Lately, I’ve been buying Wonder’s new whole grain white bread. Has the look texture and (almost) taste of white bread, but it’s whole grain. Sara Lee has just come out with hamburger and hot dog rolls that are the same deal. We had some of the hot dog rolls with dinner tonight. They looked like white bread rolls. They didn’t have the heavy, dense texture you would expect from whole grain. But they had all the fiber, protein, etc. you get in the traditional whole grain.
One very important thing is missing. It doesn’t say 100% Whole Grain White Bread. They get away with adding a small amount of whole grain. I found out that a favourite brand of bread started using ground pea hulls in their bread. It tastes like peas too. They get away with saying Fiber Enriched Bread. They always try to fool the consumer into thinking something else is meant.
Well, I checked the Sara Lee package, and you’re right. In big letters on the front, it says “Whole Grain”, and in teeny-tiny letters above that, it says “made with”; it’s nowhere near 100% whole grain. I was disappointed, not so much in the rolls as in myself. I’m usually more savvy than that.
However, the Wonder White Bread Fans is 100% whole grain. It really does have the same nutrition as the brown breads that are 100% whole grain.
I found an interesting article on the white whole wheat here. It looks like the Wonder bread product is 100% whole wheat flour, with your typical additions to affect the texture and storability. I saw a listing with the top four ingredients being:
whole-wheat flour; water; high-fructose corn syrup, wheat gluten, yeast. Then you get to the “under 2%” stuff.
Pretty typical for a mass market 100% whole wheat bread, I’d say.
Wonder makes a real 100% whole wheat bread separate from their whole wheat white bread that is surprisingly good. I use it as a standard sandwich bread regularly, supplementing it for heavier insides with Pepperidge Farm Hearty German, which is a whole wheat with added rye.
The transition from white bread to true whole wheat isn’t that big these days. You don’t have to settle for some coarse milled product that still has some of the stone from the grindwheels in it.
Oh, I know! I’ve eaten it, and I really like it. But since my weight loss surgery, I eat a maximum of two slices of bread a day. So, I have to buy something the kids will eat, too. That’s where the whole wheat white comes in. The regular Wonder whole wheat will go moldy long before it’s all gone. But I do like the taste of classic whole wheat bread, toasted and spread with peanut butter! Mmmmm.
I’m surprised that so many people (still) prefer that doughy white bread…I think that stuff has all the texture of snow. My grandmother owned a bakery and she would make delicious, chewy, crusty loaves and bagettes…all white flour but fantastic…the only “white” bread I like. This stuff in the grocery stores is like cotton batting…bland…no texture at all. I can’t get my grandma’s bread anymore but at least 100% whole wheat has some flavor and texture to it. Yet the white “dough” must sell…there’s way more of it in the store than whole wheat.
White whole wheat bread? This is news to me. Can someone link to a picture that’s high-enough resolution to see its texture? I want to see if it looks any different from regular white bread when close up. The link Cheesesteak posted has some pictures, but they’re very small.
I’m one of those who is unusually sensitive to bitterness. Most whole-grain breads (what I call “birdseed bread”) taste downright nasty to me. They’re bitter!
I look at bread functionally: it’s there to contain the inside of my sandwich. When I eat a sandwich, I want to taste the peanut butter and jelly, or the bologna, or the tuna. When I eat a hamburger or hotdog, I want to taste the hamburger or the hot dog. Not the bread. Whole-grain breads, according to my tastebuds, frequently overpower the flavor of the filling. Even when it’s not overpowering, I find that the whole-grain bread flavor simply does not complement my chosen fillings. White bread is nice and neutral.
My only exception is rye bread. I put my corned beef or pastrami on rye. This is a special case - the meat itself has a very strong flavor that is not overpowered by the strong-tasting rye bread. And, in fact, rye complements these meats.
