| San Francisco Bread Review | Albertson's French Baguette |
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| Summary | |
| Appearance : | Good |
| Taste : | Average |
| Overall grade : | C- |
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| The bread | |
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| Nutrition | |
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| Bread name | French Baguette |
| Baker | Albertson's, Oakland |
| Purchased | Monday, May 19, 2003, 5:30PM |
| From | Albertson's, 1630 High Street, Oakland |
| Tested | Monday, May 19, 2003, 6:30PM |
| Price | $1.49 |
| Weight | 14 oz. |
| Size (LxWxH) | 19" x 3" x 2" |
Appearance
The bread comes in a perforated transparent plastic bag, which I suppose is better than a non-perforated plastic bag, but I would really prefer a paper bag, which is better for the environment and (I would argue) also better for the bread. The loaf is fairly nice looking, with handsome scores on top and a pleasant color. The bottom looks a bit underbaked, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Now here is the surprise for this test: it is way over its nominal weight (14oz instead of 8oz). I have to believe that this was a mislabeled bread, since it smelled and tasted like sourdough. This review was therefore written to take this into effect. The loaf feels somewhat dense. The crust is fairly soft, but the loaf is resilient and feels like it has some body. Cutting the bread was easy, and I had no trouble making good-looking slices. The crumb is quite white, fairly dense. The smell is strongly sourdough.
Taste
The crust has some consistency, and the taste is not unpleasant -- average or perhaps slightly above. The crumb, however, has an industrial taste, with a distinct trace of artificial sourdough flavor. I found it mediocre.
Conclusion
The crust makes up a bit for the crumb, but the list of ingredients (although not horrifying) puts this bread at a C-.