Tader Joe's organic smooth, 16 oz nt weight, was $3.29 last time I bought it (about a month ago.) It tastes...ok.

Before I was buying Adam's, which I think was about $4.84 for a 32 oz jar at The Place That Shall Not Be Named and $5.59 at The Other Store. I stopped buying Adam's because it stopped tasting like it used to and now taste like Jiff or Peter Pan.

I'll let you do the metric/price conversions on that. I'm still slow at it. (And I wish to heck we'd just change over to the metric system already and be done with it.)

The BEST peanut butter I've ever had was some Annie sent me. DH has the list of where it is available printed out and is under orders to secure more. LOL!

I don't know if my homemade is cheaper, but it does taste better than most of what's on the market WHEN I can get good quality fresh peanuts. I haven't made any since moving here (just not peanut appreciating people here, and I'm NOT mailordering penauts - that's way too expensive.) In KY, I knew someone who frequently went to Virginia and NC and would bring back freshly roasted nuts. That PB was the best.

I will be grocery shopping soon and let you know how much I pay and what brand I get. I go through a jar every other week or so. The last jar of Trader Joe's peanut butter was darker than usual but I didn't think much of it...well I should have, it was scorched or burnt tasting. I couldn't eat it, my husband ate some, but he finally gave up on it too.
I buy Smuckers brand quite a bit. I love the fresh peanut butter at Whole Foods that you grind yourself although I always add a bit of salt when I get home. Koeze's peanut butter is delicious but can be a bit pricey if you have to order it.
I had a friend who made her own peanut butter, not to save money but just because she wanted to know where it came from...sometimes she would add a handful of honey roasted peanuts into the batch for a different taste, very good!

Koeze peanut butter made in Grand Rapids MI is the very best. Treat yourself to a jar if you ever run across it.
They roast their own peanuts and make the peanut butter in a one of a kind, antique peanut butter machine.
Fresh roasted peanuts is the key to peanut butter having the best flavor. Koeze peanut butter is about $5.95 a 14oz jar here.

Nancy

Whole Foods with Honey roasted peanuts and you make it yourself so you know it's FRESH. It's crunchy and I I think it's $3.99 per pound but it may be $3.99/8oz. I will have to check next time I buy it.

jonsgirl, take that jar back to TJ and they will give you your money back and possibly a free jar of PB as well. They WANT to know if there is a problem with their QC.

The last time I was home D&W had the Koezie's peanut butter for 3.99 a a jar and I am kicking myself for not getting some!

I hear you about TJ's, we live about 40 minutes away and don't get there too often, I should have saved it and taken it back. I checked the jars next time we went and they all looked fine, we must have just gotten a bad batch.

One of my favorite ways to eat peanut butter it to put a few drizzles on a bowl of oatmeal and top with brown sugar, so good! The p.b. gets all melty and the brown sugar mingles in and its like a warm bowl of peanut butter oatmeal cookie...

jonsgirl, Koeze's is nearly $5 a jar whenever I buy it, and the only big supplier that has it is Whole Foods, although local places in Michigan sometimes have it. Fortunately it's made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, about 50 miles from me, so when I make a trip I can get some. That's what I sent to Renee.

I don't bother to make my own and a recent taste test by some magazine that I forget found that Koeze's is the best tasting "natural" peanut butter available commercially. I agree, love the stuff. The total ingredient list? Virginia peanuts and sea salt. That's all. Each batch is test ground in a little coffee grinder on a table top and tasted by the same guy whose been tasting it for 30 years or so, and they only grind 300 pounds of peanuts at a time in their old grinders, left over from the 40s. It's not smooth, it's almost "grainy" with the little bits of peanuts and it tastes like, well, peanuts.

I sent some to Renee and some to Brenda, now I have to get more, I only have half a jar left myself!

Annie

I use Smuckers Natural. I don't recall the exact price, but I don't think it's much more than the regular commercial PB's.

I buy it at Costco. Kirkland Natural Organic..I think it's around $8 for two pretty good size jars..

Thanks everyone for your response. Seems like homemade is not cheaper, maybe tastier... Since I like my President's Choice all natural PB and it's cheaper than what I can make at home, might as well just keep buying it. Now, let me just go get a spoon... :-)

Al

ok, today I paid 2.39 for a 16 oz jar of Smuckers's natural p.b. at WalMart. Saturday we do our 'big shopping' at a large grocery store where I buy another brand, will report back how much it is.

Annie, we are from Grandville (G.R.) originally so am very familiar with Koeze's. I really am mad I didn't get a few jars last time we were home, D&W had them for 3.99!! One year I sent jars of Koeze's peanut butter out for Christmas gifts, everyone loved it! I was standing there staring at them when my husband called saying he finished up with a meeting early and was ready to be picked up so I just left, uh! If he has to come over for just a day trip I sometimes ride along to keep him company on the drive and shop in some of the stores we don't have here. (WI)
I love the grainy texture of their peanut butter, I rarely eat regular peanut butter anymore although I still buy it for cookies and my kids prefer it.
If you haven't been to the Koeze's store, it's really fun. Try the peanut butter puddles!

Wow - I cant believe how cheap you all can find natural PB. I buy Skippy Natural and pay $3.79 for a 15oz (425g) jar. Fortunately, my gang has backed off the PB consumpion,so it hasn;t really impacted my grocery bill....

Alexa

We just started carrying Stonewall Kitchen all natural peanut butter (Just roasted peanuts and salt) in our store. I believe for a 15 oz jar it sells for $6.99. NancyLouise

jonsgirl, I have been to the Koeze's store, it's very dangerous for my cholesterol and my diet, LOL, but their stuff is all delicious. (sigh)

I also love that grainy/sticky texture of the Koeze's Cream Nut peanut butter. So, was it the D&W on 28th Street that had it, because I'm going to check there on my next trip to GR!

When you're in the area, holler, maybe we can have lunch, I'd drive to Grand Rapids to meet you! (and stock up on peanut butter and Penzey's spices)

Annie

OMG, I would LOVE that! Where do you like to eat in Grand Rapids? My husband works for Gordon Food Service and has to come for meetings like every other month. He always wants me to come with. I went to the Grandville D&W on 44th, right across from the mall. But I thought they all carried Koeze's, a little cheaper than what you pay at Koeze's for some reason. I used to go to that Fresh Market out by the highway where they had fresh ground peanut butter but I heard they closed, that's too bad.
On another note, has anyone come up with a recipe for using natural peanut butter in homemade cookies?

I'd love it too! I like to eat all over in Grand Rapids, I've got a list of new places to try and I have old favorites too. There's a relatively new Mexican place downtown called maggie's Kitchen, they even have barbacoa made of beef cheeks, there's a Caribbean place with some kind of goat dish that's only got curbside service, a fish place on Kalamazoo down by the Mediterranean Market, and there are old standbys like Pietro's. I love the Blue Water Grill but that's clear over off Plainfield on East Beltline, and there are a lot of places I haven't even tried downtown near VanAndel and The B.O.B.

Any preferences? Sushi? Indian? Fish? Diner? Even chain restaurants if you have a favorite, heck, we've even got a Sonic now, right across the street from Gordon Food Service on Alpine, LOL.

You tell me when and we'll find a where! I'm definitely going to have to check D&W for Koeze's, though, and the one on 44th has DeRueze's Gourmet Market right next door. They now have a cut rate gourmet department where they get pallets full of stuff for really cheap, it's fun but you never know what you'll find for a buck...

Annie

When I bought it, it was $2.99 at Rainbow Acres in Marina Del Rey for a plastic container that I think was a pint. The peanuts are roasted there, and then dispensed from a machine, and so the peanut butter is very fresh. They also sell almond butter, chashew butter, etc, and I have to say that I prefer cashew butter even though it is a bit more expensive. I do occasionally make my own tahini, however, as that is the best way to get it made from toasted sesame seeds. I get sesame seeds for a good price from a Japanese or Lebanese market.

Lars