Product is pumped from the mill into a peanut butter deaerator by a positive displacement pump. The deaerator is used to remove air entrained during the milling process. After the product has been deaerated, it is transferred via a positive displacement feed pump through the Votator® scraped surface heat exchanger. Due to peanut butter’s properties and the deaerator configuration, a continuous recycle loop overfeeds the feed pump supplying the heat exchanger. The product enters the scraped surface heat exchanger and is cooled to the desired peanut butter filling temperature. After cooling, the product is either sent to the filler or recycled to the deaerator. A nut feeder can be used to add nut pieces to the filler feed for chunky style peanut butter. The Votator® scraped surface heat exchangers are provided with a power sensing system and controls to prevent freeze-up due to accidental overcooling of the product.