Rachel Eats Stuff: Which supermarket sourdough breads are authentic?

Which loaves actually follow the authentic recipe? We found out

Sourdough bread has become increasingly popular over the past few years.

Many people prefer it to a standard loaf not just because of the tasty sourdough flavour, but because it’s easier for the body to digest - lactic acid in the bread helps neutralise the phytates in flour which thus makes the vitamins and minerals easier for the body to access.

However, a recent investigation by Which? found that around 75 per cent of supermarket sourdough loaves do not contain the correct ingredients to live up to their name authentically.

Sourdough bread should only contain four ingredients: flour, water, salt and what’s known as a starter culture.

A starter culture is simply flour and water mixed together and left to ferment for a few days until it becomes a frothy, bubbly, thick liquid.

Most of the supermarkets don’t list the ingredients in their sourdough loaves, either online or in-store, and this is potentially problematic: yeast is one of the most common ingredients used in supermarket loaves, but if you’re allergic to it and simply presume all sourdoughs are authentic, you can run into trouble.

But how much of a difference is there between the breads?

We decided to get our hands on six of the most popular supermarket sourdough loaves to see whether we could tell which ones follow the authentic recipe, and which one’s don’t.

Here’s how we got on:

Tesco - Sourdough bloomer

This bread is soft and squishy with a nice crust but a lot of air bubbles. It’s tasty, but the sourdough flavour isn’t particularly strong.

Ingredients: Wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), water, salt, rice flour, flour treatment agent (ascorbic acid), rapeseed oil, non declarable processing aid (enzymes).

Verdict: Fake

Lidl - Sourdough loaf

This loaf is incredibly soft but more dense than the Tesco offering. The sourdough flavour comes through at the end, but it’s subtle.

Ingredients: Lidl didn’t confirm the ingredients with us, but from the taste and texture, we’re 99 per cent sure this isn’t authentic sourdough.

Verdict: Fake (probably)

Waitrose - White sourdough bread

Waitrose’s sourdough stands out from all the other loaves in a big way - it’s harder and drier, meaning it both looks and feels more authentic. The taste matches up too - the sourdough flavour is a lot stronger than the other supermarkets.

Ingredients: Fortified wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin, thiamin), water, rye flour, salt, wholemeal wheat flour.

Verdict: Real

Co-op - Sourdough bloomer

This loaf is another soft one - very fluffy with lots of air bubbles and a bit of chewiness. The sourdough flavour is still quite subtle though.

Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, salt, yeast, malted barley flour.

Verdict: Fake

Asda - Extra Special sourdough boule

Asda’s sourdough is browner in colour than most of the other loaves, but it’s still soft. It has a dense crumb and a nice crust, which makes it chewy. The sourdough flavour is quite strong, more like the Waitrose loaf, whilst still being soft.

Ingredients: Fortified wheat flour (wheat flour, calcium carbonate, iron, niacin (B3), thiamin (B1)), water, light rye flour (13 per cent), rice flour, salt, malted barley flour, rapeseed oil.

Verdict: Fake

M&S - San Francisco style sourdough

This loaf has just the right amount of air bubbles and is soft, but not to soft that it falls apart. The sourdough flavour isn’t as strong as Waitrose and Asda but it’s stronger than others.

Ingredients: Wheat flour, water, wheat fibre, salt, malted barley flour, vitamin D yeast.

Verdict: Fake