Skinner’s Raisin Bran, Whole Grain Cereal, 15-Ounce Boxes
Product Description
Low fat. High fiber. America’s first raisin bran. In 1926, we became the first to blend hearty wheat flakes with sweet tender raisins to make the special taste of raisin bran. And still today, nobody else makes raisin bran our way the original way. Taste the whole-grain difference. We use the large wheat berry, or kernel, harvested from golden fields of hard winter wheat. Every berry is steam cooked, rolled flat, and then toasted to just the right crackly crunch. Look closely at an individual flake. You can still see the shape of the original grain! Other companies mash and process their wheat, and then re-form it into flakes. Our rolled berry method gives you the true whole grain flavor of wheat in a flake that stays crunchier longer in milk. Naturally sweet, plump raisins. We give you big select California raisins, sun-ripened to their sweet, natural best. They don’t need the sugar coating that so many other companies give their raisins. Rich in fiber. S… More >>
Skinner’s Raisin Bran, Whole Grain Cereal, 15-Ounce Boxes
This cereal must be like one of those “cilantro things”. Maybe some people have tastebuds that make it taste like cardboard and some people love it. I’m on the “love it” side so I felt I had to write a review. I think the flakes have a delicious toasty flavor and it always seems to have plenty of raisins (?). My kids like it too. This product is all natural, really, and has a great, old-fashioned toasted grain flavor. Maybe the other reviewers are used to eating chemicals for breakfast.
As with other reviewers, this cereal was part of my childhood, and it ruined any other dry cereal for me forever.
The chewy raisins are infinitely better than the soft gummy ones in other raisin brans (and there is the PERFECT amount of raisins! It is cereal with raisins in it, not half raisins and half cereal like some I’ve eaten), and the wonderfully tasty flakes (whole kernel, double-toasted REAL wheat flakes; not a paste molded into the shape of flakes) stay crunchy-to-al dente until it’s eaten.
I can only find it locally at my health food store under the name Erewhon Raisin Bran, but it’s the same thing.
[And re: the couple of "Yuck" reviews. They remind me of the time I was visiting a daughter in Florida and decided to make my 10 year-old grandson some chocolate pudding, his favorite thing in the world.
I made it from scratch with whole milk, fresh eggs, excellent chocolate, Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, a knob of butter. I had it cooled in little individual custard cups when he got home from school and proudly sat one of them on the table for him.
He took a spoonful and his face fell. Stunned, I said, "What's the matter? Don't you like it?"
He said as politely as he knew how, "It just doesn't taste like REAL pudding...." ("Real" pudding being the little Jello cups in the 6-pack: only kind of chocolate pudding he'd ever had.) Enough said.]
The muffins you can make with this cereal are w/o doubt the best bran muffins I’ve ever eaten and everyone who tries them says the very same thing. Here’s the original recipe my mother made for us kids with back in the 1940s and I make for my grandchildren today. I’m never without the batter in the fridge. (The recipe given on the Erewhon website is the chic low-fat kind of thing that tastes like dry lawnmower clippings.)
1 15 oz. box Skinner’s/Uncle Sam/Erewhon Raisin Bran
3 C. sugar
5 C. all-purpose flour
5 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 qt. buttermilk
4 eggs, beaten
1 C. veg. oil
In BIG bowl, dump all together in the order given (Oil last, at any rate). Stir well. Batter will keep tightly covered in fridge for up to 6 weeks, so you can bake up just what you need. (Makes about 3 1/2 qts. of batter, 50-60 muffins with a slightly rounded 1/4 cup ice cream scoop. I wouldn’t try to make giant muffins with this heavy batter. They might overbrown before the middle cooks.)
Bake in buttered muffin tin in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 12-14 minutes, lower the temp to 375 for another 5-6 minutes till light golden brown. Run a knife around each muffin and flip on the side so the bottoms don’t get soggy.
(Don’t try to gussie up with vanilla extract, cinnamon, etc. You won’t believe the richness of the flavor, esp. if you’ll make it a day ahead and let the malty bran flavor permeate the batter.)
I have spent the better of my adult life chasing locations for Skinner’s Raisin Bran. And the quest has always been worth the journey, when I can find it. Like one other review states…I,too, think that there must be a Skinner’s Cult! I could be their leader. My first taste was when my Grandpa bought me a box…and that was around 56 years ago. Hooked instantly! If you are NOT one of their sugar junkies, that our generation created..you will LOVE this cereal!
The wisdom in the old saying, “compare apples to apples…oranges to oranges,” etc. applies here. If you compare Skinner’s Raisin Bran to other raisin brans, you are comparing apples to oranges, so to speak. Skinner’s is made by an entirely different process than any other raisin brans. While I have had to use Post Raisin Bran and some of the organic products when I was unable to find Skinner’s, the difference in taste is dramatic. The difference is in the way each is made. Skinner’s is made by steaming the whole wheat kernels, rolling them flat and baking them. The common brands of raisin brans are made from wheat flour and other ingredients, and the flour is most commonly “bleached and enriched”, having been refined by separating the components of the wheat berry and bleaching the endosperm,the major ingredient in bleached wheat flour. Therefore, cereals made with bleached wheat flour lack the bran and most certainly the wheat germ. Those two nutritionally essential components of the wheat berry (the bran and the germ) not only provide the strong flavor, but also all the healthy ingredients provided by “whole wheat”. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that only whole grains can be completely metabolized by the body; refined grains less so and tend to be stored rather than fully metabolized.
Therefore, for those cereal eaters who are accustomed to raisin bran or other cereals made from wheat flour with flavor enhancers, the Skinner’s at first taste may seem strong, mainly because whole wheat has a strong flavor, which could be interpreted as “bad” because it is so different from those made with refined flour. Also, because they are made from the whole wheat berry, the Skinner’s flakes have a much firmer texture, the advantage of which is that they do not get soggy in milk before you eat the whole serving. My children and grandchildren all prefer Skinner’s, either as a breakfast cereal or as muffins or cookies. I am so thankful to be able to get this product from Amazon since it is scarce in the markets in my region. Remember, apples to apples, oranges to oranges….
I have been eating Skinner’s Raisin Bran since I was a kid. It was the only Raisin Bran my Mom ever bought. A few years ago, when my local grocery store stopped carrying it, I quit eating Raisin Bran. Oh, every once in a while I would try some other brand, my husband prefers Kellogg’s, but it would always turn out soggy and I can’t stand soggy cereal. Recently, I started craving Raisin Bran and Skinner’s was the only one I could imagine. So I searched on-line to see if it was even available anymore. To my amazement, there it was. I ordered two cases (shipping was free that way) and shared it with my family. Everyone was very happy and I get to satisfy my craving. I love the whole grain crunch that comes naturally with the rolled oat method and there are so many raisins that you get a raisin with practically every bite. I love Skinner’s Raisin Bran.