My favorite peanut butter these days is Smucker’s Natural (also known as Laura Scudder’s in some regions). Not a fan of stabilized butters like Skippy or Jif.
When I first got my VitaMix, I tried making peanut butter from Planter’s Cocktail Peanuts (which is all I had on hand) and it came out great… but it turned out to be just as pricey as the Smucker’s peanut butter given the cost of those nuts. It was better, but it was fresh and slightly warm, and I ate it all so not a fair comparison to the Smucker’s I keep in the fridge.
So I figured roasted peanuts are roasted peanuts, and bought some from the bulk bins at the local Safeway. Big mistake as it was way worse than the Smucker’s (let alone what I made from the Planter’s nuts).
So for those of you that make your own peanut butter, do you have a source for peanuts that are less than 28-34 cents/oz and produce excellent results?
2 Likes
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
2
My daughters like the Smucker’s Natural but have also made peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter etc. using bulk nuts from Sprouts. I haven’t asked the specific question about whether the homemade PB was as good as SN, but they liked it fine.
I can’t find Sprouts bulk prices online but found 1# containers of roasted peanuts at $3.00, so that’s readily within your budget ($0.19/ounce). I tend to think of Sprouts as being sort of a “fru-fru” store so (in my head at least) their nuts may be better than Safeway’s. I steal the girls’ cashews for my Asian dishes and they’re good.
If no Sprouts local to try, webstaurant sells big bulk bags inexpensively (below is 10# at $0.13 an ounce, or really big 30# bags are closer to 9 cents/oz). No idea as to quality, other than to note the reviews are good.
I’ve used Aldi’s cocktail peanuts in a food processor to make peanut butter. It’s a little dry so I add some sesame oil and it comes out perfect.
When I don’t make my own, I buy TJ’s natural, which is probably made by Smuckers.
I second ipsedixit; I get my peanuts for PB from local Chinese or South Asian groceries. But I get them raw and roast them at home: 350 F, in one layer on a half-sheet, stirring every few minutes until I like the color. A bit more tedious than starting with pre-roasted, but the price (and quality) is excellent; my most recent bag was $2.99 for 2 lbs (from an Indian market, but the Chinese market prices are comparable).
Don’t use the peanuts that come in 50# mesh bags that are meant for livestock in your peanut butter. We made that error once. "Not for human consumption’ should be printed on the sacks.
So after trying a variety of different peanuts (roasted, and unroasted that I roasted), I still think my best results were from planters cocktail peanuts… and it was pretty amazing warm right out of the blender.
But after refrigeration, there was little to no difference from the Smuckers/Laura Scuuders Natural that I buy… so I am pretty much done with making my own.
BTW… the best way I have found to keep natural PB in the fridge is to open it, stir it really well with a chopstick, and place it upside down in the fridge.
