I wanted to redo my Archer Farms Monster Trail Mix Recipe experiment with a second bag, not only because that seems like good science (individual bags will vary somewhat, and we wouldn’t want to make lifelong recipe decisions based on what could have been a flukey bag) but also because I was unhappy about the bowl colors and forgetting the slips of paper. Look how much better this is!
All six bowl colors! A bowl for taring, so that I don’t have to dump out one bowl first! Darkest ingredients no longer in darkest bowl colors! Pieces of paper put into bowls, instead of lined up forgotten on the counter!
Notice that THIS bag had regular-size M&Ms rather than minis. We have seen all three variations in recent mixes: all regular-size, all mini, and some regular / some mini within the same bag.
Anyway! Here are the numbers this time:
• unsalted peanuts: 4.3 ounces / 122 grams
• chocolate chips: 1.7 ounces / 47 grams
• raisins: 3.7 ounces / 104 grams
• peanut butter chips: 2.0 ounces / 55 grams
• M&Ms: 2.2 ounces / 62 grams
For comparison, here are the numbers from last time:
• unsalted peanuts: 3.6 ounces / 101 grams
• chocolate chips: 2.5 ounces / 69 grams
• raisins: 3.5 ounces / 99 grams
• peanut butter chips: 2.0 ounces / 56 grams
• mini M&Ms: 2.7 ounces / 77 grams
Well, now I have to test a third bag. The peanut butter chips are the only measurement that was the same. Some of the others are quite a bit off: last time I concluded the recipe should have about equal weights of peanuts and raisins, but this time they were less similar; last time I concluded the recipe could have about equal weights of chocolate chips and M&Ms, but this time they were less similar and there was also less chocolate in the mix overall.
But I do feel like we’re narrowing in on the GIST of Monster trail mix: papa bear raisins and peanuts, mama bear chocolate chips and M&Ms, and baby bear peanut butter chips.
So glad you re-did the picture!!! It looks perfect.
I love the picture!
Out of a need for distraction from the awful State of Things, I did a little number crunching. The two bags are slightly different in size — the first one comes out to 390 g and the second is 402 g — a difference of about 3%. I decided that looking at proportions might be more useful than a straight comparison.
Here, I’ve come up with the (rounded) percentages for each ingredient — the first percentage is the first bag.
Peanuts: 31.3%; 25.1%
Chocolate chips: 12; 17.2
Raisins: 26.7; 24.6
PB chips: 14.1; 13.9
M&Ms: 15.9; 19.2
On average, the bags are 396 g:
Peanuts: 28.2% (111.5 g)
Chocolate chips: 14.6 (58 g)
Raisins: 25.6 (101.5 g)
PB chips: 14 (55.5 g)
M&Ms: 17.6 (69.5 g)
Including more bags would only improve the data! :) At this point, with the limited data at hand, I predict that the following proportions should produce an acceptable Archer Farms dupe, assuming that 400 g is the target size:
Peanuts: 25%, or 100 g
Chocolate chips: 15%, or 60 g
Raisins: 25%, or 100 g
PB chips: 15%, or 60 g
M&Ms: 20%, or 80 g
Amazing! Well done to both of you!
I love the bowls with their little labels! And they are in rainbow order! And the ingredients are all so easy to see! This experiment is excellent and the difference in weights makes me VERY interested to see the results of the third bag.
Oh my goodness, I love this. I would never do this; I simply don’t care that much about precision in my trail mix. And yet, I loved reading it and Barb’s analysis in the comments only made it better. Now I feel like maybe I want to mix up some trail mix!
Science!
I don’t do much trail mix because I’m not fond of raisins and I really don’t like cashews. It seems the trail mixes with peanuts always have raisins. Which is ok unless there is chocolate. I don’t like chocolate and raisins together. However, this project has made me realize I can make my own trail mix with all the stuff I like and none of the gross stuff.
Somewhat off topic, I have a grocery update. I haven’t found fridge packs of Coke Zero for 3 weeks. Our local chain seems to be out of most Coke brand fridge packs. They have lots of various bottle packs of different Coke products.
I’ve heard from several people that canned beverages are hard to come by right now! Something about the manufacturing process for the aluminum cans.
I have also been told there is a shortage/ delay in aluminum can processing . Or it may just be that my bf drank all the coke zero. No movies=no fountain drinks=all the cans of pop! LOL
I am the same! Raisins+peanuts=good, peanuts+chocolate=good, raisins+chocolate=bleargh!
I find I react similar to “peppermint mocha lattes”. Mint+chocolate=good, coffee+chocolate=good, mint+chocolate=bleargh!
My father in-law has been unable to find the sugar-free, caffeine-free Coke or Pepsi (which is the only kind he can drink because of a medical condition) for weeks. My husband owns a gas station and his soft-drink reps have told him that because of Covid-19 manufacturing has narrowed to the base, most popular products. So if they only have enough resources (materials or people) to produce a couple of things, it’s going to be their most popular lines that get priority. For Coke that would mean they’re focusing more on cranking out regular Coke and Diet Coke. My husband, for instance, can’t get the big cans of anything but base products like Pepsi and Coke – no Dr. Pepper (made by Pepsi here), Mountain Dew, etc.
There’s apparently also a CO2 shortage right now- I don’t know if that affects the biggest soft drink producers or if they make their own on-site, but it might be a factor in how much production they’re able to do!
I’m surprised the PB chips are the smallest proportion since they are in actual fact the BEST part of the mix. ;)
The rainbow bowls are so pretty! I find that I’m so drawn to displays of brightly multicolored stuff, but i’m always disappointed when it comes to reality since nothing is normally used as a display. So it’s like “OOH, lookit the gorgeous Fiestaware plates, all stacked up in a rainbow, I lurve them!” and then reality “oh yeah, look, it’s a red plate. Whoopee.”
Yes, I think more testing should be done – the larger the sample size the better the science! In fact, I think we should put the hive mind/scales to work and have everyone test a few bags and report back.
Kudos to you for sharing your (now) aesthetically pleasing science experiment and to Barb for getting all mathy with it
I am loving these posts! Please tell me that as part of this process you’ll be conducting blind taste tests comparing the store-bought mix to your homemade mix. 1. It would be a great way to measure the successful results of all this data gathering; and 2. Everybody gets to eat trail mix as part of the test. For science.