Customer Reviews

Mestemacher Three Grain Bread, 17.6-Ounce Packages (Pack of 12)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I love this bread. First, I was concerned that it might arrive in million pieces but every package was in perfect condition and no slice of bread had crumbs. I am buying this bread since years and we eat a lot of it.

It is delightfully convenient to buy bread on Amazon.com! It is also very nice to be able to buy EUROPEAN bread. I don't remember what health-food book I read this in, but, in passing, this book mentioned that Americans, (especially American children), who visit Europe are often heard to joyfully be saying: "Have you tasted the BREAD?!!!!!"

MESTERNACHER THREE-GRAIN BREAD is my first European bread. It is tasty, (I was afraid I wouldn't like the taste) -- yet, my American taste still would like a sweeter bread. Still, not bad tasting at all. The truly wonderful thing about this bread, however, is that IT CONTAINS NO WHEAT! Wheat has its place in the diet, I suppose...but limiting it is important, because, amongst other things, wheat is said to be bad for people with arthritis of ANY kind, and wheat is also said to be bad for ANYONE'S eyes. I'm not too knowedgeable about wheat's good and bad qualties -- but I do know the above two facts. I also have heard bad things about wheat GLUTEN. Presumably, wheat products without the gluten are better than those with gluten. Mestermacher Three-Grain Bread, however, has NO WHEAT AT ALL. So, one does not have to worry about any bad effects of wheat, at all!

What does this bread have in it, if it doesn't have wheat? The ingredient list is:

Whole Kernel Rye
Water
Wholemeal Rye Flour
Oat Kernels
Barley Kernels
Linseed
Salt
Oat Fibre
Sesame
Yeast

It is mentioned underneath the ingredients list that this bread containes Sesame. Obviously, some people are allergic to sesame. And, perhaps, some of the other ingredients? Anyway, the ingredient list is above...and, of course, on each loaf wrapper.

Also listed are special attributes of this bread:

No preservatives
Kosher = K parev
High Fibre
Cholesterol Free
Natural Ingredients
Long Shelf Life
Wheat Free

The second-to-the-last attribute, "Long Shelf Life" is due to the fact that THIS BREAD IS PASTEURIZED. (But, as mentioned above, it still tastes pretty good, unlike many other pasteurized products....) The expiration date on the bread I have bought, is 12 - 12 - 2010 -- NINE MONTHS from the day I first opened the package, (YESTERDAY), and ate my first piece!

Opened loaves, (there are 12 in the package), must be refrigerated, and eaten within 4 days. But each loaf contains only 7 slices! This makes it easy to eat the entire (nice and thinly-sliced) loaf in the required 4 days. It' interesting that there are SEVEN pieces in each loaf. Usually, of course, it takes TWO pieces of any type of bread to make a sandwich.....

But this bread is NOT shaped square-ishly, like most American breads. No, as can clearly be seen from the photos here, it is RECTANGULARLY shaped. This would seem to make it easy to simply slice the bread in half, and make a small sandwhich from the two pieces. However, the texture of this bread will not allow this. Or, at least the texture of the bread I bought will not allow this. As I said, the bread I have has a shelf-life of NINE months (left?). I have no idea how long the bread's shelf-life is, when it first is baked. IF it is one year, than I am missing three months -- and the bread, though fresh(ish?) is very, (very) slightly brittle. As a single-slice, it breaks off neatly, but if I was to try to cut it in half, and make a sandwich, I'm sure many, many crumbs would result. Maybe this would happen even if the bread were at its freshest: the picture on the wrapper shows an OPEN-FACED sandwich "serving suggestion", using only one piece of bread....

Or perhaps, because of the ALL-natural ingredients, no "dough conditioners" or other ingredients to make the bread soft enough to "fold", as most American breads do. I wish a natural dough-conditioner, (or other ingredient), could be found, so that this fine, natural bread, would be as pliable as American breads are.

I guess this "unfoldability" is my main complaint about this bread, and why I give it only 4 stars. It is, however, quite good tasting, (minus the American-type sweetness I, personally, so enjoy), and it does make one feel good that one is NOT eating wheat, and is enjoying all-natural ingredients, and a high-fibre content, whilst eating this tasty bread!

I grew up in Denmark and was raised on whole grain bread which I then never found here. But this is just like what I grew up with. Great.

I am addicted to this bread! Ever since I tasted it in Germany more than 4 years ago, I have been hooked and love the convenience and value of buying it on amazon. I have tried other varieties offered by Mestemacher, including Fitness Bread and Sunflower-Seed Bread but the Three-Grain is hands-down my favorite. I love how there are NO preservatives or chemicals added- just delicious and nutritious whole grains (which yeast and salt).

i highly recommend this german whole grain bread. it is moist, chewy and tastes great cold or slightly toasted. the hardest part for a german living in the USA is to find good bread, because we are spoiled by the 100+ varieties in our home country. besides baking my own bread it is nice to have something ready to eat. i keep the 12 packages in our fridge and share them only with good friends who appreciate the taste of dark bread. the Mestemacher breads are the best deal on amazon.com because you get 17.6 oz packages (500g)...that's a german lb of bread in each package. i recommend cheeses, sausages etc as toppings, or just plain good butter. personally i do not like sweet toppings like jelly, honey on this bread.

Finally we have access to some good German bread.
We live in rural Arkansas and do not have access to stores like Whole Foods nor to specialty bakeries, so our ability to secure this bread through Amazon is a godsend.
The bread arrived fresh, generally well sealed - a couple of the 36 loaves got mildew on them within a few days.
When considering a healthy diet, this is the best you can get, I think, in terms of bread.
Generally we make open-faced sandwiches. We also cut these sandwiches into small squares to serve on a platter to guests.
The bread contains no "undesirable" additives such as dough conditioners or preservatives.

I was a bit hesitant ordering this because you have to buy so much at once. BUT, the bread is wonderful, and because my daughter is allergic to wheat it has been a great relief to her. It is most wonderful toasted, and freezes/recovers well.
A great product - high fiber, high nutrition, etc. Thanks!!!

Love this bread but maybe it's not something that should be shipped. I received the 12 packages and every pkg was mostly in crumbs. I was able to salvage a part of each slice. Also maybe it was too warm to be shipping.

This was the worst bread I have ever tasted in my life. I do not believe the German people actually eat this stuff. Since I was stuck with 12 loaves, I gave one to my brother, my sister, my nephew and a friend and they all hated it. Fortunately, my dogs like it so I am using it as dog treats. Of course they both have coprophagia, which might explain why they like it.

I love this product since I have used it before but it arrived with half the packages in crumbs and I am not happy.