Costco’s sourdough is, we’ll be honest, a little hit and miss. Sometimes, it knocks it out of the park: The store’s Blueberry Sourdough Bread Load has been a success with customers. It’s also keen on getting you to make it at home, with its sourdough bread kit (which, while pricey, has everything you need, sans starter and flour, to get going) feeling worth the money, despite being a fairly pricey $80. Other times, though, it flounders: Back in April, it dropped its sourdough bread bowls, and they were promptly derided by its shoppers, due to their lengthy ingredients list and the timing of their release.
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So, how does its newest sourdough loaf fare? Well…it’s good and bad news. We’ll explain.
Kirkland Signature Olive And Rosemary Sourdough Bread
This week, @costcohotfinds over on Instagram revealed to the masses (ie., us) that Costco is now stocking Kirkland Signature Olive and Rosemary Sourdough Bread. Coming in at a not-insignificant $8.99 per loaf, this bread is filled with Kalamata and green olives and fresh rosemary – and Costco states that each one undergoes a 24-hour fermentation process and is hearth-baked.
So far, so good, right? And a lot of customers are, it must be said, big fans of it. This bread is my weakness!! So delicious,” said one person, with others chiming in in agreement. It all feels very Mediterranean, and if flight prices have inhibited you from getting over to the Aegean coast this year, it might be the next big thing. A slice of this with a thick slather of butter? Oh, yeah.
So, What’s The Problem?
Well, a fair few customers have pointed out that this sourdough suffers from the same problem that Costco’s bread bowls did: It has a lot of ingredients in it. A lot of folks in @costcohotfinds’ comment section pointed out that this isn’t a sourdough in the purest sense, given that the bread is made with three ingredients: Flour, salt, and a sourdough starter. Costco’s version…has more than that.
However, as Tasting Table pointed out, the ingredients in this bread aren’t overly spooky or worrying. A large chunk of them come in its enriched flour, and anyone who bakes with enriched flour at home will be including the same ingredients in their own bread – and while avoiding enriched flour is understandable, it’s also tricky to do when buying commercial bakery products. As such, while this bread — and most supermarket breads — will never rival the homemade version, it might not be the worst thing in the world.
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!