Product Review: Kinnikinnick Foods Gluten Free Products

Can’t find them in-store? You can buy their products online.

When I was asked to review Kinnikinnick’s soft breads and buns, I admit, I was skeptical. I remember my Vancouver days buying gluten-free bread and almost choking on how dry the bread was and the grainy texture of the rice flour made me vow never to eat it again.

But! That was a long time ago. How far has the commercial gluten-baking process come since then?

The white bread made for lovely toast for a weekend brunch. Reg did not notice a difference at all and just ate his weekend toast.

It also made one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches so wow, impressive so far!

Their new products are the hamburger and hot dog buns. Baked fresh, quick frozen, and soft and moist once thawed, these new buns contain no gluten, dairy or nuts; are made with NO artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors; are fortified with five essential nutrients, and contain at least five grams of fiber per serving and zero cholesterol.

Right out of the packaging, they were quite soft.

But I had to freeze them and then thaw them to make a salmon filet sandwich and they got so dry. I mean, crazy-dry. Enough that it put both me and Reg off. There just isn’t enough tartar sauce in the world!

I should also mention that they have a multigrain loaf too and this is where I started to notice that rice-y texture in the bread, probably brought out by the other crunchy elements in there. That said, I still liked it.

Friends on Facebook had a lot of questions. This was the company’s response:

For those looking for the new breads, they are still hard to come by. They were only introduced in March, and retailers can be slow to introduce new products. The Store Finder app on our webpage will list stores which carry a selection of our products, but since they purchase through distributors it’s impossible to know what products they carry. The best option is to make a request at your local store- we have a request card that you can hand in to make it easier (found at www.kinnikinnick.com). Wendy, unfortunately the new breads do contain corn (they are gluten free, dairy free, nut free, peanut free, soy free, kosher). And yes, Joan, the breads are a regular loaf size and the slices are normal size.

I like this company and am impressed that they have managed to create a loaf of bread that I liked despite using white rice flour. My only issue is the line of text on the front of the packaging that says, “Soft, Tasty, and Just Plain Good for You”. Funny with the gluten-free foodie trend going on that anything that does not contain gluten is healthy. I know some diabetics who would disagree but then we all have different foodie issues.

Overall, if you do not put the products into the freezer I was impressed. (If you do, they will really dry out.) The texture is way better than the gluten-free products I have had and made in the past. I really like that they were happy to have an open dialogue on Facebook to answer questions and they really have tried hard to create a quality product for people with tough foodie challenges. As a result, I give this product four out of five wooden spoons.