The Only Uncrustables Flavor You Can Find At Costco
Uncrustables are a fun play on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches offered by Smucker's in flavors like grape jelly and strawberry jam, as well as chocolate-flavored hazelnut spread and peanut butter and honey varieties. For convenience-minded shoppers looking to stretch their food dollars, available at the warehouse retail chain Costco. However, the Uncrustables selection is quite limited in many cases, much to the consternation of shoppers.
As outlined in a Reddit thread, some Costco locations seem to only carry grape Uncrustables. According to a commenter, select Costco business centers may carry strawberry, but you're unlikely to find that flavor within a regular Costco store. The good news is that you might be able to find another iteration of frozen PB&Js at Costco. However, additional flavors besides grape are seemingly only available under the Charlotte's CrustOffs brand. While opinions of this Uncrustables copycat vary (as stated by one person, "These are a solid alternative, but tend to burst at the seams more often vs the Uncrustables ones"), many Costco members appear to be satisfied with the product.
How do Uncrustables compare to CrustOffs?
Along with grape CrustOffs, shoppers on Reddit have also sampled the strawberry version, which has received surprisingly glowing reviews. According to the OP, CrustOffs are "Way better than uncrustables, actual jam with seeds and serious peanut butter, don't want to ever go back to the circles, squares are better." This is in reference to the shape of CrustOffs, which differs from Uncrustables' signature circular configuration (Smucker's has filed suit against companies in the past for using the brand's unique round sandwich shape and packaging).
Nutrition-wise, CrustOffs contain 11 grams of protein per sandwich, nearly double the amount of Uncrustables. Both are free of high fructose corn syrup, though Uncrustables used to contain the saccharine additive until Smucker's switched things up in 2017. If you're looking to shave a few bucks off your grocery bill, CrustOffs are slightly less expensive than the Smucker's original. While the copycat PB&Js have received a lot of praise, distinctions between CrustOffs and Uncrustables have to do with more than just quality.
What's the difference between jelly and jam?
As noted on Reddit, strawberry CrustOffs are made with real seeds in the jam, which led the OP to believe that the product is a bit more natural and authentic than what Smucker's has to offer. However, the presence of seeds might have less to do with quality and more to do with the differences between jelly and jam.
Jelly is made using the juice of a fruit, while jam is made with the fruit itself. Because jelly contains only fruit juice, it's without seeds and fruit pieces. On the other hand, jam is made with the entire fruit, and so is full of pulp and seeds. If you read the CrustOffs box closely, the flavor is labeled as strawberry jam (as opposed to jelly). Uncrustables flavors make the same distinction. While strawberry is listed as jam, grape is listed as jelly. As for why Costco only carries the grape jelly version of Uncrustables, that remains to be seen. At least members know they have another tasty option if they're willing to step outside the Uncrustables box (or circle, as it were).