I am forever looking for a good gluten free bread. While I've made some pretty tasty ones at home, for the ultimate sandwich (grilled cheese) I have not found one I truely love.
While shopping in Lewiston a while back we'd passed the Franz Bakery Outlet and saw they had a sign saying they had gluten free bread. We stopped, but they were out (seems it tends to sell out as fast as they bring it in). So the next time we were there we stopped and they had a few loaves left. It was priced at $4.98 a loaf, so I only grabbed one. The price is a bit more then I would usually pay, esp since I was used to 89 cent a loaf wheat bread, but I decided I had to try it. I hadn't seen any fresh GF in the stores and the ones they do have, while tasty, are found in the freezer section and are rather small for $5 a loaf.
The loaf was a hefty 1 lb 2 oz and felt substantial. I couldn't wait to get home to give it a try. Since it was brutally hot that day we opted for dinner of cold cut and cheese sandwiches.
MMMMM! Still had that slightly not moist enough texture that a lot of GF breads that aren't heavy on the liquid component have, but the flavor was yummy. The 7 grains gave it a nice nutty flavor that went nicely with ham, cheese and Miracle Whip. I had to refrain myself from making sandwiches with the whole loaf and eating it all that night.
I then took some of the bread and some cheese to wok and made my toasted cheese sandwiches in the toaster oven for work.
Again, YUM!!! The bread held up to the cheese and toaster over nicely and was very good toasted (another time while at home I broke out the toaster, butter and cinnamon and sugar. Oooooooooo toast! I missed you so!).
But the ulitmate test was still ahead. Grilled cheese sandwiches, but that had to wait until the weather got cool enough that I wanted to stand over the electric griddle. But the day came and I was ready.
Out came the bread, sliced American cheese and shredded extra sharp cheddar. Plugged in the griddle and set the temp. Buttered the bread and onto the griddle it went. Then the cheeses and the top slice, buttered of course. And I watched.
I flipped the sandwiches and MMMMMMMMMM! A lovely golden brown color was appearing on the bread. I waited, flipped again and it was even better. A couple more flips and the sandwiches were done.
The taste test awaited! Onto the plate and the sandwiches were cut. A moment to snap the pic and then.....
OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have found the bread that has given me back my beloved grilled cheese sandwiches. I will be buying this as often as I can, in fact, if the budget allows it next time I will buy several loaves to stash in the deep freeze to keep on hand.
Franz does not list gluten free bread on their website and says in their FAQ that they do not have it. From the looks of it tho their website needs to be updated as their company news items are not current. I haven't seen the GF bread in regular stores, but since we shop in Lewiston often it won't be out of my way to pick it up when I can.
ETA 10/22/12: Found the Mountain White GF bread at Rosauers on Monroe in Spokane WA. Didn't pick one up as the price point, even on sale, was a bit OUCH! on our budget at the moment. But the product is getting out there and once more people find it and start buying it, the price should hopefully come down.
While shopping in Lewiston a while back we'd passed the Franz Bakery Outlet and saw they had a sign saying they had gluten free bread. We stopped, but they were out (seems it tends to sell out as fast as they bring it in). So the next time we were there we stopped and they had a few loaves left. It was priced at $4.98 a loaf, so I only grabbed one. The price is a bit more then I would usually pay, esp since I was used to 89 cent a loaf wheat bread, but I decided I had to try it. I hadn't seen any fresh GF in the stores and the ones they do have, while tasty, are found in the freezer section and are rather small for $5 a loaf.
The loaf was a hefty 1 lb 2 oz and felt substantial. I couldn't wait to get home to give it a try. Since it was brutally hot that day we opted for dinner of cold cut and cheese sandwiches.
MMMMM! Still had that slightly not moist enough texture that a lot of GF breads that aren't heavy on the liquid component have, but the flavor was yummy. The 7 grains gave it a nice nutty flavor that went nicely with ham, cheese and Miracle Whip. I had to refrain myself from making sandwiches with the whole loaf and eating it all that night.
I then took some of the bread and some cheese to wok and made my toasted cheese sandwiches in the toaster oven for work.
Again, YUM!!! The bread held up to the cheese and toaster over nicely and was very good toasted (another time while at home I broke out the toaster, butter and cinnamon and sugar. Oooooooooo toast! I missed you so!).
But the ulitmate test was still ahead. Grilled cheese sandwiches, but that had to wait until the weather got cool enough that I wanted to stand over the electric griddle. But the day came and I was ready.
Out came the bread, sliced American cheese and shredded extra sharp cheddar. Plugged in the griddle and set the temp. Buttered the bread and onto the griddle it went. Then the cheeses and the top slice, buttered of course. And I watched.
OH MY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have found the bread that has given me back my beloved grilled cheese sandwiches. I will be buying this as often as I can, in fact, if the budget allows it next time I will buy several loaves to stash in the deep freeze to keep on hand.
Franz does not list gluten free bread on their website and says in their FAQ that they do not have it. From the looks of it tho their website needs to be updated as their company news items are not current. I haven't seen the GF bread in regular stores, but since we shop in Lewiston often it won't be out of my way to pick it up when I can.
ETA 10/22/12: Found the Mountain White GF bread at Rosauers on Monroe in Spokane WA. Didn't pick one up as the price point, even on sale, was a bit OUCH! on our budget at the moment. But the product is getting out there and once more people find it and start buying it, the price should hopefully come down.
Franz posted a press release just this week about the GF breads. Apparently they have been developing it for a while. We found it in a WinCo in Hillsboro OR (outside Portland). I agree, it is very good. Glad you found it in Lewiston, my mom is GF and lives in Moscow so I was hoping there was some shipping nearby.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it is at Winco there, that means Winco knows about it and with luck we'll be seeing it at other Wincos soon.
ReplyDeleteI found the bread at Safeway too! So yummy :)
ReplyDeleteWe found it at Walmart in Cornelius, Oregon
ReplyDelete