The Alabama Peanut Company is a great little business that started in Birmingham in 1907. Then the business was restarted in the early 2000’s by the original owner’s grandson John Cassimus. I stopped by with some co-workers from UAB not too long after John reopened the shop and one thing I remember from that visit was the great roasted peanuts!
Then a while ago John reached out to me about about our boil controllers. He wanted to move on to a controller that was easy to use and that would reliably run his boiled peanut pots. And he’s been using our 240V boil controllers since then.
I stopped by for a visit while driving through Birmingham on 9/11/2020 to pick up my granddaughter. These days the business is run by Jaimie and he definitely has the touch. The peanuts I had that day were as good as the ones I sampled years ago. So do yourself a favor. If Planters peanuts are the only roasted peanuts you’ve ever had then you owe yourself a treat. Order yourself some great roasted peanuts or a boiled peanut kit from the Alabama Peanut Company. I included their link below.
This Royal No 5 Peanut roaster by the A.J. Deer Co. is still going strong today. It’s gas fired and a small electric motor turns the drum. I ate some peanuts that came off this roaster during my visit.
I bet you can guess who used to own the peanut roaster on the right? Based on the design it’s still a A.J. Deer Co. Royal roaster even though the lid reads Planters Nut & Chocolate Co. Even the GIANT Planters company was a small business once…..
These fresh roasted peanuts were done just before I walked in the shop. And they tasted wonderful!
Here’s one of the stainless steel pots Jaimie uses to boil peanuts. I am personally not a huge boiled peanut fan but my Wife says their flavored boiled peanuts are pretty good. They offer a uncooked boiled peanut kit on-line if you want to try your hand at boiling your own peanuts.
Here are two modern peanut roasters they are installing. But even though these modern roasters lack the soul of the classic Royal roasters, Jaimie has assured me that he will produce the same roasted peanut quality from these machines. At the end of the day it’s about the craftsmanship. And modern tools just better enable the craftsman.
