On a scale of 1 - 10 I give this product a 8.
This was so simple to make. It's just a matter of mixing the yeast, sugar and water. Waiting a couple of minutes and then adding the bread mix. I placed mine into a loaf pan, let it sit for 25 minutes and then baked. The instructions call for a 400 degree oven and baking time of 20-25 minutes. I did find that it took about 10 minutes longer in my oven. Now, that might have been because the directions have you bake your bread on a flat pan and I used a loaf pan or it may be that my oven is off. No matter why the added time, I still had a great product.
The bread mix comes in Stoneground Wheat, Country White, Multi-Grain and Italian Herb. I love seeded rye so I bought the Italian Herb and added some caraway seed to acquire my rye bread taste. Since I had not tried this before I made 2 mistakes. #1 - I should have added the seeds to the yeast water instead of trying to work it into the dough. #2 - I added about 1/4 tsp. and wished I had added just a bit more.
After baking my bread I decided to dress it up a bit. I removed it from the pan, sliced it just down to the bottom crust but not cutting through. Inside the slits I added cheese, put the loaf back into the pan and placed it back in the oven for about 5 minutes giving the cheese time to melt. Now this was good! Add a little lunch meat and you have the perfect appetizer for a Monday night football game.
The only reason I didn't give this product a 10 is that the bread was a bit heavy. But this is a product that I will continue to buy.The one thing I would like to ask of Fleischmann is to please add a Seeded Rye to their flavors. Did I mention that my whole house smelled wonderful?!
