something is actually wrong
Trust your nose. Fresh tahini smells of roasted sesame; turned tahini smells sharp, like old nuts or paint, and tastes bitter at the back of your tongue. That is oxidised oil, and stirring will not fix it.
Mould or a jar left open in a warm kitchen for months belongs in the bin. Dry, hard paste at the bottom is a different story: that is tahini that lost its oil to the top, and it comes back with stirring.
Does it belong in the fridge?
No. Cold makes tahini stiff and harder to mix, and it does not keep any longer for it. A closed cupboard away from the cooker is better.
Also good to know
Can I pour the oil off?
You can, but you will regret it. What is left behind is dry and crumbly, nearly impossible to stir and no good in hummus. That oil is part of the tahini.
My tahini has gone rock hard at the bottom
Stand the closed jar in warm water for ten minutes, then stir from the bottom up. If the paste still refuses, a few spoons of the oil from the top will loosen it.
The box
6 jars of 700 g, 4.2 kg of stone-ground tahini from Amedi, €49.00 per box. Shipped from the Netherlands to more than 40 European countries.
Order a box