The “regular” peanut butter most of us grew up with had the same consistency from the top of the jar to the bottom. This is because of the addition of vegetable oils, which stabilize the peanut butter so the natural peanut oil does not separate from the peanut paste.
Natural peanut butters are becoming more common in the grocery store. The benefit of these is that the only ingredients are peanuts and salt. The drawback is that without the added vegetable oils, the oil separates from the peanut paste and you need to stir the oil and the paste back together.
The one time I tried natural peanut butter, I made a giant mess. Huge. Peanut oil everywhere. And I sort of wrote it off as not worth it.
But, in the spirit of knowledge (and adventure), I tried again. Just so I could write this article.
Natural peanut butter
Here’s where I started. Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter. The ingredients list includes peanuts and salt. That’s it.
And, as expected, a layer of peanut oil on the top of the peanut butter.
Taking some advice, I dumped the entire jar of peanut butter into a bowl to give it a good mix. Make sure you get everything off the bottom, it tends to get kind of thick at the bottom of the jar, and that’s the part that needs the oil the most!
Then I put everything back into the original jar. (And made a mess. But not a giant one.)
Natural peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated, but refrigeration will help keep the oil from separating. Refrigeration will also make the peanut butter very thick, and you may need to warm it up a little bit before it spreads easily.
No-stir natural peanut butter
For those of us who are stir-challenged, there is a variety of natural peanut butter that does not need to be stirred. This is Skippy’s No-Stir Natural Peanut Butter. The ingredients for this include peanuts, sugar, palm oil, and salt. The palm oil is the stabilizer that keeps the peanut oil from separating. (Yes, I know using oil to keep oil from separating sounds strange. But that’s how it works.)
Did you notice something strange on the label? This is peanut butter spread. Which means that it contains less than 90% peanuts (by finished weight). That addition of the palm oil pushes it over the 90% threshold to be able to be called peanut butter. I couldn’t find anywhere on the label that does declare the percentage of peanuts it contains.
Here’s the top of the new jar, no oil in sight!
Comparison
But, how do the two varieties compare?
Here’s a close up of the Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter. It’s got a little bit of a grainy texture, which I absolutely love. While it had a fantastic peanut flavor, it did have just a little bit of an oily feel, and left me with a slight oily taste. I’m sure this will be great on a sandwich, but I won’t be eating this straight out of the jar anytime soon.
And the Skippy No-Stir Natural Peanut Butter. This looks a little more like the “regular” peanut butter I’m used to. It didn’t have the strong peanut flavor of the Smuckers, but it also didn’t have the oily feeling.
I have to say, taste-wise it’s a bit of a toss up for me. I would probably choose the Smuckers for a sandwich or a smoothie, but the Skippy for snacking on fruit or pretzels (or the occasional dip out of the jar).
Nutrition
Here are the two nutrition labels for comparison. The Smuckers has more calories per serving, less saturated fat, less sodium, and less sugar. But, frankly, there’s not a very big nutrition difference between the two.
| Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter nutrition label | Skippy No-Stir Natural Peanut Butter nutrition label |
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What do you think? Do you already use natural peanut butter? Are you going to try it?
{I am not endorsing either brand. These were handy at my local grocery store.}
Keep
in mind that tropical oils (Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, etc.) are
high in saturated fat and really should be avoided (which is the purpose of
buying “natural”… to avoid the “bad” stuff).
Calorie
for calorie, you’re getting the same calories from fat (16g). However, a
better percentage of the “good” fats, (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) are
found in the Smucker’s Natural, whereas you’re getting a whole gram extra of
saturated fat in the Skippy Spread, due to the use of Palm Oil as a stabilizer,
and less of the “good” fats our bodies need to aid in functioning. If
you’re going to eat peanut butter for the health benefits, then go with just
the Peanuts & Salt. Add a little honey for sweetness as you mix for a
truly natural, unprocessed sweetener. The Peanut SPREAD has added sugar
as well!! Why bother with Peanut Spread? You know, some
things are just meant to be eaten because we LOVE them… like Peanut
Butter. Sometimes, just be a kid and eat the good ol’ fashioned peanut
butter you ate through childhood, and enjoy! (just keep it at
a smart amount… it’s so EASY to eat it out of the jar!)
I never noticed that Skippy Natural is a peanut butter spread. Hmmm.
Actually palm and coconut oils are ‘good’ fats. They may be high in saturated fats, but most of their triglycerides are medium-chain-trigycerides; meaning that they don’t get stored as fat. Your body will use the MCTs as energy similar to sugar. Also, tropical oils are known to be good for joint and brain health.
@ Stacy: So you think saturated fat is bad for you? Really? You are obviously not informed and not educated in REAL NUTRITION. Saturated fats made in nature are wonderful for you and in fact you need lots of that kind of fat. Are you aware that coconut oil is 92% saturated? All fats have all 3 categories of fat in them (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated) along with a glycerol molecule that holds the fats together.
It is the man-made fats that are incredibly bad for you. Those are fats they have taken like soybeans, cottonseed, canola, and corn oils and hydrogenated them to make them saturated. THOSE ARE THE REALLY BAD GUYS!
Store bought peanut butter that is so called “natural” that has separated is very old! If you freshly grind your peanut butter it take forever for it to separate , and if your grind your own than means nothing is in it but peanuts. No salt which is used for processing ,and you don’t need the added salt fresh natural peat it butter is the only way to go
You may want to avoid products with palm oil for ethical reasons. Sorry I don’t have links, but it’s better you look for yourself. Farmers are destroying much natural habitat to plant palm groves. It is having a negative effect on the animals that depend on these areas, since the amount of land clearing is so large.
Thanks for your point, Peggy. I am not familiar about how palm groves are managed, or with how palm oil is produced.
Palm oil link!
It’s destroying much of Asia and poor countries. Literally tearing down their forests and endangering a so many animals
http://greenpalm.org/about-palm-oil/social-and-environmental-impact-of-palm-oil
Thanks for the information, I’ll check it out.