Bread needs no real introduction. It's delicious, it's a grocery staple for most people, and I love it.
What we really want to know about bread is where to get the good stuff. Sourdough loaves are one of my favourites, and despite being an avid baker, I haven't learned to make them myself. So, I pick up sourdough bread regularly with my weekly shop.
I've found that the quality of sourdough varies wildly from store to store. Some are indistinguishable from a regular white yeast bread, while others taste like they're straight out of my sister's kitchen (she makes great bread).
Sourdough is traditionally made without the use of extra yeast, using the natural fermentation process to give it lift and rise. Since it takes time to ferment, it can be a labour-intensive process, something commercial bakeries or grocery stores don't always have time and resources to do.
To find out which major grocery chain has the best sourdough bread, I visited Costco, No Frills, and Walmart to compare the goods. And I hate to break it to you, but one was a major letdown.
The winner: Costco sourdough
Just look at that crumb
Alyssa Wiens | Narcity
I've heard legends about Costco's bakery items, including the sourdough ("you won't believe it, but Costco actually has really good sourdough — it tastes homemade"), but this was the first time I tried the Kirkland Pane Roma sourdough loaf myself.
And, well, it's good! Really good! Of all three options I tried, this was the most like a homemade loaf of sourdough bread. It had a good crumb, with the air pockets you expect in a sourdough loaf. Texturally, it was soft and fresh, and not at all gummy. The flavour was solid: mild and not too "sour," but really tasty.
The bread was fresh and tasted good just on its own out of the package. It was made even better with a bit of butter and jam.
It's a big loaf for a good price. I don't personally love the rectangular shape, as I find the pieces are a bit too narrow to hold my toppings, but this would be a great loaf to bring to a dinner party as a side for soup or pasta. It also doesn't come pre-cut, so good luck getting some even slices!
- Price: $6.49
- Size: 920 grams
- Rating: 9/10
Nutritionally speaking, this loaf comes in at 200 calories for 75 grams (one large slice), with five grams of fat, 31 grams of carbohydrates, and seven grams of protein. These specs are very similar across the three loaves, so I wouldn't factor it into my comparison overall.
The loser: Walmart sourdough
This was not a good piece of bread
Alyssa Wiens | Narcity
To call this Walmart loaf "sourdough" is almost laughable. This is a plain old white loaf of bread, and you can't convince me otherwise. It was, unfortunately, very stale, even though I tried it within a few hours of buying it. In fact, it was so stale that I took a bite after taking the picture, and then didn't finish it. This bread will be used for French toast only, as it's not fresh enough to eat on its own.
The freshness might have been isolated to my store, or I got a bad batch. Given that it's Walmart's "Fresh Market" brand, I should maybe go ask for a refund... I imagine a fresh loaf would taste better! That said, it still doesn't have that homemade sourdough flavour that I'm looking for.
I liked the shape of the loaf, but that's about it.
- Price: $3.47
- Size: 500 grams
- Rating: 3/10
No Frills sourdough
A solid loaf
Alyssa Wiens | Narcity
Somewhere in the middle sits this No Frills sourdough loaf. I picked up the ACE Bakery Sourdough Bistro loaf, as it was the only sourdough option I saw at my local No Frills.
To me, this was a solid loaf of store-bought bread. It had a very mild sourdough flavour, more similar to a crusty white bread in my opinion. But the taste was good, and the texture was even better. The exterior crust was crunchy, but the interior was chewy and soft.
This bread toasted up really well, and I enjoyed it with my eggs. While I wouldn't go around raving about this bread to all my friends, it's a solid loaf that I would buy again if I'm shopping at No Frills and looking for a good option.
- Price: $5.00
- Size: 595 grams
- Rating: 7.5/10
It's interesting to note that all three of these loaves list yeast as an ingredient in the bread. And since sourdough is traditionally made without extra yeast, the argument could be made that none of these are really sourdough.
But that's a topic for another time. At the end of the day, Costco is the big winner, with No Frills as the runner-up. Walmart's sourdough? Sorry, I won't be back.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.