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.
Try almond butter instead. I'm a devoted fan since I was served it for breakfast two years ago.
Posted by: Tatyana | Jul 31, 2004 at 08:39 AM
Try googling again. It's made by Arrowhead Mills, (now?) part of the Hain Celestial Group: http://www.arrowheadmills.com/
Posted by: John Massengale | Jul 31, 2004 at 08:00 PM
I'm not sure, but I've got the cookbook. Some good recipes in there.
Posted by: Luke Francl | Jul 31, 2004 at 10:35 PM
John, I still can't find it.
Nothing at Arrowhead's Our Products.
Posted by: David Sucher | Aug 01, 2004 at 10:56 AM
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
Posted by: John Massengale | Aug 01, 2004 at 02:29 PM
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 !
Posted by: cheryl | Aug 25, 2004 at 07:13 AM
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
Posted by: Bob | Nov 05, 2004 at 12:40 PM
woen cdddi.
Posted by: Lewis | Dec 21, 2004 at 02:36 PM
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!!!
Posted by: Peter Napoli | Feb 12, 2005 at 05:32 PM
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?
Posted by: the captain | Jan 11, 2006 at 07:34 AM
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.
Posted by: Tom | Mar 05, 2006 at 12:41 AM
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!
Posted by: Alan | Jan 28, 2007 at 10:14 PM
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
Posted by: gene | May 25, 2007 at 04:38 PM
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.
Posted by: Phil Rogers | Mar 27, 2008 at 09:39 AM
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.
Posted by: Bill McGee | Apr 21, 2008 at 04:49 PM
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.)
Posted by: Diana Allen, MS, CNS | Jan 17, 2009 at 01:22 AM
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.
Posted by: Cameron | Feb 09, 2009 at 10:11 AM
My mom used to buy "natural" peanut butter and force it on us as kids. It was NASTY stuff!
Posted by: Fixed Gear | Apr 23, 2009 at 01:51 AM
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.
Posted by: walkingfern | Jul 13, 2009 at 07:18 PM
My husband remembers Deaf Smith peanut butter, though I do not. We are in our mid-60s. He said the secret was they ground up the skins in the peanut butter. I now make our peanut butter in our food processor, to avoid salt. I buy shelled raw peanuts in the skin at a store across the border in Mexico where they package them themselves, bake them until done, and then grind them in the food processor, skin and all. He is very happy with the result, and it is not expensive at all.
Posted by: Judy Wilson | Jan 05, 2010 at 04:53 PM
The way I remember it.
Deaf Smith Peanut Butter was made from organic Valancia peanuts grown in Deaf Smith County. Arrowhead mills bought the brand, put their own name on the jars and the peanut butter was very close to the original. But there was no longer any advertising that mentioned Deaf Smith County. Within the last few months, Arrowhead Mills has changed their peanut butter to a Valancia blend and now it doesn't taste anything like the Deaf Smith brand. I'm out there looking for a 100% Valancia Peanut Peanut Butter.
Posted by: Andy | Jan 26, 2010 at 04:49 PM
Trader Joes has Organic Creamy Unsalted Peanut Butter that is 100% Valencia peanuts. It tastes to me, like the original Deaf Smith brand.
Posted by: P Wagner | May 10, 2010 at 04:42 PM
Judy Wilson has it nailed. Get some raw
peanuts from the desert area of west
Texas or New Mexico. Roast them
(microwaves work great). I like a small
canister type blender and if it doesn't
make in a reasonable amount of time add
a little oil (I use sunflower which has
almost no taste of its own). And be sure
to include the skins. A great local
honey is my choice for an addition back
in the '70s and now. Serve with that
wonderful homemade bread you make(in a
bread machine for me). If there is a
better peanut better sandwich only Elvis
would know about it and he ain't
telling.
Posted by: Sherrod | Jun 18, 2010 at 04:35 PM
I've had Deaf Smith Natural Peanut Butter; I purchased a jar years ago on a recommendation. I will only add this: if you are someone who was raised on modern, processed peanut butters, you will likely NOT like Deaf Smith or it's ilk - I recall I threw the jar out after a couple of preliminary tastes.
Posted by: Aaron Ververs | Feb 02, 2011 at 09:56 AM
If anyone happens across this, I am a reporter for the Hereford BRAND in Hereford, Texas, which happens to be the county seat of Deaf Smith. Arrowhead Mills still operates here and their organic peanut butter is still quite good, but other posters mention that it's not the same.
That said, I tried researching Deaf Smith County Peanut Butter at the local level and a gentleman from Arrowhead Mills, speaking in an unofficial capacity, said that the peanut butter in question was never made here and that the brand was discontinued in the early 90s.
The director of the museum, a life-long resident, doesn't even recall anyone in the area growing peanuts as most peanuts in the area are grown in the sandy/loamy soils about a hundred miles southwest of here.
I hope this helps....
Posted by: Treble970 | Jul 27, 2012 at 10:12 AM
Thanks very much for writing.
The guy you really you should talk to about Deaf Smith County Peanut Butter is
Jon Krampner
http://www.creamyandcrunchy.com
he is the author of a book about peanut butter and mentions Deaf Smith County.
Posted by: David Sucher | Jul 29, 2012 at 01:51 PM
Deaf Smith one ingredient peanut butter. The lable did not say organic.
Posted by: Arthonc Henderson | Sep 25, 2012 at 05:22 AM