Bread: It's pretty good

By Leon Barnard

I was first skeptical of Sentry Tendercrust bread, because my previous experiences with Sentry bread had not been overwhelmingly pleasant. Other Sentry brands that I had sampled had been dry, flakey, and basically poorly put-together. Which is understandable for 89 cents a loaf. I had been hoping for Wonder Bread or even Iron Kids bread, basically any kind of pure white, artificial, processed, $2.19 a loaf bread for my daily PB&J. But I wasn't so disgusted by it that I would go out and fork over two dollars and some change for my very own personal bread, so I gave it a try on Monday. I guess I was feeling adventurous.

Sentry Tendercrust bread has an average spreadability factor and nothing stood out to me, as lay down the peanut butter first and then the jelly (preserves, actually, they're better). One thing I did notice was that the bread, when frozen, did not really stick together, which it shouldn't do. I've tried other rather cheap breads and I ended up ruining them because when I tried to seperate the slices, they broke into pieces.

The ultimate test was lunch. I always eat my sandwich first, except sometimes I eat a cookie or two on my way to Iunch, but that's irrelevant. Or unless I eat my granola bar in class before lunch, but that's even more irrelevant. I took it out, it felt soft. The crust was definitely not as soft as the bulk of the bread, and It retained a certain squishability, which was nice to touch, but not as nice to bite into as I nearly had to tear it apart to break it away from its fellow crust. I don't think that tendercrust is a very appropriate name, but I guess that Sentry Kindatoughthatyouhavetotearatcrust bread was too long.

It passed the jellymosis test. The jelly did not succeed in breaking through the bread making raspberry splotches on my hands, although I have not tried heavy amounts of jelly, so I do not know how strong it really is. One of my favorite things about Sentry Tendercrust bread is the beautiful softness of the white part part of the bread (the body). It squishes down to the touch, is packed together, and then regains some of its initial qualities, making it fun to play with as well. When you bite down into it, it condenses lightly, creating a thin layer, that well protects its contents. I really like the way that this condensed layer blends with the PB&J. It seems to absorb the jelly and work together with the peanut butter which is quite pleasing inside the mouth.

Overall I was content with my lunch experience, although I left a corner of it untouched because it is is no good by itself. I believe that Sentry Tendercrust bread would go best with basic PB&J or also a nice, hearty, well-packed sandwich, possibly with ham (or similar meat), cheese, lettuce, and mayo.

I give Sentry Tendercrust four-and-a-half Chaos symbols out of five, became it enhanced the taste of my sandwhich by providing a very happy texture. It is also very affordable and its preparation is comparable to big-name white breads. It's probably healthy, too. The major drawback is that the crust is quite tough, but other than that, it is a very underrated and overlooked bread that should definitely be checked out.