Deaf Smith County Peanut Butter

Does anyone know if it is still made? Nothing shows up on Google.

Yesterday I had a craving to try it again, out of curiosity and after so many years to see if it was as good as I remember.  It had a unique texture and flavor. I am sure a teaspoon-full would unleash a flood of memories. My own madeleines perhaps? -- So I went to the store — a leading natural food chain in Seattle — expecting it to be there. Alas! The young clerk looked at me blankly. Never heard of it. Not available.

Comments

[Tatyana]

Try almond butter instead. I'm a devoted fan since I was served it for breakfast two years ago.

[John Massengale]

Try googling again. It's made by Arrowhead Mills, (now?) part of the Hain Celestial Group: http://www.arrowheadmills.com/

[Luke Francl]

I'm not sure, but I've got the cookbook. Some good recipes in there.

[David Sucher]

John, I still can't find it.

Nothing at Arrowhead's Our Products.

[John Massengale]

I got 1,790 hits from Google in .26 seconds. Here's the first one: "... For our first observation the Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter has a quality rating
of 71 ... Deaf Smith Arrowhead Mills, 69. 32. Country Pure Brand (Safeway), 67. 21. ..."
www.msad54.k12.me.us/MSAD54Pages/ skow/MathDept/CPMP/M1U1/m1u1page8.html

[cheryl]

I have also been nostalgic for that great nut butter. The best I can figure is they dropped the "Deaf Smith" (politically incorrect?), but seems to be comparable to the Arrowhead Mills Valencia Peanut Butter. Not even my local health food co-operative can help me...of course they are all under 30 !

[Bob]

is the deaf smith peanit butter related to the actual person "Deaf" Smith, the scout for Texas during the 1836 battles --- alamo and san juacinto, or is that a coincidence? Thanks

[Lewis]

woen cdddi.

[Peter Napoli]

I too have wondered whether or not they still had Deaf Smith P>B> on the market. Haven't seen it for probably 25 yrs. Is it still in distribution? And where is it available in Connecticut? Someone suggested almond butter as a substitute, may I suggest, something possibley better.......cashew butter. Wonderful!!!

[the captain]

ah......deaf smith peanut butter........seems like only yesterday when i was enjoying it's flavor. i have for years now, wondered how they made it. it was the most fantastic tasting food. i have looked everywhere for it....alas, it is not to be found. like good owsley, it has vanished into the modern world of conveniece and quick food pleasures..........it was made in texas, that's all i ever new. perhaps it's time for a road trip to locate it's source........any takers?

[Tom]

Deaf Smith is actually a county in Texas. The peanuts came from an organic farm in Deaf Smith County. Not sure if they named the peanut butter after the county because that's where the peanuts were from or because the peanut butter was also made in Deaf Smith's County. I'm on the hunt and I will get an answer.

[Alan]

Deaf Smith Peanut Butter was made of a small, sweet, Valencia peanut, and nothing else. It was the best PB I have ever had. In my early 20s in 1979 I actally considered making a "pilgrimage" to Deaf Smith County in Texas to get it from the source!

The last time I saw it was in the early or mid-1980s. I bought a jar somewhere and the contents was a little stale. I remember buying Deaf Smith in bulk from natural food stores circa 1977. The closest store that sold it was 180 miles (300 km) away from where I lived, and I used to pick up a jar whenever I got a chance. When I close my eyes I can still conjure up memories of its sweet and earthy aroma!

[gene]

I was a buyer foer the Berkeley Organic Food Conspiracy between 1970-1972 or 1973 and have never forgotten Deaf Smith organic peanut butter as the very, very best of them all ever, the creme de la creme, the nut butter of nut butters! (Superlative, n'es pas?).

I now live on the leading edge of the midwest (or trailing edge, depending where you start). And I always have missed ghat peanut butter.

Can Deaf Smith still be had, and can it be gotted w/in 100 miles of Buffalo, New York?

Please advise.

Thanks.

Gene

[Phil Rogers]

Three of us were on our way back to Michigan from LA in the fall of '71, cutting through the Texas panhandle. We decided to drive down to the place it was made, and bought a big metal can of it (20" tall or so, about a foot in diameter). The town smelled like a slaughterhouse, the little Mexican cafeteria we ate at was incredible, and the peanut butter lasted at least until Thanksgiving, even though we ate it in gobs.

[Bill McGee]

Yes, the county was named after Erastus "Deaf" Smith (1787 - 1837) who was one of Sam Houston's most trusted scouts. Hereford is the county seat, about 40 miles southwest of Amarillo, and was known as the "town without a toothache" because of the high natural flouride content of the very shallow ground waters of the Olgallala Reservoir. There was so much water so readily available that each one-mile-square farm had four big diesel-powered pumps, one on each corner, gushing 18-inch irrigation geysers night and day. Topsoil was 12 feet deep! No wonder they grew great peanuts! Quite a few dentists went broke trying to establish a practice in Hereford until, ironically, the prosperous farmers started buying bottled water for the kids to avoid the discoloration the flouride and other minerals in the ground water caused.

[Diana Allen, MS, CNS]

For some reason i woke up at 3 AM this morning thinking of that delicious peanut butter i used to love back in the late 1970's, and unable to remember the name. for the better part of one hour i lay awake in bed, watching my mind strive to creep back into it's recesses until finally, it retrieved a clue: deaf mills. i knew i was close, but not quite there. google led me to your site and of course the true name: deaf smith by arrowhead mills. thank you - i can go back to sleep now!

but first, i'd just like toi agree with everyone above that this product was, indeed, something very special... the best ever of all peanut butters. crunchy and salted was my fave. it's hard even to find salted natural peanut butter these days, a shame in itself. i actually had a little "problem" with deaf smith peanut butter: it was so yummy i could eat practically a whole jar in one sitting, tablespoon by tablespoon!

alas, there is no modern peanut butter to compare, and maybe it's a blessing in disguise! anyway, i'm all for raw crunchy almond butter now - not the same thing at all, but comparably tasty in its own sweet wholesome way, and healthier, too. (almonds being the most alkaline "queen" of nuts... plus no associated aflatoxin risk, as with peanuts.)

[Cameron]

All this is very interesting for me. I was born in 1983, and from what I've read, might have missed the Deaf Smith Peanut Butter era alltogether.

I actually came across this page parousing the web for Deaf Smith's name. I am actually of his lineage. He's my great, times 5 or six, uncle. A stretch, I know, but I'd love to try that peanut butter.

[Fixed Gear]

My mom used to buy "natural" peanut butter and force it on us as kids. It was NASTY stuff!

[walkingfern]

It appears that the "Deaf Smith" portion of the name was dropped and Arrowhead Mills (under the Hain's corporate leadership) continued to make plain creamy 100 percent Valencia. Name was irrelevant: this stuff was still the best.

Now, alas, Arrowhead seems to have dropped pure Valencia for a "Valencia blend." Not nearly as good. I'm busy trying to buy up enough stock for the next year. Wish that Arrowhead would reconsider.