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Trader Joe's organic peanut butter

I have not liked Trader Joe's nut butters in the past, but picked up a jar of organic crunchy peanut butter ($3) last night and it's very good, similar to Adams regular crunchy salted (which I prefer to the Adams organic crunchy salted).

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  1. Our very fussy Latvian guests - age 12 & 14 - snarfed it up and my mum likes it as well.

    1. I much prefer the Berkeley Bowl Organic Crunchy Unsalted. It is very thick and not so moist. It's like eating not too ground up peanuts. Of course, not likely to help anyone outside of the Bay Area.

      1 Reply
      1. re: chocolatetartguy

        The Berkeley Bowl's my neighborhood super, but I don't like that style.

      2. I found the Bowl's version like eating dry paste. But that's me.

        6 Replies
        1. re: teamkitty

          Yeah, dry peanut paste. I don't like my pb soupy.

          1. re: chocolatetartguy

            Agreed. Unless it's in groundnut soup. But the Bowl's version of pb is arid.

            1. re: teamkitty

              The Bowl's peanut butter tastes like they grind up the shells too. No thanks.
              I buy almost everything else there, but I head up to Whole Foods for PB from
              the U-Grind-It machine. Approximately 400 times better.

              Rainbow used to have a good fresh-ground PB but it's been a couple of years
              since I've been there. Still available?

              I hate TJ's PB. It's like 30% oil. I have to pour off the oil and refridgerate the rest
              before it's usable. Despite being cheaper, it works out equal in the end.

              1. re: angowan

                Any peanut butter with the oil on top, can be fixed by storing the jar upside down on the shelf, at room temp. It's a simple law of physics, oil rise to the top of any medium it is mixed with. So by turning the jar upside down, the oil will always be on the bottom of the jar, when you are using it.

                1. re: angowan

                  All natural peanut butters contain the same amount of oil because it's whatever was in the peanuts. But it takes time to separate so I suspect your Whole Foods U-Grind-It butter makes it home still well mixed.

                  For best results with the TJ's crunchy organic peanut butter, stir thoroughly and then refrigerate. It's very soft and spreadable, and won't separate if kept cold.

                  And if you don't want the oil in your peanut butter, keep it for stir-frying. Nothing coats the wok quite like peanut oil.

            2. re: teamkitty

              Is this the BB fresh stuff sold in the bulk tubs we're talking about here? I've always found it to be spectacularly good, so much so that I have addicts ordering it from me nationwide.

              I always avoid the jarred TJ's stuff if it had been sitting around long enough to separate.

              I've had bad luck 2 out of 3 times with U-Grind-it, rancid peanuts.

            3. I've found Trader Joe's to be hit or miss. Their canned tuna (white albacore) is the cheapest-tasting I've ever had. It tasted metalic and stale. I had to throw it out. Their Thai Lime Chili peanuts just tasted weird. No lime, no chili flavor, just some awful, nauseating taste. I've also thrown out several of their frozen items that ended up tasting like garbage. They do well with nuts, chips, and cereals. I would never touch their peanut butters -- I'd be afraid of getting sick from rancid oil: many of their products are sold well beyond their expiration date. Buy with caution!

              2 Replies
              1. re: Foodboy

                why don't you return some of this stuff instead of throwing out? I too have had some problems with some of their products. They will take back anything (actually just took back something today). I think they make a record of the products that are returned and the reason...hopefully for quality control reasons.

                1. re: Foodboy

                  I agree with returning TJ's products. Recently it was a half-used tube of their Peppermint toothpaste. I just couldn't get used to it and went back to Tom's of Maine. But that's their deal: take a risk, money back if you don't like it. And potentially dangerous addiction if you do -- those triple ginger snaps come to mind.

                2. I'm almost at the bottom of our TJ's peanut butter. I've always had good luck with it.