Request For Comments: Peanut butter

[shubla]

Peanut butter.
I've heard that it is popular in the US.

Why is this? I bought a jar of peanut butter and tasted it, it is so dry that it's very unpleasant in the mouth, and the taste is not good. It tastes kind of like peanuts, but the texture is horrible (extremely dry and sticky paste).
Is the peanut butter in America different in some way or form? What do they do to it? 50% syrup 50% peanut butter? Do they add salt in it? How they deal with the dryness? I have the whole jar still remaining and I'm planning to just throw it away if I don't soon come up with a way to make it edible!

[MagicManICT]

Ever eat Vegemite? I've had it once, and I like it, but most people around the world find it too funky. Most people in the US that you tell what lutefisk is find the idea not only distasteful, but also a health risk. Many people won't even try sushi because it is raw fish. But don't worry. I know a lot of people that don't like it.

Don't know what brand of peanut butter you got is, but there is a very distinct quality difference between them. Most squeeze the peanut oil out and replace it with palm kernel and other vegetable oils to make it smoother, but it ruins the taste. This is done for two reasons: 1) price of peanut oil--it's worth a significant amount for other cooking uses; 2) smoothness--the peanut solids separate out from the natural peanut oil, but won't to any real degree when the peanut oil is replaced with a blend of other vegetable oils.

My two favorite uses are peanut butter cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

[Nightdawg]

I have a friend that told me about peanut butter some months ago (we're not from the US, and I never ate peanut butter). He bought a cheap one and said it tastes really bad, then bought a more expensive one and said that the difference is huge, the cheap one didn't taste good at all while the more expensive one was indeed worth it.
Maybe try that, unless you already have, then idk.

[Zentetsuken]

my kid loves peanut butter but the types we can get here are nothing like american peanut butter

american peanut butter is more comparable to a peanut-flavoured nutella type of thing, tons of added sugar, super sweet

euro peanut butter is literally just nut butter, it's often bought in a jar fully separated and needs to be mixed up, it's definitely dryer and goes better mixed with a sweet jam

[shubla]

Don't know what brand of peanut butter you got is, but there is a very distinct quality difference between them. Most squeeze the peanut oil out and replace it with palm kernel and other vegetable oils to make it smoother, but it ruins the taste.

I bought the one with only peanuts in it, no added salt, no added sugar and definitely no any palm oil. Still tastes like shit!

I have a friend that told me about peanut butter some months ago (we're not from the US, and I never ate peanut butter). He bought a cheap one and said it tastes really bad, then bought a more expensive one and said that the difference is huge, the cheap one didn't taste good at all while the more expensive one was indeed worth it.
Maybe try that, unless you already have, then idk.

Not too many options. I bought the cheapest one of course, there seems to be one other brand but its 3 times as expensive, and organic, so that may be why. Maybe I'll have to try it after I have found a way to dispose the current one.

My two favorite uses are peanut butter cookies and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Cookies are an interesting idea. Will probably have to add lots of sugar though, but at least It will get rid of the jar!

[Jalpha]

They probably took all the oil out of your peanut butter because it can be sold separately. It was a staple for me as a kid, toast and peanut butter (or jam or vegemite). Sometimes I would even put it back under the grill to make it extra melty. Peanuts are good for you. Since I started getting more health conscious I started buying the "natural" peanut butters. The flavour is definitely different. There was still lots of oil though and often mixing is required due to the absence of emulsifiers. I think you just got a bad brand. I don't really eat it anymore though. I think western bread is poison. I had lost all appreciation for breads until I tried German bread. Now I can eat a couple of their semi-specialty bread rolls for breakfast without anything on them at all.

[strpk0]

y-you're not supposed to have it by itself

have you tried spreading it on bread? because if not that's kind of like putting a handful of salt in your mouth and calling salt in general "unpleasant"

[Sigilius]

...that's kind of like putting a handful of salt in your mouth...

new FB challenge \o/

[LadyV]

Peanut butter should never be a dry sticky paste. If it is they have used the wrong peanuts and or have not added oil.

As for making it more palatable... Try it in cookies.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10275/classic-peanut-butter-cookies/

In America the classic way to eat it is in a sandwich with jelly.

If you want you could try to rehydrate the butter with a bit of oil. It should be peanut or palm however. The oil type can change the taste if you choose poorly. A touch of salt and sugar might help as well. But very very sparring on those.

From what you have said I'm going to guess someone made the butter with dry roasted peanuts which have little oil or did not add enough oil/salt. Maybe both. Finally depending on where the nut is grown it can vastly affect flavor.

[Jalpha]

Peanuts have plenty of oil in them unless industrial processes are imposed upon them. Processes which contaminate the food products with hexanes. Then you could replace the peanut oil (a more expensive oil used in stir frys) with a cheaper, less healthy oil like palm, or palm kernal oil (both of which are much higher in saturated fats). These saturated fats act as a kind of emulsifier making the peanut butter more solid. They come with the added effect of reducing your cardiovascular health.

Good quality peanut butter should require mixing of the oil and the peanut paste. It's a sign that there is less saturated fats, no added emulsifiers and the product is unlikely to be contaminated with hexanes.