Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

I’m a peanut butter fanboi according to Ponzi. I’ll eat it right off of a spoon. She went shopping and wanted to buy some more. At the store, she noticed that there was one brand who claimed to be the best tasting. So, she decided to make me do a peanut butter taste test. My rules were that I had to rate each brand on creaminess, how much it tasted like actual peanuts, and overall taste.

First, I had to start off by tasting actual nuts. The first kind was Planter’s Honey Roasted peanuts. She had Blue Diamond almonds, flavored with soy and wasabi. Then, lastly, she had some Blue Diamond Lime and Chili almonds. I guessed the peanut flavor right off the bat. With the lime and chili almonds, it took me a minute to figure out the lime part. I guessed pepper and jalapeno, but never got around to chili. On the last one, I knew right away it was almonds with wasabi, but I swear I couldn’t taste any soy sauce!

On to the peanut butter! Ponzi showed the different brands to the chat room. First up was Jif Simply creamy. It’s very creamy, but not as good as the last brand I tried. It was about middle of the road as far as peanutty taste.

The next brand was Skippy Natural creamy. It’s a different flavor, but I like it. It has some kind of kick to it. It’s very creamy, even more than the Jif. The flavor is excellent on this one.

The third one is I’m Healthy original creamy Soy Nut butter. It’s creamy, but it’s also very… ick. The taste is just nasty. I knew it wasn’t real peanut butter. Dude, seriously. Give me a bucket. I’m not eating that. I told her to throw that one away.

The last brand is an organic peanut butter. I was afraid to try it, I admit it. I told Ponzi that if this one wasn’t actual peanut butter, I was putting it up her nose! First, I sniffed it. It smelled like peanut butter, so I tried it. Good consistency, and creamy. It isn’t quite as creamy as the first two, but it had more of a peanut taste.

After trying all of them, I’d have to say #2 was my favorite. Funny thing is, Ponzi revealed that that is the same one who has a label claiming they are the best tasting peanut butter of them all. Kat disagrees though. She prefers Jif, and after watching this video to put it online for me, she went to the kitchen to make a sandwich. Seriously.

Ponzi has now threatened to make me eat that Soy stuff the next time she’s mad at me. I think I’ll start learning to behave.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Veeif-rDXo"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6Veeif-rDXo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• New Facial Technique: Dogs and Peanut Butter
• Microwave Popcorn Taste Test

Click To Play

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

I won’t eat things that have much (if any) Trans fat in them. Ponzi found three types of microwave popcorn that have no Trans fat, and no Hydrogenated oil. I agreed to taste each of them, and give her my final opinion.

The first contender is the Buttery, Salt and Cracked Peppercorn from Orville Redenbacher. This has 730mg of sodim per serving, and 180 calories. It is honestly very tasty. Ponzi feels it’s too much of a pepper taste, but not me. This is great! Who would have thought pepper on popcorn would please my palette?

Second up we have Newman’s Own Butter Boom popcorn. This one has 130 calories per serving, with 290 mg of sodium. Holy cow this is buttery and good! Very flavorful, and of course being from Newman’s Own, it’s healthy. There’s no cholesterol or sugars in this, even!

Ok fine. I’ll try #3. This one is the one we normally eat. It’s Smart Balance Light Butter. There are 120 calories in this, and 290 mg of sodium again. This may “win” for calories… but for me, it doesn’t win the taste test. It’s very good, don’t get me wrong. But in comparison with the other two, it’s quite bland.

Edited to add follow-up quote

Hey Chris,

This is Sangueffusor. I work at a grocery store, and popcorn is one of the sections that I stock. I thought you might want to know about some more popcorn varieties that fit your criteria.

ALL of the Orville Redenbacher varieties I checked had no hydrogenated oil – they’re only made with palm oil – and have no trans fats. There are a number of flavors in this brand. However, Wikipedia says that palm oil is one of the most unhealthy types of oil, because it is very high in saturated fat. So what you trade here for no trans fat is more saturated fat – not a very good compromise.

Smart Balance makes another flavor of popcorn – movie-style butter. You might find it more to your buttery satisfaction than the light butter flavor you tried already.

Jolly Time also has a “Better Butter” flavor that has no hydrogenated oils or trans fats. Interestingly, their “Healthy Pop” variety DOES have hydrogenated oil in the ingredients, and has 0g of trans fat “per serving”. This is the “hiding” thing you were talking about in the video- if a food has less than 0.5g of trans fat per serving, the label can get away with saying it has zero, providing it states “0g trans fat per serving”. There is a note in the ingredients list that states the hydrogenated oil adds an “insignificant amount” of trans fat, but if you were to eat the whole bag, for instance, it would be more than insignificant.

I have yet to examine Act II or Pop Secret. I’ll probably get back to you on those.

So to sum it up, if I want something with zing or a bit different, I’m going with the Redenbacher’s. If I want butter… Butter Boom from Newman’s it is!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kziEhQJdiu4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kziEhQJdiu4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://chris.pirillo.com/">Chris</a> | <a href="http://live.pirillo.com/">Live Tech Support</a> | <a href="http://media.pirillo.com/">Video Help</a> | <a href="http://feeds.pirillo.com/ChrisPirilloShow">Add to iTunes</a>

• How to Make Microwave Popcorn
• What is Your Favorite Kind of Peanut Butter?