Only continue reading if you are prepared for lots of bready comparisons ... you have been warned. 😄
I mentioned on yesterdays post that I had bought two packs of four buns. In Booths where I bought the first pack they are usually £1.40, but currently on offer at £1.25, and then ten minutes later what should I spot but very similar looking buns in Aldi for just 69p.
I just had to get them to do a comparison
Aldi - Baked in Britain.
Booths - 'Craft Baked in the UK'.
Does posher talk cost more, or is it just craftier?
Aldi - Vegan and Freezable.
Booths - Tick, tick ... and also a source of protein and fibre, as is virtually all bread.
Aldi - The usual long list of ingredients present in bread, which of course makes most of our shop bought breads UPF.
At home I would just use flour, yeast, salt, water and oil ... maybe all this is a sign that I should!!
Booths - A seemingly longer list of additives, until I realised that they have broken down the ingredients of the flour as well. Virtually all the additives in our breads are now mandatory, with folic acid being brought into the group last year.
So the lists are actually very similar.
Aldi - Four buns weigh in at 245g or 8.6 ounces
Booths - Four buns weigh in at 287g or 10.1ounces.
Making each bun approximately 10g or 1/3 of an ounce heavier. 😄
The most important part of the comparison ... in my opinion ... the taste test, so I had one of the Aldi buns for my breakfast yesterday.
My opinion - very nice but not much substance. Very passable.
I had one Booths bun from my last pack which was still lovely and fresh, the additives obviously work!!
So I decided to have that for my lunch with three Linda McCartney Lincolnshire style sausages ... I was hungry, I usually only have two. This leaves me with a leftover sausage and a whole other blog post!!
The bread roll was definitely much denser in texture and somehow more satisfying. Although strangely the flavour of the bread was 'lighter' than the Aldi version and let the filling flavour shine through more.
So the all important question after all that waffling and pondering which will I buy in the future?
Of the two I think the Booths, and sadly the most expensive ones are my choice.
Although I wish they would bring back the Stotties from the Welsh bakery, which they seem to have sold for a few months and then stopped and are now producing these ones under their own label instead, and they have them on the shelves in the same place that the Stotties used to live.
And very confusingly the back of the Booths 'Bread Baps' wrapper states that they should be called Barm Cakes ... they are after all made in Lancashire according to the pack.
Well I found that interesting, sorry if you didn't.
Now I need to make some of my own buns and taste test them. 😁
Sue xx
It's OK I'm still awake so it was interesting!!
ReplyDeleteAldi value range Wholemeal sliced had disappeared from the shelves here last week. No space for it on the shelves either. I keep a loaf in the freezer in case I run out of homemade bread. That's spoiled any future blog posts about eating cheap for a week! Their not-value wholemeal was 75p - 20p more.
I found the comparison interesting, the downloading of all those photos not quite so much. ;-)
DeleteI guess you will have to look out for a 'yellow-stickered' loaf and get it into your freezer ready for a week of eating cheap, or just snap into action straight away when you find one.
I guess it's the old saying - you get what you pay for. I'll bet your home made ones will be tastier though.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true. I'm a bit out of practice making bread, so it might be debateable whether the first batch would be as good as they once were.
DeleteI buy soft rolls and/or sourdough bread as a treat, and make bread in the bread machine. We've had bread machines for over 20 years! That takes me back to when I was making 4 packed lunches a day (all the same, 'you get what you're given, or make your own!') I'd be making a loaf most days. I'd do a salad sandwich with cheese or meat, tomatoes or cucumber or carrot sticks, frozen 'frube', piece of fruit, small packet of crisps, miniscule cube of frozen home-made cake and a mini chocolate treat in each one...that did breaks, lunch and the coach trip home.
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, that sounds like you were running a lunch production kitchen. :-)
DeleteMy youngest son always wanted to take sandwiches to school as he hated the school dinners, so I had to oblige for years, the only problem was that he didn't like bread or butter ... and this was before the days of insulated lunch boxes, so picking what to send with him was always hard on a super tight budget.
I made a lovely Granary loaf last week - ok only good for toast now, but SO tasty. I have been cheating most of the summer and buying a crusty loaf here and there (local bakery's the best). The only trouble is, some bread is TOO nice and I find myself having chunks of it! I very rarely buy sliced bread or rolls.
ReplyDeleteMaking your own bread is a good habit to get into isn't it, and a homemade loaf toasted is always so satisfying in flavour and for filling you up. My posts are obviously not suited to you at the moment, all this talk of cooked eggs and bread rolls. ;-)
DeleteLike Carole I reckon home made will win on the taste test!
ReplyDeleteI just need to get some whole-wheat strong flour and I'll be off ... oh and dig out Ken the Kenwood mixer from the back of Alan's cupboard. :-)
DeleteI found it very interesting; now you'll have to taste test your own rolls and see which is tastier. :)
ReplyDeleteI've set myself up for another taste test haven't I. :-)
DeleteVery satisfying to have a tasty roll, with butter of course. I'd go for taste every time regardless of cost
ReplyDeleteI really think that you are right. Better to eat slightly less of something really good than lots more of something basic and a bit flavourless.
DeleteI'm curious to know what the difference is between 'baked' and 'craft baked'. X
ReplyDeleteprobably means a hand touched it ha ha
DeleteMaybe the oven was called 'Craft' and he baked it ... haha!!
DeleteI agree Shrimp ... possibly someone poked it on it's way out of the oven to see if the crust was good. :-)
DeleteNorrie had a bacon roll this morning and the roll was completely tasteless and texture less. Your own made will be the best but I suppose you have to take into account the cost of baking them. Catriona
ReplyDeleteYes, there is that, and at the moment the heat of having the oven on. But I would fill the oven with other things ... or maybe just lots of bread all at once for the freezer once I have made a bit of space in there.
DeleteWell I found it very interesting ! There is a new show starting today on Channel 4 I believe, comparing high prices items with poundland items. this should be interesting too.
ReplyDeleteGood. :-)
DeleteYes, I saw this advertised somewhere, thanks for reminding me. I'll be watching it. :-)
An interesting post. DH buys soft currant buns occasionally, full of preservatives. I have got used to bread from the breadmaker, a 400g loaf made with white flour, wholemeal or a mix of the two, lovely when fresh and then toasted. We had Mum’s old breadmaker for years, the new one soon paid for itself.
ReplyDeleteOooh, don't tempt me, a breadmaker is starting to sound like a very good idea. :-)
DeleteInteresting post.
ReplyDeleteI've just eaten a Tesco white soft bread 'bap' with lunch - always enjoyed them before but this was rather doughy! Normally I'd go for wholemeal but they were bought for a barbecue that didn't happen!
Bread makers mentioned above - we had a Panasonic one for years and I loved it, the second model never seemed so good...... recently bought a ' cheapo ' and found it unreliable so have passed it on....... however, reading the above has reminded me about additives and how if you make bread at home, hand or bread maker, that isn't an issue.
Alison in Devon x
We had some white bread when we out recently as Alan forgot to specify brown, and we both found it very strange after all these years.
DeleteAll this talk of breadmakers has got me thinking, if I were to start making bread regularly it would work out easier and cheaper for me, (no having to put the oven on) to get a reasonably priced breadmaker for myself.
We just ate some yellow stickered brioche buns my daughter picked up in the coop. I was not enamoured. They tasted oddly synthetic. Having good results with my new Panasonic which replaced the 20yr old nonworking one in April . Slices from the 400g loaf fit the toaster perfectly. The XL loaf is a bit too big, I cannot manage to eat a sandwich made from ,2 slices of that
ReplyDeleteI have never liked brioche buns, but then I have only ever had the dairy free version and they are traditionally made with butter and milk aren't they, so I assumed that was why. The glossy surface always makes me think of my son Jason's play kitchen and the bread rolls in it, so that's a bit of a put off. :-)
Delete