Costco Bakery Sourdough Bread Review
Author’s note: I have no affiliation with Costco, and I was not compensated in any way for this review.
It stayed fresh for three weeks.
Hot dang. These are heavy loaves! Chonky fellows. The loaves are 2-pounds, but not particularly huge. Just heavy. Super dense loaves. At first I wasn’t sure if my bread had risen all the way, because it seemed like my loaf should be larger for the weight. MAYBE it should be, but it was still perfectly tasty in its current manifestation.
Appearance
This doesn’t look like mass-produced supermarket bread — it really looks artisanal and rustic. The crust is beautifully browned and scored with a decorative lattice pattern and dusted with some flour.
Watch out for the holey bags
One of the things the Costco bakery has done well is packaging the sourdough in plastic bags that have tiny holes. The holes allow enough air inside to keep the crust crusty. My loaf arrived home looking and feeling like a freshly baked loaf. This is a huge step up from most supermarket bread, which has a flaccid crust from being stored in an airtight plastic bag.
The downside of the holey bag is that the bread needs to be stored in something else if it takes more than a few days to eat it. I put mine in another (unholey) plastic bag at home and stored it in my fridge. This kept the bread from drying out prematurely. More about the shelf-life later.
Color
Surprisingly, the bread is not white. It’s a light tan color. It turns out this is from added dark rye flour. More about the ingredients later. The flavor is tangy, and nutty, with just the right amount of subtle saltiness. I hate it when bread lacks salt and has no flavor.
Texture and crumb
The texture is traditional sourdough crumb, with large air pockets and a chewy, crisp texture. It’s not as fluffy or soft as some sourdough varieties, but it is moist. I reiterate that this is heckin’ dense bread, so one slice is quite filling.
Ingredients in Kirkland Sourdough Boule
Although this isn’t an organic product, I love that Costco is using unbleached flour. Additionally, this bread is leavened with natural sour culture, not just “sourdough flavor,” which I appreciate. The dark rye flour was a surprise, but this is part of the deep nutty flavor of the loaf, and also what is giving it a sort of tan color instead of white. I’m not a fan of the additional “natural flavors” and “yeast” and “yeast extracts,” but this is still a big step up from most supermarket sourdough.
Here are the full ingredients:
- Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
- Water
- Sour culture
- Dark rye flour
- 2% or less of: wheat semolina, salt, cultured wheat flour, modified wheat starch, yeast extract, yeast, dough conditioners (ascorbic acid, enzymes), natural flavors
Here’s the crusty bottom of the loaf. Because you like looking at crusty bottoms as much as I do, perhaps.
Here’s a slice. The boule loaf provides long, narrow slices. I ended up cutting the longest ones (near the center of the loaf) in half, to make sandwiches.
(Are you looking for some lunch meat to make sandwiches? May I recommend this surprisingly natural Oven Browned Turkey Breast from Costco? You can read my silly review here.)
Sourdough fragrance
The texture is chewy, but soft. The bread actually gets softer towards the center of the loaf. I also found the center to be the most fragrant area — the sour culture smell intensifies as you eat your way into the heart of the loaf.
The crust
Like most sourdough, the crust is stiff and…crusty. It has a slightly shiny coating and a bubbly texture.
I mean. Bread is just a vehicle for butter, right? Right??? Here’s another buttery picture, for no reason at all:
Nutrition Facts in the Kirkland Sourdough Boule
The nutrition facts label says there are 16 servings, which seems like a low estimate. This bread has a decent amount of protein per serving at 5 grams, and a token 1 gram of fiber. Because there are no added oils, the fat content is negligible. Each serving has a respectable 140 calories.
Price & Servings for Costco’s Sourdough Boule
The current price of ~$7 per loaf is fair for the size and quality. As mentioned above, there are supposed to be 16 servings, so that is 44 cents per serving.
This is a “Kirkland Signature” (Costco store-brand) item, and the product# is: 1747314.
Shelf-Life
Warning. I’m going to admit something weird here: my sourdough loaf sat in my refrigerator for more than 3 weeks. I know that’s a LONG time to keep the same loaf of bread, but it’s a big loaf, my friends, and I have a hobbit-sized stomach.
After three weeks, the loaf was still fresh-tasting and moist — as long as I toasted it in a pan or warmed it up somehow before eating. It hadn’t gone stale or become irredeemably dry.
I’m tremendously impressed by this, and a long shelf-life is a hallmark of real sourdough fermentation, so that’s reassuring.
Dramatic Conclusion
I liked the flavor and aroma of this bread. The texture was denser than I expected, but still pleasant. I loved the long shelf-life and real “sour culture.” This is a product I’d definitely buy again.
The End.
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