AIBU how can people eat cheap white bread

[Njuy]

Recovering from a stomach bug. One of the first things to eat is dry white toast.

My neighbour bought me a loaf of white bread. The stuff that costs 55p-80p, which many people buy based on the gaps on the shelf.

How can anyone buy this stuff normally? There’s nothing to it. No taste, weird texture.

I thought that it was just me from recovering from the bug. I have a few slices left. Again no taste, weird texture and just awful.

I do have bread - wholemeal. With white bread, it has to be a decent bread

White bread is real food. It is not an imagined substance. It demonstrably exists and is consumed.

It’s all we ate as children and I think about my great grandmother whenever anyone says ‘don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognise’ as she sat scoffing dripping on mass-produced white bread with sugar-laden tea. Or her favourite treat when she got her pay packet for working in a hospital kitchen she walked to and from every day in her 70s: a bottle of pop from the corner shop.

These days I can only wonder how the OP can possibly eat wholemeal bread. Seeded or sourdough are vastly superior. What common tastes she has.

Oh please do share. That's sounds fab!
Op- it's best to keep an open palate as every type of bread has it's place.

Food made using traditional processes, not highly complex and additive-heavy industrial processes. It’s not pretentious to think ultra processed white bread is terrible. There’s plenty of evidence it’s bad for your health and in places with a thriving culture of accessible artisanal baking (France) people don’t choose to eat it in anything like the same numbers.

The answer is, easily.

Real food is when it hasn’t been processed to something that no longer resembles or tastes like the actual food did originally

pot noodles would be an example

they are a good food bank item, cook using a kettle and put food in the belly, cheap and come in different flavours.They are so far removed though from any original noodle dish they were once supposed to resemble

This thread is brilliant! Thanks @Njuy!
Imagine driving a Mercedes and eating white bread!
Imagine never understanding why some people make different choices!
Imagine never having a crisp sandwich!

Best for bread and butter pudding
Best for a bacon sandwich
Best for mopping up baked beans juice off your plate after tea.
Best for making fried bread.
It has its place

I never mentioned noodles.

I like basic white bread, fancy bread doesn’t sit right in my stomach. It’s obvious many people eat is because they like it, and not everyone can afford fancy bread anyway.

I think it's already been explained why people make that choice.
Also, "artisanal"? Really?.😁

Cheap white bread toasted with butter is lovely! For sandwiches I prefer wholemeal. And I love a fancy sourdough loaf sometimes too... There's room for bread in all it's forms!

It's because most bread in the UK is made using the Chorleywood process. Faster processing and they can get away with a lower quality flour at the expense of texture and flavour. This process is used less on the continent, that is why bread in France tastes better.

It's not snobbish to not like bread made this way. Apparently it can aggravate IBS.

When I still lived in the UK and didn't have the budget for fancy artisan bread I had a bread maker and made a loaf every other day. I worked out that cost about the same as the supermarket bread but tastes way better!

I wonder if it's ok to eat cheap white bread whilst driving a top of the range Audi? 🤣

Of course it is bread, this thread is just silly. Poor you being ‘exposed’ to cheap bread, it must be quite a challenge.

That wasa different bread essentially though. Apparently it change from bread with few ingredients to what is now upf product in 80s?
I remember articles when UPF talks started that some bakery created this long lasting cheap version and it spread. It's actually quite interesting and how fast it happened imho!

Edit to add I see someone bpve named them while I was typing

How long have you lived on the planet 😁 From childhood treats (with Tayto or Tudor crisps) to being a fully grown adult watching my boss construct his morning rolls to include Sweet chilli McCoys, crisp butties have been around forever.

They're like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, definitely a thing enjoyed by many.

I’ve used this several times, I’ve made bread rolls by the same chap and they also worked well. I’ve also ditched the Dutch oven and made on parchment paper on a pizza tray and it worked just as well

I’m ancient and have eaten crisp sandwiches since I was a kid. Any other oldies from the North East who remembers Tudor crisps? They were plain with a little twist of paper holding the salt. Hope this hasn’t caused the op a burst blood vessel…

Now you're asking. Perhaps if you repackage it in something with the word artisanal on it?.
I don't know, I've just got a Nissan.

Seriously?! I’ve never had one, but certainly heard of them!

AnywY. To you and OP I say what I tell my kids, ‘different people like different things. And thats ok’

It's easier to digest for some. I know two people with digestive difficulties - one with Crohns, the other with IBS - who eat a lot of cheap white bread for sandwiches and toast because it is a safe food to eat.

I grew up eating it - we used to call it plastic bread! It's just a filler and makes good toast.

not unless you indicate that’s what you are doing

It does not take much imagination to understand that for most, it is likely a matter of budget. If they can buy 3-4 loaves of cheap bread for less than the price of an 'artisan'** loaf, and use it to feed a whole family for most of the week, they aren't necessarily doing it for the flavour. And if that is what people are used to, they don't know differently.

**prepared with love and happiness in our boutique bakery, fulfilling a lifelong dream to provide the yummiest bread to the middle classes.

Yes! Midlander here and I remember those!

The Chorleywood process was invented in 1961.
A good article about it here: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-13670278 note that the chap from the British Federation of Bakers mentions the cheapness as it's best quality.