Top 8: These shop-bought soda breads are quality, whatever way you slice them

"This week’s Top 8 loaves of bread — from supermarkets only — freeze quite well and can be defrosted a few slices at a time."

Fri, 08 Sep, 2023 - 13:02

Roz Crowley

A few slices of decent wholewheat bread, topped with scrambled or fried eggs, will send us all off to work and school with food that will satisfy us for a few hours.

It’s worthwhile making an effort to get everyone to eat foods that have a chew to them. Try today’s chunky breads with favourite toppings – peanut butter (good for added protein) – or add jam if it encourages children to finish their slice.

Experiment by pairing with protein-rich tuna or egg mayo, leftover chicken or ham with tomato sauce, cream cheese with a little smoked salmon, smoked mackerel or a skim of pesto.

Thinly sliced cheese (vary the styles for interest, including Irish farmhouse options) with relish. Fry some halloumi cheese with black pepper for a sandwich with cooked red peppers.

Buttermilk is used in most of our samples and has health benefits.

A natural probiotic, it’s good for gut health, and wholemeal flour contains good fibre for further gut benefits.

Around 8% protein in these breads goes a long way to keep hunger at bay, while salt at around 1% is acceptable. Carbs of around 42% are high.

This week’s Top 8 loaves of bread — from supermarkets only — freeze quite well and can be defrosted a few slices at a time.

Dunnes' ABC health loaf. Food pics: Eddie O'Hare

ABC at Dunnes Stores Health loaf 1kg €3.20 (€3.20/kg)

Wholemeal flour is enriched with molasses, providing depth of flavour without much of the expected sweetness but there’s a hint of umami flavour.

Pinhead oatmeal lightens the texture, giving it bite. Only one junior taster didn’t like the gritty addition to the texture. Delicious with smoked mackerel or hummus. Good value.

Score: 9.5

M&S Wheaten 400g €3 (€7.50/kg)

A little welcome sweetness from golden syrup, sugar and black treacle (sugars are 6.3%) with added texture from kibbled wheat and rye on the soft crust. Like Goldilocks’s bed – not too hard or too soft.

Score: 9

Aldi Atlantic wheaten 600g €1.59 (€2.65/kg)

With buttermilk and wholewheat flour, tasters liked the extra bite from the wheat meal and wheat bran. Rapeseed oil used to excess can cause bread to be soft and claggy, but it’s not overused here. The result is a good bread at a good price. Made by O’Donnell Bakery in Donegal, hence Atlantic in the title.

Score: 8.5

John McCambridge Wholewheat bread 500g €2.19 (€4.38/kg)

Established in 1945, this innovative bakery has long brought good quality, wrapped (and often sliced) wholemeal bread to us. To its credit, the business has improved the quality of its produce over the years. Nicely gritty, the texture is natural, helped by the lack of rapeseed oil found in many, which makes them spongy. The taste appealed to all.

Score: 9.5

Harringtons of Kenmare 400g €3.87 (€9.67/kg)

Eggs, traditionally used instead of oil, add to the natural texture of this bread. The slightly gritty texture comes from added bran, and the colour is an appetising medium brown. Testers enjoyed the taste too. We bought in SuperValu. Not cheap.

Score: 9

SuperValu in-house 100% wholemeal €3.49 1kg (€3.49/kg)

From the selection of bread tested, we liked this unlabelled one best. Simple wholemeal flavours with a texture that doesn’t crumble. What we expect of a wholemeal loaf. We bought in SuperValu Ballincollig, Cork.

Score: 8.75

Lidl Connell Bakery Buttermilk soda 600g 99c (€1.65/kg)

This taste appealed to our junior tasters, who announced they would be happy to have it for sandwiches. Wheat bran adds a nice bite, rapeseed oil a slight heaviness that appealed more to younger than older tasters. They liked the softer crust too. Produced in Northern Ireland. Cheapest by far.

Score: 8

Jack Cuthbert’s Irish Health Loaf 500g €3 (€6/kg)

Lots of enthusiasm for the texture and flavour of this bread. It’s called a health loaf but water, not gut-friendly buttermilk, features at the top of the ingredients list, along with rapeseed oil, wholewheat flour, sodium bicarbonate, sugar and salt. Perhaps better for those avoiding dairy, though there is an allergen warning that it may contain milk.

Score: 8.75

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