The *Best* Gluten Free Bread

What is the *best* gluten free bread you can enjoy in London, UK? The answer might be here . . .

I was diagnosed Celiac in 2012 and recall that the free-from aisle in a nearby supermarket superstore at the time had a gluten-free bread range featuring Genius and not much else that did not look like it has been created in a laboratory. Tesco had yet to become the free-from machine it is today. There were a few sad looking Dietary Specials bread-like products that I imagine longer time-served celiacs may remember with nostalgia. Fondly? With horror? Both? Long time celiacs, do tell!

Now return to 2016 and the range on shelves presents the tyranny of choice and there are now also a number of artisan bakeries offering gluten-free breads. If you dedicate yourself to consuming bread samples at the Allergy Show & Free-From Show you can easily carb-load for a marathon.

But are they any good? And which are best?

A little group from the Gluten-Free London Meetup Club held a blind-tasting event to address these important questions. No one was blindfolded, but only I knew which breads were being sampled and I maintained scientific integrity throughout.

The Tasting Protocol

Four commonly available supermarket breads and four artisanal breads were selected to test. Each bread was sampled plain and as toast and with various dips and spreads. Each taster captured scores and comments before the next bread was served. Excluding the host no one knew what any of the breads were, hence the tasting was performed ‘blind’ before the breads and tasters scores were revealed at the end of the tasting.

Given the enormous range of breads now available the selection of breads was focused on conventional loaves, sliced or unsliced, with multi-seed, multi-grain options selected if available. Rolls, baguettes, wraps and home-bake bread mixes remain subject to testing in future 

Breads were rated on taste, texture, toast-ability and given an overall score out of 5 by each taster.

Our Top Picks

4 of the 8 breads tied for the top bread with a score of 3.6 out of 5, so the actual winner – the Artisan Gluten-Free Bakery Multi-Seed Loaf – is picked thanks to having the highest individual taster score (5 of 5) along with a higher lowest score (2 of 5) than competing breads. 3 of those top 4 breads were Artisanal and the 4th was the only Supermarket Bread to make a positive impact – the M&S White Sliced Boule.

Below the breads from top to bottom, scores and taster comments

Surprises!

Artisanal breads scored on average better than the supermarket breads but they were also far more divisive. Two artisanal breads very well received by most of the tasters also provoked a negative rating from at least one taster. This was probably because unlike the supermarket breads which were fairly similar and bland the artisanal breads each had a distinctive character which prompted a stronger reaction.

Only one bread – BFree High Fibre Brown Seeded Loaf – suffered from the *there are big empty holes where there should be bread* problem. Surprising because this is a common complaint about gluten-free loaves and doubly surprising because BFree produce a really fantastic range of gluten-free breads and wraps.

The lowest scoring bread – Newburn Bakehouse Gluten-Free White Sourdough Artisan Cob – is one of the highest rated gluten-free breads on Ocado. As a sourdough lover I will say that it had no hint of sourdough ‘tang’.

Bread by Bread, Here We Go!

Best Bread!: Artisan Gluten-Free Bakery Multi-Seed Loaf
Score: 3.6 out of 5 (high of 5, low of 2)

“Nice mix of seeds but otherwise fairly plain”
“Silky, oily texture”
“Light & full of flavour”
“Slight ‘tang’, nice taste, if you wait for it”
“No dryness or starch sticking to the mouth, toast crunchy on outside, soft inside, nice!”

Available from Artisan Gluten-Free Bakery and Wholefoods

 

Beyond Bread Seeded Loaf
Score: 3.6 out of 5 (high of 5, low of 1)

“Nice flavor and lots of seeds”
“Many flavors present within, lovely”
“Silky, very different texture to most breads
“Slight ‘melt in the mouth’ consistency, unusual and interesting”
“Very high moisture content, almost better untoasted rather than toasted”

Available from Beyond Bread

 

Best Supermarket Bread!: M&S White Sliced Boule
Score: 3.6 out of 5 (high of 4, low of 3)

“Nice crumbly texture once toasted”
“Light but free-from holes”
“Not strong enough to use as a scoop for dips”
“Love the poppy seeds and texture, but a bit dry”

Available from M&S

 

Paul’s Organic Sourdough Number 1
Score: 3.6 out of 5 (high of 4, low of 2)

“Notable chickpea flavor, better toasted, good crust”
“Happy with small number of ingredients”
“Dense, course and crunchy”
“Lots of cooking possibilities, nice flavor, bit too heavy for me personally”
“Too dense, but very tasty and I like the ingredients”
“Very chewy, salty, dense, strong and toasting brings the flavor to life”

Available from Wholefoods

 

BFree High Fibre Brown Seeded Loaf
Score: 3 out of 5 (high of 4, low of 2)

“Spongy, with holes present in the slices”
“Sweet & light, but not a lot of flavour”
“Notably sweet, light, airy bread”
“Toasts quickly, burns easily, also riddled with holes”

Available from Asda, Tesco & Ocado

 

Artisan Bread Organic Linseed Omega 3 Loaf
Score: 3 out of 5 (high of 4, low of 1)

“Very dense, very robust, substantial bread”
“Seaweed flavoring is mild but notable if sought out”
“Crust very crunchy and toasting takes ages”
“Too compact and chewy”
“Heavy and sour in a good way!”

Available from ABO (online), Wholefoods, Planet Organic and some independent health food stores

 

Waitrose Love Life Gluten-Free Seeded Bread
Score: 2.6 out of 5 (high of 3, low of 2)

“Thin slices, boring, okay if toasted”
“Dry, thin”
“Floppy, wouldn’t make nice sandwiches, not much taste”
“Plain, okay as toast, toasts evenly”
“No taste, no character”

Available from Waitrose and Ocado

 

Newburn Bakehouse Gluten-Free White Sourdough Artisan Cob
Score: 2.4 out of 5 (high of 3, low of 2)

“Thin slices, boring, okay if toasted”
“Dry, thin”
“Floppy, wouldn’t make nice sandwiches, not much taste”
“Plain, okay as toast, toasts evenly”
“No taste, no character”

Available from Ocado, Sainsbury, Iceland and Morrisons

 

Closing Regrets

In my humble opinion, my home-made gluten-free bread are far tastier and nutritious than all these breads. It was not included in the test breads, it would not have been at all fair, but I did intend to serve it as a mystery bread. I forgot. I will find a way to subject it to future benchmarking.

What did we miss? Tell us! What do you think is the best gluten-free bread? Do tell . . . .

Want to be a taster?

Join the Gluten-Free London Meetup Club. I will offer more of the same!