While in Costco this weekend, I noticed an end cap display of "shelf-stable" baguettes to take and bake at home. These were at room temperature, mind you, not frozen. The "Best by" date, which isn't in the photo, is in February of 2017.
I didn't stay to read the details, nor did I buy one to try out, so I can't say how they might taste. Let's just say that I don't have high hopes.
Paul
way better than mine do! I wonder if they were nuked to make then shelf stable and they glow in the dark so you can use them as light sabers too?
inside is the reason for the long expiration date. 100% Nitrogen?
It ain't oxygen...
http://essentialbaking.com/breads/bake-at-home/
Which makes me wonder if the oven are also full of nitrogen? or are the loaves left to cool in a cold nitrogen filled chamber? or after baking straight into a nitrogen filled bag. Oh heck, the whole factory is filled with nitrogen gas and everyone walks around in plastic tubed hazmat pressure positive suits in designer colours and have high voices and plastic visors.
Those look so weird (a little creepy even)!
I looked around to see how these are made but i didn't really find anything. It looks like they were half cooked somehow, and then magically the process was stopped! I'd be interested to know how these work.
Thanks for the interesting post Paul.
"OXYGEN FREE"
I looked at the ingredients and here is a snippet from their website...
Bake-at-Home Baguette
STAY-FRESH PACKAGE. Fresh For Months, Not Days.
Our magnificent baguette with a soft, open crumb and a hundred uses. We use a natural starter and only five ingredients to make this bread truly special.
- 100% Organic
- Non-GMO Project Certified
- No Preservatives
- Never Frozen
- Under 5 Ingredients
- Bakes in 6 – 8 Minutes
- 90 shelf life
IngredientsNutritionalBaking InstructionsIngredientsOrganic unbleached wheat flour, water, sea salt.
This doesn't say sourdough but they do say "natural starter" which sounds like sourdough to me. But then again there are other breads which specify "sourdough".
Sourdough or yeasted i'd like to know how they keep the little critters alive, oxygen free or not. How does the yeast survive never mind the actual ingredients. And even if they are dormant how does one just bake it straight away with dormant yeast.
EDIT: It says "bakes in 6-8 minutes". A bit quick if you ask me. Could it be they're baked to a point when oven spring is done, and the yeast isn't needed anymore, then they're cooled and packed in an oxygen free environment?Did you notice if it mentioned "FLAVOR FREE"? (flavour for those who don't read English ;-) )
"no added flavo(u)rings"
Clever. We have a double entendre here.
:)
The crust has some color and the grignes are partially opened. Interesting that their ingredient list is so short and free of preservatives. MayBe I will have to buy a package as a science project.
Paul
in a low pressure system - possibly even hot packaged in a heat-shrink material. Not a vacuum pack as that would crush the bread. There is already CO2 inside the bread, so using it in the packaging is more natural than Nitrogen.
It's highly unlikely to have been irradiated - if it were, you'd see the green sign on the package.
It's probably OK, but wouldn't you rather support a small local bakery than some big national corporate?
-Gordon
Don't you wish, sometimes, that you didn't know so much about how things were supposed to be made? Like sausage? <shiver>
So much better to just enjoy and not get annoyed. And then you die...
Of course, now that you know The Big Secret... they're going to have to hunt you down anyway. :)
Murph