Great Gluten-Free Bread Roundup

Tracy had the opportunity to participate in the Great Gluten-Free Bread Roundup last week organized by Free From Market in Orland Park. Like others, she was very critical when scoring the breads and considered four factors when giving a score. They included: taste, texture, cost and whether or not she would prefer to eat no sandwich than a sandwich using this bread. The majority of the breads she tried earned the lowest possible scores, but she did give the highest score to one loaf, Udi's Whole Grain Bread, which turned out to be the favorite by the majority of the tasters.

Here's an excerpt from Free From Market's Newsletter:

And the Best Bread Is ...

Many thanks go to our generous bakers and the many refined tasters who participated in the Great Midwestern Gluten Free Bread Roundup. Tasters ranked Gluten Free breads from dedicated GF and allergen friendly facilities throughout the country. Breads were identified only with icons (dog, cat, bird, etc.) and ingredients. Tasters ranked those breads they tasted on a scale of 1-5 (1 being the best). Afterwards they were given a key that identified the bakers. Out of over 300 ballots, here are the top three:

1. Udi's Bakery (aka "Bumble Bee") 1.736 / 5.000

2. Andrea's GF Fine Foods (aka "Fish Bowl") 2.238 / 5.000

3. Sinfully Gluten Free (aka "Panda") 2.321 / 5.000

Tasters were very critical, so it was difficult to score in the 2.0 range and only one bread at all scored in the 1.0 range. The top complement received by "Bumble Bee" and "Fish Bowl" was that they could be served un-toasted. If your bread did not score in our top three, remember, you have the key and can if you wish purchase directly from the bakers. 'Bumble Bee" is already a regular addition to Free From Market and 'Fish Bowl" will be arriving late next week as a regular addition. We still have several loaves of "Panda" in the freezer, and if there are enough requests, it too will be a regular addition. Thanks to everyone for participating. It was a lot of fun!