79 replies to this topic

[GordonCooks]

The ONLY peanut butter allowed through the door is Jif Super Chunky and Peter Pan smoooooth. These seem to be the consensual taste test winners year after year.

[bushey]

Teddy's all natural smooth. I had some this morning for breakfast, on a banana.

[sammy]

I like it chunky, my dog likes it smooth. Nothing is funnier than watching her try to remove the peanut butter from the roof of her mouth.

[Fat Guy]

Chunky is definitely superior to smooth, but those supermarket brands have so much oil and sugar in them that they hardly taste like peanut butter at all. The best peanut butter comes from Peanut Butter & Co. One reason it's so good is that it has just the right amount of salt. Most of the natural brands have a terrible health-food-store taste, in part because they have no salt and in part because they're made from peanuts that are selected without regard for flavor. The Peanut Butter & Co. product uses really good, properly roasted peanuts (a blend, in fact).

[Adam Balic]

I noticed that the peanut butter in the USA tasted quite sweet, is this usual or is it just that I tried some cheap ass brand (which I can't recall). In Australia there is "Smooth", "Crunchy" and "Regular" or "Tradional". I like the latter, is like smoother then "Crunchy", but not as smooth " as Smooth", plus it has large chunks of peanut throughout.

[Fat Guy]

It's sweet because it has a lot of sugar in it. (Though, this being eGullet, I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to argue that sugar doesn't actually make things sweet.)

[ideefixe]

When I was a bodybuilder I ate tons of Chunky, but only the health food store type. I can't bear Jif and Skippy. Icky.

Now, I still eat Laura Scudder with jalapeno jelly, but I still won't eat the grocery store stuff. It's got other oils, corn syrup and probably soy.

[jeniac42]

Grocery store PB is gross, although my dog seems to like it. I have occasionally made peanut butter with the help of my Cuisinart, and have plans to repeat the experiment and add different flavors and whatnot.

Has anyone mailordered from Peanut Butter & Co? How's the service?

I've heard good things about Krema but, unbelievably, have not actually made it into their store yet. Maybe I'll try to get there today and report back.

[Adam Balic]

It's sweet because it has a lot of sugar in it. (Though, this being eGullet, I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to argue that sugar doesn't actually make things sweet.)

Added sugar or natural peanut sugar?

[GordonCooks]

Has anyone mailordered from Peanut Butter & Co?  How's the service?

I jusr tried to order some online but they d/n use a secured server ? Had anyone ordered form there ?

How's the Cinnamon Raisan PB ?

[nightscotsman]

Smooth.

[Fat Guy]

It's sweet because it has a lot of sugar in it. (Though, this being eGullet, I'm sure somebody will be along shortly to argue that sugar doesn't actually make things sweet.)

Added sugar or natural peanut sugar?

Truth is stranger than fiction.

[Adam Balic]

FG FYI you forgot the link that has all the missing Info. that explains your pithy, mysterious, and yet, completely uninformative sentence.

Edited by Adam Balic, 03 April 2003 - 09:59 AM.

[Fat Guy]

I guess you had to be there.

[Schielke]

Most American versions of Peanut Butter are highly loaded with Sugar and many things other than peanuts. They can be tasty though, but I rarely eat them.

I remember a canadian brand called Squirrel Peanut Butter that placed a couple whole peanuts on the top of each jar. We all thought this was cute and it didn't hurt that the peanut butter was tasty either.

[Jinmyo]

I like peanut butter. On toast or made into a sauce with sauteed cabbage with chiles.

Squirrel is sweet. Skippy is sweet. Kraft is okay. President's Choice Just Peanuts Smooth is pretty good.

[pixelchef]

I remember a canadian brand called Squirrel Peanut Butter that placed a couple whole peanuts on the top of each jar.  We all thought this was cute and it didn't hurt that the peanut butter was tasty either.

My favourite! However, it's called Skippy, not Squirrel. :) Ever since I was young, I loved getting those two little peanuts on the top.

http://www.skippy.ca/

[Schielke]

hmmm, interesting. One of the major peanut butter brands here in the US is Skippy but there is no squirrel associated with it. I wonder if they were acquired but kept the mascot and peanut at the top?

Skippy in the U.S.

[Marlene]

Usually Skippy for smooth, and Jif for crunchy

[Schielke]

A bit more research shows that they are in fact owned by Unilever which is a parent company to other brands such as Hellman's mayo, Lipton, Ragu, and Country Crock.

[Belmont3]

No peanut butter here, only Nutella

[Xanthippe]

No peanut butter here, only Nutella

Super-Chunky. Chunk is good. The chunkier the better. Two buck chunk.

Of the widely-available brands, I will only buy Laura Scudder or Adams. Just peanuts and salt in 'em, nothing else. Health food store brands taste, er, too healthy.

I've heard great things about both Krema and Peanut Butter & Company, but have never had the pleasure of tasting either.

[Popcorn]

Chunky is definitely superior to smooth, but those supermarket brands have so much oil and sugar in them that they hardly taste like peanut butter at all. The best peanut butter comes from Peanut Butter & Co. One reason it's so good is that it has just the right amount of salt. Most of the natural brands have a terrible health-food-store taste, in part because they have no salt and in part because they're made from peanuts that are selected without regard for flavor. The Peanut Butter & Co. product uses really good, properly roasted peanuts (a blend, in fact).

I disagree. The best peanut butter comes from the nuts you get at the Peanut Roaster in North Carolina, ground in one of those little Mr. Peanut peanut grinders from the '70's.

Ben

[jhlurie]

Chunky is definitely superior to smooth, but those supermarket brands have so much oil and sugar in them that they hardly taste like peanut butter at all. The best peanut butter comes from Peanut Butter & Co. One reason it's so good is that it has just the right amount of salt. Most of the natural brands have a terrible health-food-store taste, in part because they have no salt and in part because they're made from peanuts that are selected without regard for flavor. The Peanut Butter & Co. product uses really good, properly roasted peanuts (a blend, in fact).

Ditto on the kudos for PB & Co. I've already spread the love for them in another similar discussion.

I'm not as sure as you that the salt is completely necessary (although it always helps) as long as premium roasted peanuts are used. My local Whole Foods has a good blend and a nice little machine to crush 'em right there for you. I imagine they throw some amount of salt in there, but it doesn't seem like its all that much.

Also... fresh Almond Butter. I'll switch off between Peanut Butter & Jelly and Almond Butter & Jelly sandwiches when I'm in the mood.

Edited by jhlurie, 03 April 2003 - 01:35 PM.

[Fat Guy]

Popcorn, I will readily admit that the peanuts from the Peanut Roaster are the best peanuts in the universe. So perhaps they do make great peanut butter. But in terms of something you can buy in a jar, Peanut Butter & Co. rules.

Jhlurie, to me the salt is critical. It really does seem to enhance the taste of the product and give it character. Which is, of course, salt's modus operandi. And in my experience buying at Whole Foods and other places, they do not use salt in those machines. Maybe they do sometimes, but I've never seen or tasted it.

[jhlurie]

Someone could make the same argument for the sugar some people insist on dumping into their PB.

Actually, the Almond Butter seems to "need" the salt much less than the Peanut.

That said, you probably are right. Next time I grind some I'll mix in some salt when I get home.

[Schielke]

No, just open up their machine and dump a pound of salt in the top!

[torakris]

Here in Japan we ahve the choice of Skippy, Skippy, Skippy, or the Japanese stuff.

we eat Skippy, I prefer crunchy but the kids like smooth and since they are the ones who eat it.............

Anyone who thinks that American peanut butter is sweet has never tasted the stuff the Japanese call peanut butter, it is a whipped product (not dense like "real" peanut butter) that tastes like marshmallow fluff with a drop of peanut flavoring added.

[SobaAddict70]

Smucker's All Natural. (Chunky. It really is all natural -- peanuts, salt.)

But if you really wanted really good tasting peanut butter, you could always make your own I suppose.

Cheers,

Soba

[Fat Guy]

Someone could make the same argument for the sugar some people insist on dumping into their PB.

It's probably a true argument. But nobody seems to make a peanut butter with just a little sugar added, which would be the correct formulation for gourmet palates. It wouldn't surprise me if a little added oil helped with texture either. The problem is that the mass-market products are off the charts on additives, and the health-food products have none. Somewhere in the middle -- albeit much closer to the health-food end of the spectrum -- is where you're going to get the best peanut butter.