Diet, Nutrition and SupplementationPost here for supplement reviews or nutritional advice. If you're trying to get "ripped abz" THIS is where you should be.
I started out eating regular peanut butter, not low fat, just regular. After reading here for a while I decided to move to natural Peanut Butter.
I was instantly turned away by the layer of oil on the top, but I managed to find Skippy. It's Natural and it doesn't have the oil on top. It tasted just as good as any other PB I'd ever had, so I was happy with it. Plus, it was just $2 a jar instead of the $4 or so for the other brands of natural.
Well the other day the store was out of Skippy, so I got the store brand natural, oil and all. I tried it last night for the first time and it was pretty bad. I stirred and got it mixed up very well. It was just very grainy, somewhat like eating wet sand.
Is there a trick to stirring it, did I get a bad brand, or is it all this way?
Some kinds are definitely better than others. It can vary depending on the species of peanut or how the peanuts are processed. Over the years I've tried a lot of brands. I like Maranatha brand -- it's nice and smooth and has a nice roasted peanut flavor.
I avoid Smucker's natural. It's way too salty and very gritty. East Winds is okay, very smooth, but doesn't have much roasted flavor. Arrowhead Mills Valencia is good, but it's tough to find the unsweetened varieties.
If it's oily on top, I like to shake the jar for a while, then open it and stir it up well, until the oil is fully incorporated and it's really smooth throughout. The whole process probably takes 5-10 minutes, but once that's done, I don't have to re-stir it even when it sits on the shelf for a while.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
The last few weeks I've been doing 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp nat PB, 1 tbsp whipped cream cheese, 1 cup light soymilk. Blend it well, then put it in the fridge. About an hour before I eat it I stick it in the freezer. This means that just the outer portions of the cup will be frozen, but the inner portion will be liquid. I like the mix of consistency.
I personally like the Adam's brand peanut butter. They have crunchy, creamy, organic and low sodium variations. I shake the jar very hard before opening it because that gets the mixing started and make it easier once I take the spoon to it.
I like peanut butter too much though so I have to keep it out of the house.
I've found the best way to stir natural PB is to use the milkshake attachment on an electric beater -- or, if you don't have the milkshake attachment, just use the the regular beater, but only use one beater, so you can fit it inside the jar. Hold tight to the jar when you do this, unless you want to fling peanut butter all over your house. When it's well blended, store it in the fridge and it won't separate again.
I usually stir it up when I first get it and then stick it in the fridge which keeps oil from seperating. The only downside is that once you get down to about a 1/3rd of jar, it turns into concrete..at which point you have to then store it in the cabinet so that it gets a bit oily again. After reading my post I'm started to think that the HFCS in regular peanut butter may not be so bad because I never had to do all of this stuff just to get a decent scoop or two of PB! ;O)
If all the other natural products are so oily, why is the Skippy natural not? Am I being mislead? What is it about natural PB that is so much better than any other kind? I'll have to check the label when I get home to see if there is anything out of the ordinary listed.
If all the other natural products are so oily, why is the Skippy natural not? Am I being mislead? What is it about natural PB that is so much better than any other kind? I'll have to check the label when I get home to see if there is anything out of the ordinary listed.
Without looking at the label, I'd guess that it's made with palm oil. Palm oil has the ability to be solid at room temperature, like the hydrogenated oils found in most ordinary peanut butter. Palm oil is natural and doesn't have trans fat, though.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
If all the other natural products are so oily, why is the Skippy natural not? Am I being mislead? What is it about natural PB that is so much better than any other kind? I'll have to check the label when I get home to see if there is anything out of the ordinary listed.
Regular peanut butter has added sugar, and often has added hydrogenated oils, which is why many health-consious people prefer natural PB.
Regular PB also contains some sort of stabilizer to prevent separation. Skippy has added palm oil, which is relatively high in staurated fat (compared to other vegetable oils) and therefore semi-solid at room temperature, to prevent separation.
I eat lots of this stuff so I can get my calories down easier.. My weight was dropping a bit a few weeks back, so I needed more cals.. I added 4tbs of PB to every meal (6 meals).. shot my cals up by around 2000cals per day and I wasnt any less hungry then usual.. plus its cheap.
I like the adams brand, but my favorite is actually the no-name safeway natural brand. Its also the cheapest for me.
IMO, peanut butter should contain peanuts & salt...that's it.
__________________
Two Bears Dadda? Two Bears Benno, just two. ______________________________ ___________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
I hate natural peanut butter. Stupid cold and hard to spread stuff.
Skippy Natural may be a little sweeter than a purist likes it, but it tastes good to me and the palm oil keeps it from separating. Not much difference in the carb coun't, either.
I hate natural peanut butter. Stupid cold and hard to spread stuff.
Skippy Natural may be a little sweeter than a purist likes it, but it tastes good to me and the palm oil keeps it from separating. Not much difference in the carb coun't, either.
Why keep it cold? I keep mine in the cupboard and it's fine. If it sits untouched for more than 3-4 days (which almost never happens) it might need a stir or two.
It took a while for me to get used to eating peanut butter without sugar or salt, but now I prefer it to the old stuff.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
Why keep it cold? I keep mine in the cupboard and it's fine. If it sits untouched for more than 3-4 days (which almost never happens) it might need a stir or two.
I've seen some "no-stir" natural peanut butters out there, including one from Maranatha. I haven't tried it, though. It ain't eating clean if I'm not suffering, dammit.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
Natural Peanut Butter
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