# Questions About Canned Boiled Peanuts- Why So Much Salt? Why No Sweet Variety? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [April 7, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430 "2022-04-07T00:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/1 "2022-04-07T00:29:08Z")
I finally found canned boiled peanuts here in Philly. I LOVE them. I understand the appeal of a salty snack. But the salt level seems almost excessive. I can buy regular or spicy. Why not sweet? We know that honey and peanuts go great together. I thought of writing an e-mail to the manufacturer and asking these questions. But, I fear that would lead to record spam. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/2 "2022-04-07T00:38:07Z")
I can understand wanting considerably less salt. But SWEET?!? Bleah!!! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/3 "2022-04-07T00:39:53Z")
One of the traditional ways to eat boiled peanuts is with Coke or other soda. So, I’m not alone here. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/4 "2022-04-07T07:49:41Z")
Maybe the salt helps to prevent spoilage? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/5 "2022-04-07T09:03:48Z")
Not familiar with cracker nuts, A.K.A Japanese peanuts? They can be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/6 "2022-04-07T13:17:28Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > One of the traditional ways to eat boiled peanuts is with Coke or other soda. I grew up in south Georgia and I did the “peanuts in my Coke” thing, but I never saw anyone do it with _boiled_ peanuts. What you did was buy one of those little bags of salted roasted peanuts and dump the bag into the bottle. Boiled peanuts are generally acquired in a paper bag and still have the shells on. To put them into your Coke would require shelling them and sticking the individual peas down the throat of the bottle, a somewhat time-consuming process. I’m not saying nobody ever did that, but I never saw anybody do that. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/7 "2022-04-07T14:16:33Z")
+1. Never, ever saw boiled peanuts in a drink. (And, personally, I’m an oddball on this, anyway. As much as I like peanuts, boiled, raw, roasted, butter, etc., I’ve never had any interest in putting peanuts in a soft drink.) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/8 "2022-04-07T16:38:47Z")
I’d completely forgotten about Boston Baked Beans and French burnt peanuts, both candy coated and red. > The difference is that the FBP has spikes and a rustic coating, while the BBB has a smooth shiny outer coating. Boston Baked beans are ‘cold panned’, a process that goes back to France in the 1700s, invented for another ancestor of both the FBP and the BBB, the candy coated Jordan Almond. From: [The Unknown Lineage of the French Burnt Peanut | dannwoellertthefoodetymologist](https://dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com/2019/09/07/the-unknown-lineage-of-the-french-burnt-peanut/#:~:text=The%20difference%20is%20that%20the,the%20candy%20coated%20Jordan%20Almond). ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-canned-boiled-peanuts-why-so-much-salt-why-no-sweet-variety/962430/9 "2022-04-07T16:45:30Z")
I love FBP. I don’t really care for BBB. And it looks like I misheard/misunderstood about what kind of peanuts go in Coke. I admit my error.