personally i love this about natural peanut butter. i always pour out the oil and feel better about my absurdly giant pb consumption, 'cause half the oil is out. :)

Since I'm allergic to peanut butter I couldn't be happier

seriously, this is a non-issue.

Chris, not hybridized, hydrogenated. The current peanut butter products use hydrogenated oils to keep the oil and peanut solids from separating.

The "natural" products don't use any of the hydroginated oils, so they do separate. They also taste differently, and they are better for you since they do not contain the bad oils.

So hey, get to stirring folks! It's just a little more work to get the yummy .

Um, yeah. Stir it. Of course, they prolly charge $2 extra for the convenience of not having to stir it. Sigh.

Stir it up and stick it in the fridge... no more separation!

But yeah, it's bad advertising in Skippy's part.

@Nighthawke: Ha ha, I know. I used "hybridized" on purpose to draw a clearer distinction between natural pb and most of the commercial (hydrogenated) types that mix in other oils--hence the "hybrid" aspect, because it's no longer just pure peanuts.

My love of peanut butter is being exposed too much...

@MadameX: Nonsense - Refrigerated peanut butter will tear your bread into pieces!

@newlywed: Tragic. You are pouring healthy fats down the drain, (wo)man. Cut calories somewhere else--that peanut oil is good for you!

The difference is that the Skippy probably takes a long long time to seperate, whereas the normal stuff separates within a week or so. (i have owned several dozens of these over the last year or so with no seperation issues)

Stirring is NOT trivial. The oil rises to the top leaving the bottom really really hardened. You need some serious muscle to stir a greatly seperated peanut butter jar. The jar shape doesnt exactly help this endeavor.

I have had good results with the Skippy natural, although it did get hit with the shrink ray... (16.5 to 15 oz)

I've seen this with a particular store brand of "no-stir" natural peanut butter as well. (Probably made by Skippy/Unilever). Not a big deal, but it shouldn't be advertised as such.

@morganlh85: you can pre-spread it into bread-shape sections on wax paper and then have peanut butter slices to add to your sandwich.

I love this peanut butter and have only ever noticed the slightest film of oil on top. Not nearly as bad as most "natural" peanut butters. And no, I never stir it. So for me, the label is absolutely correct. *shrug*

let me be the first to say that for the truly lazy among you, who don't want to have to stir the peanut butter, get a box of croutons, throw in, and stir.

That way, the croutons soak up all that tasty oil for you. No need for messy bread or clunky crumbs everywhere.

In fact, you could eat it straight out of the jar with spoon.

I do it, and I'm still ali-OH MY HEART!!!!!!!!!

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@Parapraxis: You should send Brian Regan a small royalty fee.

If you don't like stirring, store the jar upside down in your fridge.

I have also used the Skippy 'No Stir' as advertised. Is it possible that the jar or batch at the supermarket was improperly stored or handled between the Skippy Grind-O-Matic and the super market shelf?

I never stir peanut butter and I never buy peanut oil, I just use what's in my peanut butter jar instead.

And peanuts are legumes, not nuts.

Despite my argument, my wife continues to buy 'health-food' peanut butter, which contains mo0re chemical names than my old favorite Skippy.

My personal fave now is store-brand natural peanut butter. Just peanuts and salt, TYVM.

I was going to suggest putting the jar upside down in the fridge after stirring it initially (which is how I store it), but to those folks who are concerned about cold peanut butter tearing your bread, you can just store it upside down in the pantry.

@spazztastic: Arrowhead Mills organic peanut butter FTW!

I still buy natural peanut butter (Smucker's) and if you flip the jar every couple of days it allows the oil to mix through it thoroughly. That makes the first initial "stir" much easier, especially if you open it after it's been stored upside down a couple days!

The only use for peanut butter is to have it wrapped in chocolateish goodness and shaped into a puck called a Reeses. Well that and it makes good mouse bait.

My world has been shattered by this important story. On a positive note, stirring it is exercise.

Buy a peanut butter stirrer!

[www.amazon.com]

@randomd00d: After the initial opening and stirring of your peanut butter, store the jar upside down in the fridge. Oils will naturally rise to the tough part on the bottom. Problem solved!

I have never seen this "natural" variety of Skippy before but I still end up having to stir the Super Chunk® which has no such promise of a stir-free peanut butter experience.

"Fuel the fun!"
The fun being all the stirring action.

Here's a trick: remove the oil and peanut butter from the jar and put them in a stove-top pan. Heat them on low and then stir. Put it back in the jar.

Not only does this make it far easier to stir in the first place, but it doesn't tend to separate again after that.

To be fair, this should be read as "no need to stir nearly as much as other natural peanut butter products", but that's rather a mouthful.

Honestly, the amount of oil separation shown in the photos is *nothing*. I've even had that sort of oil separation happen in jars of just about every brand of *non*-natural peanut butter I've ever purchased. Jif does it. Jiffy does it. Peter Pan does it. Store brands do it.

I think the idea with the "no need to stir" is to win converts from "traditional" non-all-natural peanut butter, for whom the idea of having to stir peanut butter with an inch of oil on top seems like a pain (because it is). If you can't deal with stirring your peanut butter even lightly, even once a week, just to get rid of a tablespoon worth of oil (at most), you might as well stop buying peanut butter completely.

I have to ask how old the product was sitting on the shelf before the oil came out. I've noticed that with normal use, things work fine. However, poo hits the fan when you let it sit and then expect things to work. I'd imagine the no-stir applies to peanut butter that was transported properly, and used consistently.

And I've always wondered, if it's natural, then what did they do to make this no-stir?

"seriously, this is a non-issue."

Yep, a corporation intentionally and blatantly lying on its packaging is no big deal at all.

@GMFish: Agreed about the lying, but all these post are currently about peanut butter. Some posts are so off the subject, others are explaining ways to not have a pool of oil.

I don't get why there is such a demand for no-stir peanut butter. It's not really that hard to stir it. In fact once I made the switch from corn syrupy JIF to natural peanut butter, it made my stomach turn to think of what I must have been eating before. It's not "natural" for peanut butter to hold together like that. Natural peanut butter tastes like peanuts (not sugar), behaves like peanuts (that's what crushed up peanuts will do, the oil will separate!), and the only ingredients in it should be peanuts (IMO).

My roommate has Skippy Natural peanut butter, and I checked out the ingredients, wondering what was holding her peanut butter together. So yeah, it has sugar and palm oil in it. No thank you.

And I've always wondered, if it's natural, then what did they do to make this no-stir?

They may simply have ground the peanut solids so fine that they stay in suspension a lot longer.

Settling time is related to particle size, you see.

God, now I really want some peanut butter.

Honestly I buy this peanut butter all the time (about 25 jars in 2 years). I've had 2 jars have the oil, the rest are perfect

I buy Skippy Natural all the time. The only time I have seen it separate was when it was close to the sell by date.

You know, I've had both the Skippy Natural and the ... well, standard natural, for lack of a better term.

That little film of oil? That's nothing. Stirring the crap out of other natural peanut butters got to be a real chore... To top it off, you need to refrigerate other natural peanut butters, and that makes stirring even more fun.

I'll take the Skippy variety any day of the week. It's not perfect, but it's a huge improvement.

@yourbffjill: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I bought this peanut butter once and thought it had a nasty-ass mouthfeel. Turn over the jar and like you said--palm oil. As it turns out, the production of palm oil is kind of bad for orangutans, among other things.

I like the natural Smucker's peanut butter, or if I'm shopping at Target the Market Pantry (Target house brand) natural creamy peanut butter is good too. I usually stick it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds to make it easier to stir and spread. Once you've done that a couple of times, it barely separates at all.

@yourbffjill: Ugh, sugar and palm oil? No, and no. I'm firmly in the camp that thinks pb should have two ingredients: peanuts and salt.

I also store it upside down in the pantry to make the stirring easier.

@testsicles:

That is possibly the greatest idea ever.

What they really need to do is make those jars a bit wider so I can get my hand in there to reach the peanut butter at the bottom of the jar.

@processfive: all true - someone didn't believe me when I said even Jif separates, but things like heat (hello, summer) and transport make a difference.

Skippy Natural stirs very easily, has a little bit of oil sometimes, and can be stored in the pantry. The more-natural stuff has a lot of oil, is a bitch to stir (I have to put something underneath for the bit of oil that will inevitably get out as I'm digging up the bottom), and has to be stored in the refrigerator.

I hate to say it, but this may be one of the top-5 whiniest things I've ever seen on Consumerist.

but it builds muscle stirring.

@Narockstar: if you like it creamy though adding some sort of oil isn't bad. flaxseed oil is pretty mild if you can't find peanut oil. although now with the big 'ethnic' food influx that's getting a lot easier to find near thai ingredients.

we can only hope that ron popeil will come to our rescue with a "inside the peanut butter jar peanut butter mixer".

[www.seenontv.com]

@camille_javal:

The more-natural stuff has a lot of oil, is a bitch to stir (I have to put something underneath for the bit of oil that will inevitably get out as I'm digging up the bottom), and has to be stored in the refrigerator.

None of the truly natural peanut butters I've ever used require refrigeration. Here's Crazy Richard's take: [crazyrichards.com]

I do think a big part of the separation and how hard it is to stir is storage/transport. There is a peanut roasting facility in the next town over from me and I find this PB rarely needs stirring while the Crazy Richard in the supermarket usually has 1/2" of oil on top. Both list "Ingredients: Peanuts." The only difference is the local stuff has been in the jar a week tops. The local PB seems to separate more slowly also.

I have had the "natural" Skippy and never had to stir it.

@fuzzymuffins:

we can only hope that ron popeil will come to our rescue with a "inside the peanut butter jar peanut butter mixer".

Just use your Awesome Augur.

If you keep it cooler it doesn't separate. I've only seen my Skippy natural require a stir at 80F plus. And even then the separation is minimal. I buy other natural brands as well and they clearly require a stir at room temp. What I do is stir it well once, then store it in the fridge. I take it out 15 minutes before I want to use it, then it softens enough to spread easily without separating back out. Either way none of my arch nemesis hydrogenated oil.

@geckospots: hells yeah, it's like PB cold cuts. Yum and Yum.