this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2026
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...are non-US peanut butters less viscous?
lots of US peanut butters are "no-stir" by substituting some of the oil with basically a margarine-like fat (solid, hydrogenated oils replace some of the peanut oil so that the oil never separates and needs to be stirred in again)
If you use normal peanut butter, here are some tips I've found:
But I also just eat the no-stir hydrogenated peanut butter now because it's extremely cheap and I'm unemployed.
That's the saddest part. It's cheaper to eat the manufactured factory food that they bugger around with than it is to eat healthy. What a cliff capitalism has led us to.
I guess it's better than never being able to afford peanut butter? I sort of have a renewed respect for mass produced / factory foods that make food more financially accessible.
I eat pasta that is fortified because the cheap pasta has extra vitamins added, there are some good things about this even if the pasta isn't as tasty as the more expensive brands.
forever greatful the co-op by me has a fresh peanut butter machine, its only $2.99 a pound which isnt bad. At best the store brand US style PB is $2.50 a pound. Worth the 50cents imo, and It's even a bit cheaper I save 10% by bringing my own jar!
The cheap off-brand no-stir peanut butter I eat is $1.50 / lb ($0.35 / 100 g), the nice organic peanut butter I like to buy is $7.65 / lb ($1.69 / 100 g)
I could probably make my own peanut butter at home (I have a Vitamix), but I don't know where I would buy cheap peanuts.
Either way, I enjoy the taste of the cheap, no-stir peanut butter (I was raised on stuff like this), and I don't really understand or appreciate whatever health impact it may or may not have to eat the cheap peanut butter vs the more expensive one - whereas I very much do appreciate the economic cost of the higher peanut butter and that immediate effect on my grocery bill.
I have envy.
It's all the filler. Because it's there. And the mass production, sure.
Non-US peanut butters typically have only one ingredient (peanuts) and therefore you get peanut oil separating out that needs to be stirred in. American peanut butter (at least the 'popular' brands) tend to be so full of preservatives and shit that they hold their state.
Here's the full list of ingredients for Jif:
Made from Roasted Peanuts and Sugar, Contains 2% or Less of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed and Soybean), Mono and Diglycerides, Salt.
https://www.foodsco.net/p/jif-creamy-peanut-butter/0005150024191
It's not just peanuts but it's not really "preservatives and shit" either.
The vegetable oils are saturated fats, which will mix with the peanut oil, but solidify at room temperature. That and the sugar are doing the leg work on keeping the peanut butter from separating. So yeah, saturated fats and sugar are unhealthy additives specifically for preserving the peanut butter. What exactly is your definition of a preservative?
Preservative refers to a substance that inhibits spoilage, decay, discoloration or other drops in quality.
It's one way to increase shelf life.
A stabilizer isn't a preservative because oil separation doesn't impact quality, shelf life or anything like that.
Peanuts already have saturated fat, the vegetable oils are better on that than the peanuts.
Incorrect, hydrogenated is a synthesis artificial process that chemically alters them and turns them into dryer texture but it's less healthy and more artificial. I avoid it.
it's not the preservatives, it's the hydrogenated oils that are added - basically they substitute some of the peanut oil that would separate out for oils that won't separate (and stay hard, like a butter or like margarine)
even the "healthy" no-stir peanut butters do this
No salt? XD
There is definitely salt in my aldi peanut butter, and a lot of sugar, I can tell just by taste without checking the label.
When I left the US this was a BIG surprise for me
https://www.gamintraveler.com/2026/03/01/why-you-cant-really-find-american-peanut-butter-in-spain-and-most-of-europe/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin
Lol. I reas the article, and:
😳 Who the hell buys more than one kg of peanut butter??
Why do you call it "natural" separation lol
Gravity is a natural process. The oil is less dense.
And why ""