Review: Hershey’s PayDay

March 29th, 2008

I generally poke around for some interesting facts about the candy bars I review before I post. Sometimes, like in this case, I find a useless factoid worth sharing. Did you know that back in the 80’s, the former manufacturer put actual nickels in the PayDay packaging? I suppose this was a play on the term “PayDay”. Not surprisingly, it only last a few years. I doubt it made a difference to buyers and seems like it would have been more of a pain than it was worth.

PayDay wrapper

Structure
A caramel center covered in peanuts.

PayDay cross-section

Texture
On paper, it should work. A soft center covered in crunchy peanuts. But it fails because there aren’t enough peanuts and the ones on there are a bit soft. Peanuts are supposed to be REALLY crunchy and these just aren’t. Worse, the center feels more like fudge than caramel - it’s a bit grainy.

Taste
PayDay successfully combines sweet and salty, which to me is one of the most satisfying combinations imaginable. The peanuts obviously bring some flavor to the mix as well. Again, the caramel center is disappointing. It doesn’t have any actual caramelized sugar notes. It does have a lot of artificial vanilla flavor, which isn’t good.

Verdict
Conceptually, PayDay should be a great bar. It’s obviously a classic that’s been around forever and to many, I’m sure it’s a favorite. However, it needs fresher, higher quality peanuts and a smoother center with less artificial vanilla taste.

Tags: caramel, peanuts

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Candy, Hershey's, Negative, Review, United States. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

cybele Says:
March 29th, 2008 at 7:22 pm

I’m curious if you’ve had the Pearson’s Nut Bar? Some folks prefer it to the PayDay, but again, you still have to get a fresh one. (I tried the Fresh from the Factory PayDay last year, those were pretty awesome.)

Kevin Vigneault Says:
March 30th, 2008 at 12:19 am

Thanks so much for the heads up. I hadn’t heard of the Pearson’s Nut Bar nor did I know that you could buy “Fresh from the Factory” PayDay bars. I’ll definitely have to try both out. I just read your writeup and I’m excited to see for myself.

Heather Says:
May 13th, 2008 at 6:28 pm

All the reasons why you don’t like the PayDay bar are the reasons I LOVE the PayDay. I’d love to find a recipe for the grainy caramel nougat center and then I’d ditch the peanuts altogether.

candydishblog Says:
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:52 am

Me, I love PayDay bars. Peanutty, nougatty goodness! I have not had many candies fresh from the factory, but I bet PayDay is a knockout that way.

So they used to include a nickel in the package? I don’t remember that from when I was a kid! Maybe the nickels were only in certain markets.

Super Crunch Says:
January 17th, 2009 at 7:39 pm

I actually have three of those nickels in their original packaging!

B2BW Says:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

PayDay is one of my favorites. They should rename it to FineDay because I wouldn’t have to wait every two weeks to have one

Jason Says:
August 26th, 2009 at 1:43 pm

Im glad this is on here, a lot of people don’t believe me that they did this. I thought it was cool as a kid to be able to get a candy bar and get to keep 5 cents.

Ben Draper Says:
January 5th, 2010 at 1:39 pm

This is the only site I could find to back up my story. I have been telling co-workers for years that I used to buy PayDay’s for the sole purpose of getting the nickles inside. Not one person believes me still, and even with this web site, I am still surrounded by skeptics! I even tried calling Hershy Candy Company to get proof…no luck.
Super Crunch, can you send me photos of the nickels??!?!?