Kosher Blog

BTW, Smart Balance makes Earth Balance. I’ve used both and the difference is indecipherable. One thing to note: the Smart Balance Light in the LARGE tub is DAIRY, while the small tubs are pareve. However, IIRC, ALL Earth Balance tubs are pareve.

I have been using the Earth Balance shortening for a few years. For many applications, it is indistinguishable from margarine, but in a few cases it is clearly inferior to margarine (although still OK). For example, chocolate chip cookies don’t seem to work as well. Also, if it is something where the margarine/shortening is largely responsible for the flavor and less-so for the texture (such as the crunchy cornflake crumb and brown sugar topping on my dairy kugel), I’ll use Smart Balance.

I used to use the unsalted Fleischmann’s for baking. It worked really well. However in Seattle it’s completely unavailable. Any other suggestions since I’m not an Earth Balance fan?

Can you get the Willow Run Soy Margarine? I used to use that before I started avoiding margarine.

Smart balance light in the large tubs is pareve now - check the labels. It used to be dairy.

I’ve used Smart Balance for quite a while and love it. However, what do you do for passover? These are not kosher for passover for Achkenazic Jews because they are made with soy.

Even one week of hydrogenated margarine could be harmful to my health.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Eve,

For Pesach use, how about coconut oil and/or Spectrum’s palm oil shortening? Those would do for solid fats for baking. And at meat meals you could dip your bread in olive oil or schmaltz instead of spreading stuff on it. Passover mayo could also be a reasonable spread.

Caveat: while the Spectrum products are certified kosher, I doubt that they have a Passover-specific hecksher, even though they contain no kitnyiot.

Duh! Of course during Passover you’re dipping/spreading on matzah, not bread! Forgive my space-out.

Coconut oil, palm oil, and schmaltz are all saturated fats, which are nearly as unhealthy as trans fats (such as hydrogenated vegetable oil). There is some debate over coconut and palm oils because the molecule chains are shorter than those of animal fats, but if I were you, Eve, I’d probably check with my doc before using them.

For cooking and baking, you can almost always substitute liquid oil for solid fats, although the texture of baked goods will be a little bit different. (Of course, on Passover you’re using all kinds of weird flours, so the texture will be different anyway.) The standard ratio is 2/3 cup of oil per cup of butter or margarine called for in a recipe. The most healthful oils widely available for Passover are safflower and olive.

For spreading on matzah, how about cottage cheese or jam instead of margarine?

You want a parve butter that tasts like butter?
Since I cook kosher I also have been trying brand after brand. And we finally found one!
It’s made by Earth Balance, and it’s called Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread.

It tastes so much like butter I obtained a copy of the OU Parve certification.

It does not use Hydrogented oil either.
So, if you can find it, it is very good.

The other is Smart Balance Light(Made by the same people that make Earth Balance.) You must use the light, the regular is OU-Dairy It’s OK, but not as good as the Soy Garden.

Hope that helps,
Don

HI i would like to know, since i can’t use the above margarines and i am interested in making the “Apple Pie with Meringue Topping (Parve)” on about.com. I was wondering if i could substitute the Brown and Brummel Margarine instead of the parve? Brown and Brummel is made with yogurt though. I can’t use fleishmans, nor the smart balance. thanks.

Why can’t you use the Fleishmans or Smart Balance? Brown and Brummel has dairy in it, so no, it would not be pareve.

Where can I find Pareve Kosher for Passover stick margarine. I need both salted and unsalted. Mother’s Margarine is no where to be found! Is there something else that will work for baking?

Please rush your answer.

Where do you live?

Mother’s margarine (stick) is not going to be available for passover this year

Debra, was that an April Fool’s day joke? I bought some yesterday in the Harvard Street Stop and Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts.

I would be concerned that you’re getting sold old merchandise. I heard directly from a kosher buyer at a major grocery store that Mother’s did not produce stick margarine for Passover this year.

This article mentions that Mother’s KFP stick margarine is not available this year, although the sources they cite do not seem very definitive. It may be that Manischewitz had equipment problems (like they have for Tam-Tams this year) causing the stick margarine to be only available in limited quantities this year. That may mean that only certain distributors are able to get it, while others might have some in limited quantities. I’m not saying that that in fact is the case, but it might explain why Juggling Frogs was able to get some. I doubt it was old merchandise, because they could just sell the KFP margarine during the year as regular margarine…

http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1206779529229150.xml&coll=2

I have heard the same regarding Mother’s KFP stick margarine and am looking in to have some KFP stick margarine shipped from Brooklyn to South Florida. Does anyone know of any distributers in South Florida who carry Haolom margarine which is also KFP?

I called Mother’s Margarine and was told that the machine that processes the stick margarine was not in service. They are not processing any this season. I am on Long Island and can’t locate a suitable substitute anywhere. Are there any suggestions? Where did you contact in Brooklyn to have something shipped?

Please help. My family loves the brownies I make. It’s a staple to the holiday for us.

The place in Brooklyn that I contacted was israelsuper.com. I am just a little concerned because they said they had both Mother’s and Haolom and when I indicated that Mother’s supposedly was not available this year he said he had it. Please post if you check it out and have positive results. Everything I cook and bake needs stick margarine.

Correction to previous post - it is israelisuper.com

I was shopping out in Monsey yesterday - only one brand was available in stick form, Haolam I think, and it was ridiculously priced - $4/pound

I’m going to stick with more sponge cakes and meringues -

AN END TO THE MARGARINE FIASCO

grocery stores last year were duped by mothers margarine.. and that is why customers in the GTA will not being seeing mothers products being sold

SOBEYS, NO FRILLS, REAL CANADIAN SUPER STORE, and PRICE CHOPPER… have all banded together to BOYCOTT mothers margarine

goodluck on your search

Hi, just heard from someone that they found Mother’s stick margarine in a little produce store in Monsey, NY off of Rte. 59. Good luck on everyones search for stick margarine.