Shopping For Sourdough Bread? Avoid This Grocery Store Brand Every Time

If you're someone who takes their sandwich game seriously, you might be a fan of sourdough bread. It's the perfect bread for sandwich-making due to its slight tangy taste, chewy texture, as well as sturdiness. Sourdough bread has become increasingly popular over the years, so it's important to know where to find the best loaf, and which one to avoid. Chowhound tried and ranked eight sourdough bread brands, and there was one grocery store we will not be buying from again. The Stop & Shop authentic sourdough sliced panini bread unfortunately did not live up to its "authentic" name. 

This bread fell flat in more than one way for us. For starters, it was incredibly dry and lacked any sort of chewiness a piece of sourdough is supposed to have. It also had no sour, fermented flavor that's synonymous with sourdough, nor did it have any crunchiness in the crust. This bread may be a decent source of protein at five grams per slice, but that's about all it brings to the table. The Stop & Shop sourdough goes for over $6, and we think it's best to save your money. For a good loaf, you'd be better off making a sourdough starter at home or snagging our favorite store-bought sourdough from Aldi. 

Stop & Shop may have majorly disappointed us, but not all sourdough bread brands we tried were as terrible. In fact, our favorite for more than $2 cheaper was Aldi's Specially Selected small-batch sourdough round bread, which was moist and perfectly sour. Of course, you may not be expecting the perfect loaf from a store-bought brand, but a good sourdough should be light and airy on the inside with a crispy browned crust on the outside. Stop & Shop's did have an airy crumb, but the experience biting into it was bland and unpleasant. Sourdough should also have a slight tang due to fermentation, and this bread had no trace of flavor whatsoever. 

The fermentation process is an important aspect of a good sourdough loaf, and many commercial sourdoughs skip this crucial step. If there are ingredients other than water, flour, and salt listed on the bread, then it is most likely not true sourdough. Stop & Shop's has extra additives listed in its ingredients list, so it makes sense why this bread didn't taste so great. Sourdough is a tricky bread to master, as there are many common mistakes that can kill the very starter you begin with. Regardless, we'll be steering clear of Stop & Shop's version until further notice.