Trader Joe's gluten-free "rye" bread rates as mediocre

One extra note on my trip to Chicago was the purchase of Trader Joe's gluten-free rye-less "rye" bread.

There's a long story here so I'll cut to the chase -- it did taste good but the texture was awful. It absolutely has to be toasted and even then, the texture is still bad. So I'd have to rate it overall as mediocre.

Here's the story. There is a Trader Joe's in the neighborhood I usually stay in when I'm in Chicago. Several years ago, I went in figuring I'd be able to find something to eat for breakfast. But I was extremely disappointed to find a lack of gluten-free options in the store.

So, when Trader Joe's announced it would open a store near home in Jacksonville Beach, while some people were excited, I was less than enthusiastic. When the store opened, my feeling was confirmed because I found few gluten-free items to make a trip there worthwhile.

I have to say I've warmed up to Trader Joe's in the last couple of years as they have expanded their private label gluten-free offerings, particularly a line of hamburger buns and bagels that are decent and reasonably priced, as far as gluten-free stuff goes. So now I visit fairly regularly to stock up on buns and bagels. They seemed to have resolved their inventory problems -- they aren't running out of the gluten-free stuff like they used to.

Trader Joe's has also come out with gluten-free hot dog buns, which aren't as good as the hamburger buns. Of course, as I've said many times, there is no such thing as a good gluten-free hot dog bun.

Anyway, when I was in Chicago, I decided to visit the store again to see what they had, since Trader Joe's does vary products by region. And I came across the Trader Joe's brand of gluten-free "rye" bread. The Trader Joe's in Jax Beach has several types of gluten-free bread but I have not seen the rye.

Rye bread was my bread of choice before I went gluten free. So, whenever I see a brand of gluten-free rye-less rye, I give it a try. So far, none have been worthwhile, including the Trader Joe's brand.

One more note I discovered with my bread purchase. Packing a loaf of bread will absolutely get your carry-on bag flagged by the TSA. As I was pulled out of line so they could open and inspect my bag, they pointed to the big rectangular lump that showed up on the x-ray. What could it possibly be?

So if I'm going to take a loaf of bread on an airplane, it better be worth it.