We love peanut butter here at Bon Appétit. Wander into the test kitchen on any given day and you’re likely to see deputy editor Andrew Knowlton spreading it onto a rice cake, food director Carla Lalli Music dolloping some onto her banana, or editor in chief Adam Rapoport putting together a quick PB&J. I’ve been known to eat it off the end of spoon myself (because, contrary to popular belief, there’s not always food laying around the kitchen, and sometimes I get desperate). And there’s one brand that we think makes the best peanut butter, the one that we keep stocked at all times, it's Smucker's Natural.
When I started working at Bon Appétit, one of the first recipe stories I developed was quick and creative ways to use peanut butter. We tasted all nationally-available brands of natural peanut butter, meaning ones made only from peanuts and salt. A lot of conventional brands add sugar and palm oil to the mix, and while no natural peanut butter can rival their smoother-than-smooth texture, we were looking for a version with pure peanut flavor. Smucker’s won handily.
When the only two ingredients are roasted peanuts and salt, the balance of those two ingredients makes a big difference. Smucker’s Natural beats the hell out of other fancy health store brands that are twice the price for two reasons: the peanuts have an extra-roasted flavor, and there’s enough added salt to make the flavor of the nuts really pop. Now that I’m accustomed to the roastiness and saltiness of Smucker’s Natural, other brands just taste flat. (But, if you happen to be on a restricted salt diet, they also make a low-salt version.)
Another reason I prefer Smucker’s to other brands is it has a lot of texture. The crunchy version has big bits of peanut, and even the smooth version is pleasantly coarse. This coarseness and the lack of emulsifiers mean the peanut solids and oil separate over time (something that happens with all natural brands). You have to stir it occasionally to bring the oil and solids back together, or you can store it in the fridge, which prevents separation. If you’re looking for silky smooth peanut-flavored dessert spread, stick with those other conventional brands. But if you want your peanut butter to have the peanuttiest flavor possible, Smucker’s Natural is our pick.
