Peanut Butter is a staple in most American kitchens. Our family goes through a lot of it. You might think that it is our kids scarfing down PB&J’s. But it is actually because I have peanut butter on toast most mornings and for some reason my husband slathers peanut butter on bread, and eats it standing at the counter shortly after dinner every night.
Several years ago I leaned that most commercial peanut butters (like Skippy–my childhood favorite–and Jif) contain a lot of added sugar. I was trying to cut down on sugar in my diet so I switched to Natural peanut butter that usually does not have added sugar. The side benefit of many natural peanut butters is that they are packaged in glass instead of plastic. After trying several brands of natural peanut butter, my favorite, by far is Smuckers.
The Natural Difference
Switching to peanut butter in glass jars is one of the easiest switches. The product experience is very similar to peanut butter in plastic. It is not like switching to toothpaste tablets or laundry detergent sheets, where you have to get used to the product in a different form. Peanut butter in glass is a lot like peanut butter in plastic. But there are a few differences.
The most noticeable difference is that most peanut butters in glass are all natural. And the first thing you might notice about natural peanut butter is that it separates.
And this is a little bit of a bummer.
What do I mean when I say it separates? Well, usually when I buy a jar of natural peanut butter I will see a good 1/2 inch layer of oil sitting at the top of the jar. There are usually just two ingredients in natural peanut butter–peanuts and salt. The oil you see at the top of the jar is just peanut oil that has separated from the ground up peanuts. This oil is good when it is stirred into the ground peanuts because it keeps the peanut butter spreadable. And it is different from non-natural peanut butters that have hydrogenated oil added to keep the oil from separating.
Mix It Up
All this means is that you need to mix the oil into the peanut butter when you open it. I find the easiest way to do this is:
- First, when you bring the jar home from the store, keep it upside down until you are ready to use it. This allows that oily layer to move to the middle or bottom of the jar. This makes stirring the oil into the peanut butter much less sloppy. When the oil is on top and you begin stirring, I find it often slops over the side. Save yourself a gross oily mess by storing the peanut butter upside down.
- Second, use a dinner knife to stir the peanut butter in the jar. This is much easier than using a spoon (which is what I used to do). the knife can reach all the way to the bottom of the jar to mix in the oil, and it also moves through the thick peanut butter more easily.
- Third, store the peanut butter in the refrigerator after you have stirred it up. keeping it refrigerated prevents it from separating again. The firmer texture of the colder peanut butter also makes it easier to spread neatly.
The Plastic Part
Things I Love:
- Glass jar
- All natural peanut butter with no added sugar
Things I Don’t Love:
- Plastic band around lid
- Stirring in the oil is a little bit of a drag
- Price is about 50% higher than peanut butter in plastic
Product Info:
- Available in most grocery stores, Walmart and Target
- 16oz jar and 26oz jar–both sizes are available at Walmart and Target
- Available in Creamy and Chunky
- https://www.smuckers.com/peanut-butter/natural
Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter Rating
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