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A Brief History of Peanut Butter
- hackeraccount 6y agoIs it me or was that really weird? There were 2 bylines in what seemed like a single article. I understand why the bit about Carver was there - honestly if you had asked me I would have said he invented it; that he didn't was the most surprising thing in it.
- JonathonW 6y agoIt's an article with a separately-written (and credited) sidebar in the print magazine.
- mywittyname 6y agoIt's pretty common to mention the fact that GW Carver did NOT invent peanut butter anytime the history of peanuts is discussed.
- fingerlocks 6y agoI specifically remember being taught in elementary school that GWC was the inventor, and I carried that misconception for decades. I appreciate the correction.
- gnicholas 6y agoFun fact: they remove the little nub in the middle of the peanut (called the "heart") before making peanut butter. Apparently the heart is more bitter than the two halves. https://youtu.be/4iUduCtx7cA?t=96 https://youtu.be/4iUduCtx7cA?t=96
- luxurytent 6y agoOh no, this is not available in Canada?
- gnicholas 6y agoWeird! It’s “How It’s Made” about peanut butter. Many of the episodes have British narration, and I watch them in the US.
- interestica 6y agoAnd it's a Canadian (Quebec) production https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It%27s_Made
- timonoko 6y agoObserved Fact: If you make butter in blender from Lidl Salted Peanuts it is (very) good only for a day or two, thereafter it tastes little bitter. But you can compensate by adding raisins to the blend.
- 17a9f4a4f4e5b3f 6y agoI'm quite thankful so much of How it's Made is available on youtube by Discovery, curious why they've even done that.
- bobthepanda 6y agoIt’s probably so niche that they make more money monetizing it on youtube than putting it on other channels.
- mesofile 6y agoAs a US native who otherwise mostly abstains from sugary processed foods, big-brand peanut butter is one part of my country's food culture that I absolutely cannot shake. I don't eat fast food or drink soda, but I must have a jar of Jif around at all times. I have tried every type of organic peanut butter and found them all more or less vile, mostly due to the oiliness but there's also usually something flat & colorless about the flavor -- not just missing sweetness but something else. On the other hand the less adulterated alternatives do taste a lot more like actual peanuts, which makes me dread to know what it is that I'm missing.
- nhf 6y agoI've found the Whole Foods store-brand smooth peanut butter is a good happy medium between Jif and the organic stuff. It stays emulsified a lot longer than others, but has more roasty peanut flavor (and less sugar) than the cheap stuff.
- boogies 6y agoIt seems that palm oil makes a decent alternative to hydrogenation. My current favorite butter is Trader Joe’s Crunchy No Stir, which contains 90% roasted peanuts, powdered sugar (cane sugar and cornstarch), palm oil, and sea salt (in that order on the label). 3g total sugar (2 added) in one 2 tablespoon / 32g serving.
- bobthepanda 6y agoPalm oil cultivation is responsible for massive rainforest deforestation.
- fuzzfactor 6y agoPalm oil comes in chemical tank ships. These have a lot more piping than oil tankers, so each cargo compartment can be loaded with a different industrial commodity, some of which are known to be highly incompatible, such as acids vs alkalis. There's usually 10 or 20 different chemicals on a vessel at any one time. This way if they are careful, the operators on board and on shore can transfer the parcel, without significant enough contamination from foreign chemicals in other tanks, otherwise the material would fail to meet specifications. Not everyone is as careful as they should be all the time. When a cargo does go off-test it can take a lot of prime material to blend it with in order to pass. It can be a headache of industrial proportions. Lloyds of London can get involved. For that reason I hate it when a benzene or methanol transfer picks up a little too much palm oil.
- finnh 6y agoBummer that George Washington Carter died penniless and insane, trying to make a peanut into a phonograph needle.[0] [0]https://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84iminute.phtml https://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84iminute.phtml
- hairofadog 6y agoThis is one of those things that will still be rattling around in my head long after I’ve forgotten everything else.
- m463 6y agoI suspect SNL would last longer in the public's mind if it was available on youtube, maybe even just clips.
- cafard 6y agoMy favorite childhood breakfast was peanut butter on toasted Wonder Bread. This was probably about as bad as 1960s processed food got, Velveeta apart. But it sure tasted good.
- cosmie 6y agoMy childhood was a few decade after that, but peanut butter on toasted white bread and Velveeta (+ Rotel[1]) were pretty much stables of my youth. [1] https://www.ro-tel.com/products/original https://www.ro-tel.com/products/original
- nineplay 6y agoPet Theory: The reason peanut allergies are more prevalent in the US as opposed to other countries that consume peanuts is a difference in the way the body processes peanut butter as opposed to regular peanuts.
- castlecrasher2 6y agoI'd guess that US peanut allergies are by and large due to the somewhat prevalent myth that pregnant mothers shouldn't eat peanut products.
- zwieback 6y agoHmm, interesting theory, what would the grinding change about the peanuts? My daughter ate PB&Js when she was little but developed a peanut allergy around 3 or 4. She also has tree-nut allergies that are more severe than her peanut allergy, though, so it's hard to say how that's all connected.
- exhilaration 6y agoNo I think it's because up until recently, American parents were told to avoid giving young kids peanuts or peanut butter. Israel has very low rates of peanut allergies and peanut butter is the main ingredient in a popular snack: Peanut snacks called Bamba, which are made of peanut butter and corn, are wildly popular in Israel, where parents give them to their kids when they're very young. That's very different from what parents do in Britain and the United States, where fears about food allergies have prompted many parents to keep their children away from peanuts, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics revised a recommendation to do so in 2008. - https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/23/388450621/feeding-babies-foods-with-peanuts-appears-to-prevent-allergies https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/23/388450621/fe...
- frotak 6y agoRelated - how peanut butter was central in food regulation: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/the-uncertain-hour/s02-1-peanut-butter-grandma-goes-washington/ https://www.marketplace.org/shows/the-uncertain-hour/s02-1-p...
- baud147258 6y agoI stopped buying peanut butter when I realized how quickly I was finishing the pots, usually eaten straight from the pot with a spoon. Though at least those that I can find here in France usually don't contain added sugar.
- gigantor 6y agoShameless plug: I didn't invent peanut butter, but did invent the first half-calorie peanut butter. www.ownyourhunger.com AMA.