I don't know about you all, but I love butter pecan ice cream. I'm not sure when I first had it. We always used to make home made ice cream when I was growing up, but we made banana, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, pineapple. Those were pretty much the standards. We never made butter pecan. So I guess the first I had was store bought. And that brings me to the purpose of this particular blog post: What is the best brand of butter pecan ice cream?
The reason it came to mind was just this; my son Jesse and I were at Walmart the day before yesterday and we bought some. It was Eddy's brand. I had had it before. So I get it home and try it out. First of all, it seemed a little melted and soft. I don't like that at all. The flavor was pretty good, but there wasn't that many pecans in it, at least compared to the gold standard, which I will get around to describing here in a minute. The Eddy's we bought seemed, I don't know, fluffy. I don't like fluffy ice cream. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give it a 5. I had some Pet brand butter pecan one time and it was even fluffier, the flavor wasn't as good, and there was even less pecans in it. I'd rate it about a 3. I just as soon have plain vanilla or chocolate or something as to waste my money on that Pet crap.
Bi-lo brand. Just average. Not bad, but definitely not something I will get out of my chair late in the afternoon or evening to go and get when I have a jones for some butter pecan. Rate it about a 6.
So enough about the bad to middle varieties, let's talk excellence, and when I think of the best of the best of the best of butter pecan ice cream, one brand comes to mind....and you're probably gonna scoff at first. But it's Food Lion brand. I know, I know...what could Food Lion possible know about making ice cream? I won't answer that. I'll just say, if you're a connoisseur of butter pecan ice cream, then, if you haven't tried it, try it. I promise you will not be disappointed. Truth is they probably don't make it. They probably just put it in their boxes, but I don't care. It's soooooo good. First of all, it is definitely not fluffy. It is rich as, well, it's rich. The flavor is just perfect, and there are enough pecans in each half gallon to start a fairly large size pecan grove. Seriously, I can eat a whole half gallon in one sitting, no lie. It is a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10. I'm not talking about any special variety or anything. I mean the plain Food Lion brand of butter pecan ice cream.
Another very good variety when there isn't any Food Lion to be had is Mayfield. Runs a respectable second place. The only reason that it isn't higher up is actually two reasons. The first is that it's usually a good bit more expensive than the Food Lion brand. The other is taste/flavor. It has just a bit of an artificial twang to it. Not much, not even offensively so. It's just that I detect a hint of chemical. But I definitely recommend the Mayfield brand. It is quite tasty. It's about a 7.5 to 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Breyers...Breyers is not bad. Pretty good actually. It borders on being a little fluffy when it starts to thaw at all, and they sometimes seem to skimp on the pecans. But all in all, not a bad choice when you can't get the best. 7 on a scale from 1 to 10.
So enough said. I just thought it would be nice to pass along this little tidbit of info for those who may not have thought to try the Food Lion brand of butter pecan ice cream. Yum yum yum, go get some!
8/6/19 Update...
Haagen-Dazs has now taken over as my 2nd place. There are so many pecans in the container that it's hard to get your spoon to dig down through it for all the pecans in the way. If the flavor was as rich and buttery as Food Lion brand, it would take over as #1. It's much more expensive, but when we're concerned about quality, and butter pecan ice cream demands that we are, it's so worth it!
Is Haagen-Dazs German? I don't know...it ain't 'merican but sometimes...well...you know.
8/6/19 Update...
Haagen-Dazs has now taken over as my 2nd place. There are so many pecans in the container that it's hard to get your spoon to dig down through it for all the pecans in the way. If the flavor was as rich and buttery as Food Lion brand, it would take over as #1. It's much more expensive, but when we're concerned about quality, and butter pecan ice cream demands that we are, it's so worth it!
Is Haagen-Dazs German? I don't know...it ain't 'merican but sometimes...well...you know.
No scoffery here - excellent research. I bet my father-in-law could add to this as well. He's a butter pecan lover/expert as well. Many years ago, I remember his favorite brand was "Texas Gold".
ReplyDeleteFor me, sitting down and pigging out on ice cream is a relatively guiltless pleasure - unless it's butter pecan. Maybe it's the richness. Maybe it's the nuts. Whatever it is, I must have really overdone it at a young age because it scarred me. Like drinking everclear, I prefer butter pecan in small doses.
Red Bear
I was shocked how good the Mayfield is compared to other brands. Their secret is to use more pecans - duh! Too bad there isn't a Food Lion near where I live but the Mayfield is inexpensive at Wal-Mart - maybe because the price of pecans are low right now?
ReplyDeleteThe other brands go in a different direction and add more milkfat and air. That may work for other flavors but butter pecan needs pecans!!!
I'm sorry that I'm just now getting around to replying to your comment. Don't know how I missed it when you posted. First of all, thanks for taking the time to comment. Next I'd just add that you're assessment is spot on. I'm not sure what the recipes are and so forth, but milkfat and air seem like reasonable explanations for why some are "fluffy." I still stand by my assessments of the various brands and Food Lion brand still comes out on top. I will say that Haagen-Dazs brand has now taken over as 2nd place. Sooooo many pecans. The flavor is not quite as rich as Food Lion, but still great.
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