Thanks! I hate buying a huge tin of tahini just to use a little bit in homemade hummus.

I second Rivercat

I third.

I fourth - but where do you get 2 cups of sesame seeds that's not outrageously expensive??

Good question - I almost put something about that in the article. Asian and sometimes Indian groceries sell sesame seeds in big bags for about the same amount of money as those tiny jars in the spice aisle at the supermarket. I think I paid about $5 for a bag with 3-4 cups of seeds in it.

Tahini should be a toasted sesame seed paste and out of the jar looks exactly like peanut butter (I don't know what that photo is).
Your recipe is a good one, though I'd recommend using only a tablespoon of sesame oil to get the right consistency for the sesame seed paste. Chances are buying good tahini at your local international grocery will cost you less than the sesame seeds, and be of better consistency.

Commercially made tahini separates the bran from the kernel and only grinds the kernel, which is why it is so smooth and thin. At home you're grinding both the bran and the kernel in a home food processor that isn't as powerful, so the resulting tahini looks gritty and sticky, like in the photo. It's more like thick peanut butter with small flecks of the bran.

I've used both homemade and storebought, thinner, tahini in hummus and baba ghanoush and the taste and texture are virtually identical - although I find leaving the bran in sometimes gives a more subtly nutty flavor.

use a vitamix.

I've made tahini at home with completely intact sesame seeds, in a coffee grinder with a blade and bowl that detached and could be washed. It came out beautifully, but I would probably not do it in a standard one-piece coffee grinder.

Costco sells sesame seeds for cheap.

Here's a blog post showing that homemade tahini is half the price of storebought: http://bit.ly/fvy5n3

I just purchase a bag of sesame seeds for $4 that holds about 4 cups. A 8 oz container of tahini at the store was $5.99. I would definitely say making my own is cheaper and less wasteful as I never use the entire container up before it goes bad.

raw sesame seeds can be purchased from swad distributed by rajafoods.com which will help you find a local store. i have been buying their products for years. the 14 oz. pkg costs about 2.50 near me. most stores that carry the swad line are either indian (asian), or asian, african or middle eastern. hope this helps.

I just bought sesame seeds at Fred Meyer yesterday for $3.49/lb.
I've found that buying in bulk is almost always the way to go.

For folks who don't have markets mentioned in the comments here, right now at Amazon, you can get 4 lbs of sesame seeds for $17.17 and only $14.59 if you subscribe to it. If you subscribe or you are a Prime member, you'll get free shipping.

Remember that not everyone has access to special markets. I just happen to be one of them. It was even worse when I lived in Alaska!

Amazon is my friend. ;)

Oh darn. I meant to post that link! http://goo.gl/Q9OJp It's Bob's Red Mill brand. Cheers!

I am going to try making my own tahini for hummus, etc. However, when I previously purchased the expensive can of tahini at the market, I likewise did not want to use only a small amount and toss the rest. So.....I put 1 tblsp gobs on a cookie sheet, froze them on the sheet, then removed the frozen tahini-pies and stored them in freezer baggie/containers. When I need a couple tblsp, I pull two from the bags and am in business. The freezing hasn't seemed to hurt the taste or texture of the hummus.

Simple: Make more hummus more often ( : >).