Great (Disappointment) Harvest

We went to Great Harvest Bread Co.  A national franchise that I’ve heard is pretty good.  All I wanted was some fresh whole wheat flour.  You see, one of their big selling points is that they grind their own wheat everyday in the bakery.  I wanted to start a sourdough starter and fresh whole wheat flour is more likely to contain the natural yeasts and bacterias I’m looking for.  I’d called a Great Harvest in Seattle (before we moved) and they said they’d be happy to sell me some flour.  They weren’t at all taken aback by my question and it seemed like something they did on a regular basis and so I figured it was just something they all did.  I guess not.  The lady at the Great Harvest we visited just gave me a blank stare when I asked.  I asked again and then went into a bit of an explanation.  She finally got it.  She said “No. We don’t”.  Curt and unapologetic.

So I bought a loaf of sourdough instead.  I was planning to buy one anyway as it will take up to a few weeks for my starter to be ready.  $4.45.  Not cheap, but not bad for a hand made loaf of bread.  Oh how terrible does bread get?  Let me count the ways.  I wrote a review for Yelp.com.  The full review is below.  Boy it was bad, bad, bad, bad!

Review on Yelp:

My first visit to Great Harvest and definitely my last.  I can only imagine that this franchise is not up to standards or I have no idea why there would be so many around.  The lady wasn’t friendly, the place is kind of a dive (and not in the good local hole in the wall kind of way), and the bread was soooo bad.The worst bread I have ever eaten (and I’ve eaten some lousy bread).

I picked up a loaf of “sourdough” (notice the quotes I don’t want to sully the name of sourdough in general).  The loaf was almost $5, but tasted worse than those we buy at the super market (and frankly supermarket bread around here is pretty mediocre).  I was expecting more.  The bread had the taste and texture of an untoasted English muffin.  My 2 year old even said “it looks doughy” and then proceeded to poke it.  The flavor was only mildly acidic and the crust, the key to any good loaf of bread was nonexistent.  They clearly brushed something on top to give it the look of being well browned (you could see it ran down the sides) but it was just a doughy lump of nothing.

The crumb was extremely even (not a good thing in sourdough).  All the bubbles were small and the exact same size.  This is a sign of quick rises with commercial yeasts.  Sourdough should be made with a natural yeasted culture and slow cool rises.

The crust as I mentioned was just not there.  For a good loaf of bread you should see a nice thick crust. The crust would be both crunchy and chewy and darkened by the heat of the oven. The darkening helps add a nutty flavor and gives a nice sweetness.  With this loaf, aside from the slimy texture of the top, you’d be hard pressed to find the crust at all.

The loaf was slashed, but the slashes didn’t open.  That means it was overproofed before going into the oven or that the oven wasn’t hot enough.

Now I know something about bread.  I bake a fair bit myself.  But even still I’m not being picky here.  We’ll be feeding this bread to the ducks at the local pond and finding a real neighborhood bakery.  Save yourself the trip.  Try another Great Harvest or better yet bake your own.  Even if you’ve never baked before your bread will taste better than this (and look better too!)

 

Tags: Austin, Great Harvest