I used to buy only Thomas’… which I used for breakfast sandwiches, eggs benny, toaster oven pizzas, etc. But it seems over the last couple years they have changed (or I have) to the point where I can’t put up with them anymore.
Do any of you have a recommendation for a better brand that could be found at Safeway?
we’ve dumped Thomas’s as well - we like Bays much better
https://www.safeway.com/shop/product-details.138010109.html
Ditto Bays rec. No one in the family really dislikes Thomas, but they like Bays a lot better if I’m buying mass-made.
Look in fridge section near dairy.
I buy Franz and Orowheat in “Extra Crispy” regularly. They’re on the better side of OK, IMO. One thing I like about them is a sleeve of either keeps quite awhile without refrigeration.
IME, Thomas’ is more crumpet-like, and ages poorly outside the freezer.
Definitely prefer Bays in this house, especially if we are grilling them on a flat top.
not a safeway, and i’ve only tried the whole wheat, but i find the english muffins at trader joe’s excellent! a deal @ $1.99.
I picked up a 6 pk of these today because I had none out of the freezer. I can’t recall if I’ve tried them before, but the price point is what caught my eye. Hopefully I like them as Ive liked Thomas’s in the past.
I bought a six pack of Bays sourdough a few weeks ago since they were on sale. I was pleasantly surprised that they had an easy open and close top tab. But you have to press down on the sides. So pay attention.
I wrote the ‘Bimbo’ company that took over their production when the muffins I purchased were gummy inside and wouldn’t fork split. They sent me a slew of coupons and after not buying them for a few months, I did and there was no problem. I generally like the thinner muffin that Thomas’ makes. I will buy the store brand, Oroweat or Franz when I need a thicker muffin (for ‘English muffin’ pizzas), but not usually at my Safeway. Your store may carry them.
Do you bake? English muffins are easy to make and homemade taste much better than any store bought brand.
I have made them, but a different recipe that was less than ideal. Plus I prefer the sourdough ones and really don’t want to mess with a starter
Tried one today… serious nook and cranny-dom, even some browning around the outside. Seriously better than the Thomas’ offering (and cheaper to boot).
…cheaper . . .
seems the store has a continuous buy one get one free on Thomas’ -
perhaps the competition is making waves?
I was inspired by this thread to try this recipe and unfortunately, it was a big fail. The flavor is good, but the texture is all wrong - very gummy inside (despite being cooked to 210 degrees), and way too rich. I checked the ingredients on both Thomas’ and Bays’ labels and neither one uses much in the way of enrichment - no eggs and minimal dairy with just 1g of fat per muffin. Interestingly enough, most recipes I have found from reputable sources (KAF, Peter Reinhart, etc.) do call for at least some dairy if not butter as well, so not sure where the disconnect is. I may try again soon using a basic 70-75% hydration dough with just a bit of dairy and see where that gets me.
To get a proper English muffin texture you really do need a dough that is just about 80% hydration or more. I don’t like a lot of KAF recipes for English muffins because they produce rolls in English muffin shape. Just from photos you can see which of KAF’s English muffin recipes are made with a loose dough vs a stiffer dough, as the slack dough ones have tons of nooks and crannies.
Heck, here are people pointing out this very problem with one of their more popular recipes for them:
If you can neatly shape them by cutting or rounding out, the dough is too dry and the result too bready.
Reinhart himself has a terrible English muffin recipe in BBA, which he corrected with a fantastic recipe in ABED:
My go-to however is the Stella Parks’ recipe from the Bravetart cookbook. I think it’s a better recipe than her Serious Eats version (they are very different recipes) and gets it right in terms of hydration, richness, etc, while being simpler than others. I use a disher to scoop muffins that are relatively round.
Yes, I checked the BBA recipe and thought it looked WAY too low hydration, as did most of the KAF recipes I read. The Ruhlman one is at least high hydration, but the enrichment factor was just WAY off. I’ll take a look at Reinhart’s ABED recipe and Stella Parks - thanks for the tip!
I tried Bays (from the refrigerator case) this week - got the sourdough - and liked them. Thanks @grumpyspatient and others!
I purchased Bays today for the first time. They were kept in the chill section. Am I supposed to store these refrigerated or on the counter? Need them to last for 72 hours.
Refrigerated… it should say that on the back of the package.
Thank you! I looked at the package for guidance, but didn’t see it (which is not to say it isn’t there).
