to wish people wouldn't squeeze the bloody bread?

[newmomof1]

Why, oh why, do people have to squeeze 6 loaves of bread in the supermarket before deciding that the first one was appropriately squishy?!

I'm well aware about 50% of posters on here will have a very 'valid' reason for doing so (they'll pretend they're testing the freshness) but realistically we all know there's no real logic to it 😂

I can't interfere with DH's melon sniffing.

This does explain why shelves of prepacked loaves always look a mess, it's not down to poor stock rotation.

newmom,

Ha! This gif could've been made for you, then...

giphy.com/gifs/kimsconvenience-cbc-kc-kims-convenience-dmZyABlBvkklvPvPjM/fullscreen

(I almost posted it direct on thread, but didn't want to incite everyone into a screaming bread rage)

I get people squeezing the ‘freshly’ baked stuff but not the pre packed stuff like warburtons!

Sparkling brook, what are morning rolls?

I always give bread a good squish. Especially in Sainsburies as I don't trust their bakers. They keep the old bread out until it's sold and I have had a rock solid loaf on several occasions.
The lidl bakers however seem to have a rocking system as their bread is always perfect.

Being softly squishable means nothing regarding freshness.

Supermarket bread has all sorts of additives to keep it soft enemies when it’s got mouldy, palm oil included.

any other things we test/do in supermakets before buying?

Yep I squeeze... the squidgier the loaf the nicer the sandwich! That's just a fact! 🤷🏽‍♀️

Sparkling brook, what are morning rolls?

Not really sure why they are called that, they are just small bread rolls with flour on top. DS2 likes them above all other rolls.

DH is always sorting through the bacon/gammon for the perfect pack, but I think that's ok as it's all sealed and he puts them back neatly.

I just scan stuff and put it in the trolley, trying to find the longest dates I can.

I am a fellow melon-sniffer! (also good for pineapples, to check it's ripe).

But seriously, some of you put your hands on UNWRAPPED bread in the shop? Am I reading that right? That's grim - and I'm really not a clean freak. But it's not like you can wash a loaf of bread when you get home, is it...

As for sliced and wrapped bread, well, with the amount of additives in it, I sort of struggle to believe there's any difference in squish-osity between "fresh" bread and week old bread, to be honest, but check the date label if you're that bothered?!

I always squeeze avocados.

We absolutely can't leave bread out when it's stale. As soon as it reaches the 'sell by' date, it has to come off the shelf and is usually thrown away. The level of waste is incredible.

Totally weird.

If it is prepackaged bread then look at the label. Obviously.

If it is freshly baked supermarket bread - the chances of it being yesterday's bake are miniscule. They hardly ever have bread left in the evening.

If it is in a bakery - well, you don't really get the chance, do you? Ask for a loaf of bread, and the take it off a shelf and pop it in a bag for you.

Besides, proper bread has a firm exterior anyway, so in order to find out if the centre is squishy you would have to damage it. So I assume the squeezers must be squeezing packaged bread. Which is completely pointless, as it goes moldy rather than stale.

Fruit is a trickier proposition - because on one hand you can't tell if it is ripe without giving it a bit of a squeeze, but on the other hand, squeezing it will bruise it....

You can't go wrong with a Jacksons seeded bloomer IMO.

I do this with bakery rolls/ loaves and especially bags of cookies. I want cookies tp have a squidgy middle, not rock hard.

I wouldn't bother with sliced bread though. It doesnt go hard in the bag just mouldy!

We absolutely can't leave bread out when it's stale. As soon as it reaches the 'sell by' date, it has to come off the shelf and is usually thrown away.

I think you and I have different definitions of fresh.

As far as I'm concerned, bread is fresh on the day it is baked, or on the first day it's on the shelf, if (disappoingtingly) that's not the same. After that it's only fit for toast. The expiry date is when it's beyond toasting.

I've gone into Waitrose to buy my Warburtons seeded batch and found the freshest loaf has the same date on it as the loaf I bought two days earlier. That loaf would have been stale by my definition even if I'd got to it a day earlier.

Properly fresh bread is the bread I bought from a bakery with my pocket money when I was in primary school: so hot from the oven it had just come out of I had to juggle the paper-wrapped loaf from one hand to the other as I walked to stop it burning my hands.

I wouldn't bother with sliced bread though. It doesnt go hard in the bag just mouldy!

I've often bought sliced bread that less than half-an-hour after I paid for it was too dry to make a decent sandwhich, fit only for toast.

See, I completely agree that bread should not be left on the shelf until it's use by date. Who uses a whole loaf of bread in one day?
Unless you're a big family/preparing for a picnic, of course.

I also like to purchase fresher bread (and I am only talking about packaged bread at this point) but know that the loaf at the back is fresher than the loaf at the front (if no Twat has messed up the whole shelf with the squeezing first), so will get a loaf from the back if the ones at the front are due to expire in the next couple of days.

There's also no excuse with the stuff in the bakery sections.
You can SMELL that that's fresh!
Not that I smell the bread because I'm not weird.

I also hate the knobs who squeeze crusty cobs and crack the top of the cobs.
NOBODY WANTS TO BUY A BROKEN COB!

Rant over, I'm ok now

I would never tough unwrapped bread, but I dispute that the stuff in bags doesn't go hard - it really does. You can feel the solid dryness.

@kateandme

any other things we test/do in supermakets before buying?

I open the egg box and lightly turn each egg to make sure it's not cracked and therefore stuck in the box. I then hand box to OH who dropkicks it to the bottom of the trolley... 😁

I don't squeeze bread though.

@FiveLittlePigs eggs are fine because you don't damage them for anybody else!

My OH dropkicks them into the bottom of the trolley too

FiveLittlePigs Yes!

only buy wrapped bread seeing some of the scummy patrons of tesco scratch their balls or pick their nose puts me right off fresh bread unless i see it come out