Peanut Butter Review

In regards to peanut butter, gone are the days when you merely decide whether you want creamy or chunky. Nowadays, the varieties include: natural, organic, reduced-fat, low-sugar, low-sodium and no-salt, as well as numerous options with added flavors or nutrients. There is also a wide assortment of spreads made from almonds or other nuts. No matter how it's made, however, taste remains an overwhelming factor in selecting the best brand, with consistency/texture a close second. Others are looking for the most healthy peanut butter.

We were especially impressed by blind taste tests conducted by Cook's Illustrated magazine and SeriousEats.com. Editors at Cook's Illustrated magazine evaluate 15 creamy peanut butters and 13 chunky peanut butters in two separate reviews. They evaluate the peanut butters for taste, texture and consistency on their own merits and after being baked into peanut butter cookies. SeriousEats.com also has two comprehensive reviews of peanut butters. The first review provides the results of a blind taste test of 16 creamy peanut butters, and the other compares nine natural, crunchy peanut butters.

Two other publications also conducted blind taste tests of a large number of both creamy and crunchy peanut butters.KitchenDaily.com provides ratings for all 32 peanut butters tested by their editors. Cooking Light magazine compares 16 brands to find the healthiest peanut butters meeting preliminary nutritional requirements (natural peanut butter made with palm oil contained too much saturated fat to be included). Like the reviews at Cook's Illustrated, this blind taste test included using the peanut butter in a cookie recipe.

Several other expert reviews focus on creamy peanut butters. At Epicurious.com, a panel of 12 judges participates in a blind taste test of 21 creamy peanut butters and identifies the top and bottom picks. A review of 18 creamy peanut butters at Good Housekeeping may also have been a blind taste test -- though this isn't clear.

Numerous other reviews chose to focus on natural peanut butters. Real Simple magazine names their favorite creamy, chunky and unsalted varieties. GrubGrade.com, GoodBite.com and a third review at Epicurious.com include nut butters in their lineups. PeanutButterBoy.com and PeanutButterReview.com include flavored natural peanut butters. DailyGarnish.com, TheNibble.com and Chowhound.com have reviews devoted to powdered peanut butter. Reviews at EatingWell.com and Food & Wine magazine are several years old but still noteworthy.

If you are wondering whether you can save a little with a private-label brand, several reviews attempt to answer this very question. WalletPop.com compares Jif to three private-label store brands. An older review at TheWateryGourmet.com includes Walmart's Great Value peanut butter in its taste test. However, these reviews appear to be based solely on one tester's opinion.

If you are more concerned with finding a healthy peanut butter, rather than what others think tastes best, GoodGuide.com provides a novel slant to peanut butter ratings. This site ranks more than 150 peanut butters and nut butters on health as well as the environmental impact of making each product and a rating of the manufacturer's social responsibility.

For consumers looking for healthier peanut butters, ConsumerReports.org warns against relying on a front label that says "natural" in making this distinction. Many natural peanut butters have simply replaced the partially hydrogenated oil with unprocessed palm oil (it naturally contains hydrogen that helps to keep the oil in peanuts from separating during storage). While partially hydrogenated oil contains trace amounts of trans fat, palm oil is likely to be higher in saturated fat. Therefore, you are really just trading one bad fat for another. To choose the healthiest peanut butter, your best bet is to compare the nutritional information on the back label and review the list of ingredients.