Rhonda Anderson said...

> Andy > wrote in :
>
>
>>
>> Putting them out for the girls to paw at is unsanitary at best.
>> Insects can have their way with the muffins too!
>>
>> My supermarket bakery puts out a variety of "fresh" loaves of bread in
>> paper sacks standing on end on a wide, 3 or 4 stair-stepped shelf for
>> the public to handle/inspect/sniff. They don't seal the tops so
>> they're going stale practically the moment they put them there. The
>> muffins, cookies, etc., are in a glass display case like any other
>> bakery.
>
> I don't think it goes stale quite that quickly :-)
>
> Would you never buy bread from a traditional bakery - where the loaves
all
> sit on shelves, no bags at all? Like this (though this is a modern
version
> - just knew I'd be able to find photo of this company)
>
> http://www.maiala.com.au/recent/F1000005.JPG
>
> That's a national chain (franchises I think) - the one at the shopping
> centre I go to is set up similarly. The bread's not accessible to the
> public, but it is out in the open. It is all baked onsite fresh daily,
and
> has all seemed fresh enough when I've bought it - even late in the day.


Rhonda,

I bought a loaf of sourdough bread that was out in the open similar to your
bakery. While extremely crusty, the flavor didn't meet up to my
expectations. How long it had been out, the recipe or what made the
difference, I dunno.

Commercial sliced bread in the bread aisle, here in the USA (with the sad
benefit of additives and preservatives) stay fresh much longer and manage
to retain their "artificial" flavors longer.

Best,

Andy