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Why is it so hard to find good bread in the U.S......kinda like asking why is it so hard to find spicy food in Norway or top notch BBQ in Paris.
Americans view bread as vehicle to deliver meat and cheese. Sure we like "good" bread but it's just not as much of a thing here as it is in Europe. No country does everything well.
Sounds like you’ve got that right to me, I’ve only been in and out of Norway when I was truck driving around Europe years ago, but I’ve spent time in Stockholm, Sweden and remembered it as non spicy.
Unlike Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Indonesian restaurants do spicy rijstaffel, (rice table).
Quote:
Originally Posted by DubbleT
Is it still true that most Europeans shop every few days? I would imagine that would be a huge factor, as most Americans don't have that sort of lifestyle. We can't, or won't, pop by a bakery every few days for fresh bread.
Not to mention the word bakery here most often means cakes and pastries. I don't even know where there is a shop that bakes bread in my area, the closest thing is the grocery store delis. Maybe an occasional special trip to Aldi's where I sometimes find what I assume to be European style breads.
My wife orders from the supermarket online for a weekly delivery but will drive 3 km each way twice weekly to get her sourdough fix from an artisan bakery.
The wives of my French cousins seem to go to the store a couple of times per week, but they’ll send either me or their husbands to the local boulangerie for a baguette or two, plus pain au chocolat every morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lillie767
American bread is generally sub-par because of plastic bags and preservatives. A true baguette in Paris, with its crusty (not soft) exterior, is stale within hours. Americans want their products to last days because most people don't shop daily, even for perishables. Quel dommage !
Quel dommage en effet!
There are few things better than a fresh baguette, I especially like to use some to mop up the garlic butter that escargots are cooked in, after I’ve dug them out of their shells.
Another Dave's Killer Bread fan here. We also buy Ivarious artisan type breads at the supermarket.
This thread makes me want to start baking bread again. I made bread for years. I had the best results baking in a covered clay pot.
DH makes the best sourdough. I tried baking bread and didn't enjoy it, wasn't super happy with the results, and I can't eat it all before it goes bad.
If we lived closer to the bakery I would go for things like ciabatta or brioche for those rare time we eat them, but ain't driving 40 mins just for that. I've tried some store brands and they are subpar.
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yup, she wasn't doing it right--probably using low-protein flour.
It's not the machine, that's just a mechanical device. It's the recipe and ingredients that make bread wonderful.
But I don't recommend baking in the machine; I hate the crust it makes. Much nicer to shape by hand and bake in the oven.
I have a bread machine and only use it to mix the dough. When it’s done, I shape it by hand and proof it in whatever baking pan I’m using then bake in the oven. I don’t care for the texture and taste of the same dough when it’s baked in the machine. I also make sure and use high quality bread flour or add the vital wheat gluten to a quality AP flour.
Good bakery bread here costs upwards of $5 a loaf - making my own is not only cheaper but I control the ingredients. I do use the stand mixer if I’m making a double batch but the bread machine dough setting is great if I’m just making a single loaf.
In most European countries and even Mexico, there are bakeries on just about every corner that sell amazing bread. Bread is a staple in most of these countries, so I guess that's why there are so many bakeries. In the US, bakeries are a rarity. The ones that do exist mostly sell cakes.
I guess if you ask most Americans what type of bread they eat, they'll say something like Wonder sandwich bread. Everyone else ends up buying a more gourmet sliced sandwich bread like whole wheat. A small minority of people buy bakery made breads at stores like Whole Foods. In most places across the US, this is about as close as you can get to European bread.
So my question is why is it so hard to find good bread in the US? I previously lived in Chicago which is one of the biggest cities in the country, and even there, I could only find a handful of bakeries that I thought had decent bread. And those bakeries despite charging high prices for bread were no comparison to the type of bread that you can get on just about every corner in Paris.
Is it because bread just isn't a staple in most American households? Or is it just a cultural or habit thing? Most Americans are used to eating white sandwich bread so maybe a bakery making European style bread wouldn't stay in business?
OP, the US has industrialized the production of bread. This took place long ago, back when "white bread" was invented. The industry churns out mountains of loaves of bread to feed the constantly growing population. This is efficient; it keeps the grocery store shelves full of bread. But at what cost to quality?
Usually every city and town will have at least one bakery-cafe, which usually is a popular hang-out. Mostly they produce cookies and pastries, but they usually do have a small choice of bread loaves. Sometime back in the 90's or 80's, "artisanal" breads became popular. Bakeries popped up that offered an impressive variety of breads. Some of those are still around, and they're amazing! But most Americans aren't interested in arty bread. They just want something simple to throw together for sandwiches for their kids' lunches, and for breakfast to go with their eggs or whatever. They don't want to have to search out fancy breads.
But Whole Foods and Sprouts offer some pretty good breads. I think they may get some of their "artisanal" breads from the same source. Maybe they have the raw dough or raw loaves delivered, then they bake them in their own ovens, to make it look like the bread is made on-site.
You just have to be lucky, and live in an area, where there's an "artisanal" bread bakery. Any locally-owned grocers will carry their products. And usually these bakeries sell directly to the public, too. The San Francisco Bay Area is blessed to have Semifreddi's. Their info on their site says, they were founded in 1900 in Buffalo, NY, but were reborn near Berkeley in the 80's. Their bread varieties are addicting.
DH makes the best sourdough. I tried baking bread and didn't enjoy it, wasn't super happy with the results, and I can't eat it all before it goes bad.
If we lived closer to the bakery I would go for things like ciabatta or brioche for those rare time we eat them, but ain't driving 40 mins just for that. I've tried some store brands and they are subpar.
Agree with all this. I guess I just wasn't good at baking bread, and I was single living alone at the time. Doesn't freeze well either.
This thread is making me want to try again, though.
I have a Clay Cooking Pot thread, wonder if bread does well in that. Never tried it. I always used it for pot roast and chicken.
I don't know about this. I live in one of the biggest metro areas in the US and before our recent snow/ice storm, all of the sliced Wonder bread was sold out but the bakery section of the grocery store still had plenty of sourdough and rye bread left.
My local Kroger store does indeed have the 25 different bread choices you mentioned but most of them come in frozen and the bakery just bakes the frozen dough. The people making the bread aren't trained bakers but are just grocery store workers. There is no pride that goes into making the bread. In France, becoming a baker means going through training courses, internships, and certifications. It can take years.
It's good you mentioned sandwiches. Most Americans buy and eat bread for sandwiches but Europeans do not. Bread is eaten for breakfast with jam or eaten with the meal to scoop up sauces or to eat with cheese.
Americans use bread as filling holders or meal stretchers. In bread-loving places, people appreciate bread for its own unique flavors, textures, densities, and other attributes. The best baguette I ever ate (bought from a gourmet food shop that baked its own) needed absolutely nothing to enhance it, not even butter. Delicious in its own right. That’s my gold standard.
Agree with all this. I guess I just wasn't good at baking bread, and I was single living alone at the time. Doesn't freeze well either.
This thread is making me want to try again, though.
I have a Clay Cooking Pot thread, wonder if bread does well in that. Never tried it. I always used it for pot roast and chicken.
Every time I looked up a recipe for whole grain bread, there were a bunch of ingredients I don't normally carry, and I have a pretty extensive pantry. Maybe it's because it was in an older breadmaker someone gave me.
Now I kinda want to try again too, but only if I don't have to order anything.
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