Sourdough has boomed in popularity as a gut-healthy bread and what was once a staple of bakeries is now available in every supermarket.
Britons looking for convenience can pick up a sliced loaf in all the major chains, but are they any good?
In the latest edition of Our Verdict, our testers blind-tasted 11 pre-cut, pre-packaged white sourdough loaves.
Judging them on flavour and texture, only two won their seal of approval, and some big and popular brands struggled.
In the top spot was Bertinet Bakery’s white sourdough, scoring an average of 8/10.
That was closely followed by Asda’s Exceptional white sourdough, which scored 7.3/10.
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At the opposite end were two of the more well-known brands, Jason’s and Hovis, with an average score of 3/10.
It’s worth stating that not all supermarket loaves are strictly sourdough, which traditionally is made using only flour, water, salt, with a “starter” made from a live mixture of flour and water which ferments to give sourdough its distinct taste.
The term “sourfaux” has been coined for loaves that don’t meet the criteria – we’ve included the ingredients listed for each loaf so you can make up your own mind… but even then it’s not always simple.
For example, the Real Bread Campaign has questioned wording such as “fermented flour”, as this can incorporate propionic acid, which is a preservative.
With that all said… Here are the full results:
First place: Bertinet Bakery
Price: £2.25
Average score: 8
On first glance, a slice looked small and dense and not a lot like sourdough, but looks were deceptive.
A great sourness and seasoning came through untoasted and especially toasted, making this the closest to a freshly baked loaf of sourdough from the selection we tested.
Ingredients: Flour, water, wholemeal wheat flour, barley flour, organic wholemeal emmer wheat flour, spelt flour (wheat), sea salt.
Second place: Asda Exceptional
Price: £2.44
Average score: 7.3
Our testers felt this was the only loaf that truly looked and felt like sourdough with its dark and rustic crust, despite the longer ingredients list.
It had a good flavour (though not particularly sour), but as with most of the loaves in the test, some found the texture too dense.
Ingredients: Fortified wheat flour, water, rye flour, rapeseed oil, rice flour, salt, fermented wheat flour.
Third place: Waitrose No.1
Price: £2.25
Average score: 5.3
Great smell and a bouncy, soft texture, but it lacked in flavour and all our testers felt it came underbaked.
Once toasted, it opened up slightly and had a bit more of a sour taste.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rye flour, wholemeal rye flour, salt, wholemeal wheat flour.
Fourth place: Tesco Finest
Price: £1.95
Average score: 5.3
Despite this one looking most like a bakery loaf, the taste didn’t match – it had only a hint of sourness. The crust was very floury, which came out nicely when toasted, but it didn’t have the best texture when eaten untoasted.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rapeseed oil, rye flour, fermented wheat flour, salt, flour treatment agent, rice flour.
Fifth place: Co-op
Price: £2.50
Score: 4.6
Co-op’s effort wasn’t too dense, but the crust didn’t have any body to it. Again, like most of the bread we tried, it came out better toasted but it lacked any flavour.
Ingredients: Fortified wheat flour, water, yogurt, sunflower oil, rye flour, salt, yeast, rice semolina, fermented wheat flour, malted wheat flour, wheat flour, stabiliser, acidity regulator, flour treatment agent.
Sixth place: Aldi
Price: £1.75
Score: 4.5
A stodginess led one tester to compare this to eating cardboard and another said that when jam and butter was applied it resembled a scone. But the flavour was better than some.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rye flour, salt, fermented wheat flour.
Seventh place: Morrisons The Best
Price: £1.95
Score: 4.1
This loaf lacked any sourness and was too heavy for our testers. Some felt the crust was grainy.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rye flour, rapeseed oil, salt, fermented wheat flour.
Eighth place: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference
Price: £1.95
Score: 4
All our testers felt this was way closer to white bread than sourdough, as it lacked the texture you’d expect and any sourness.
The crust, according to one tester, was reminiscent of the ones we used to tear off our school sandwiches. Not even jam and butter could save this one.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rapeseed oil, sea salt, fermented wheat flour, soya flour, flour treatment agent.
Ninth place: M&S
Price: £4.25 (for a much bigger loaf)
Score: 3.8
Thick, dense and almost no flavour at all. It was quite tough and almost rubbery.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, durum wheat semolina, corn grits, rye flour, sea salt, malted barley flour, barley malt extract, wholemeal wheat flour, wheat flakes.
Joint 10th place: Jason’s
Price: £2.15
Score: 3
This came out well for flavour and texture but none of our testers felt it resembled any bakery sourdough they’d ever tasted.
A soup dunker, perhaps – but not one for sourdough purists, our testers said, despite the simple ingredients list.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, rye flour, salt, fermented wheat flour.
Joint 10th place: Hovis
Price: £2.25
Score: 3
Too stodgy, and too much like white bread. It had zero sourness, with our testers describing an almost sickly taste.
Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, durum wheat semolina, wheat protein, sea salt, fermented wheat flour.
