Thomasina Miers, a home sourdough baker, has taste-tested supermarket sourdough loaves to see how they compare. She was pleasantly surprised by the quality of several, noting good texture, flavour, and crumb. However, she observed that none of the loaves declared salt content, which significantly impacts flavour.
Miers also highlighted the lack of information on pesticides and herbicides in most packaging, except for Wildfarmed. She praised supermarkets for engaging more in better bread production and noted that Jason's and Wildfarmed are now widely available.
Top-rated was Jason's Sourdough at £2 for 450g from Ocado and Tesco, scoring five stars. Miers described it as delicious with great flavour and a wonderful crumb that stayed fresh for days. Other notable loaves included Tesco's Finest Sourdough Bloomer, Waitrose's Sourdough Loaf, and M&S's San Francisco Style Sourdough, all praised for their tangy flavour and texture.
Lower-rated loaves included The Village Bakery Sourdough, which had a dense crumb and little flavour, and Hovis Sourdough, described as solid with a glossy egg wash unlike typical sourdough. Miers concluded that while some supermarket sourdoughs are excellent, others fall short in flavour and texture.
