Why does some whole wheat bread from the supermarket taste like its loaded with sugar?
This morning I made toast with whole wheat bread, but it just tasted awful to me because of the sugar they put in. Does that sort of taste appeal to most people?
M W2012-02-11T15:47:23Z
Favorite Answer
I began to believe that all supermarket bread tasted bad in one way or another. That's why I bake my own bread on a regular basis. A loaf of bread with a high percentage of whole wheat flour will have a slightly sweeter taste. It's the nature of wheat berrys and wheat bran. I offset that sweetness by adding milled bran and milled flax.
There should be just enough sugar to activate the yeast, no more, no less. Keep trying different brands, you should eventually find on that you like.
Commercial bakers use a lot of chemicals, preservatives, coloring and flavor enhancers. You really don't know what you are eating.
A typical home made bread recipe will call for some amount of sugar including whole wheat. There is a perpetuated thought that whole wheat equals better for you than white bread but in reality, even whole wheat bread contains some amount of white flour. It's just too dense to not be 'thinned out' with a lighter flour. My home made bread has a decent amount of sugar but I wouldn't say it's overly sweet or would be classified as a 'sweet bread'. Store bought bread by major brands usually contain quite a bit of sugar. My daughter buys the Sara Lee brand of whole wheat bread and not only is it way softer than I like, it's really sweet and weird tasting.
toasting bread brings the natural sugars to the surface. That can account of some of the sweet taste. you should compare calories on basic white bread to some whole wheat breads. Some whole wheat bread has all kinds of molasses, brown sugar or honey and tons of calories. Bread only needs a dab of sugar toactivate the yeast faster. Store bread, both so called "healthy" whole wheat and basic white bread has lots of stuff in it that is simply not needed.
If the sugar added is used correctly in moderation, and with respect to all of the ingredients in combination, the bread will taste good, and not too sweet. Many people who are habituated to too much sugar in their food will like too-sweet bread. Like you, I like whole wheat and whole grain bread. I would suggest reading the nutrition information that is on each loaf of bread, and look at the "grams of sugar" that is listed. Find the kind of bread with less sugar, until you know which are good and satisfy the taste you are looking for. There are so many kinds of bread that you should be able to find ones you like. Enjoy!!
Whole wheat and sugar are not mutually exclusive. If you do not want sugar in anything look at the ingredient list. If a Supermarket has it, it is because it can sell it. Groceries have low margins so if it does not sell it won't be there again. Label are on items to inform so read them.