ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Gluten Free Review: Glutino English Muffins

Updated on November 15, 2012
Egg McGlutenless
Egg McGlutenless

Score: 6.5/10

I love Egg McMuffins. They're so simple. So easy. So international! I mean, think about it: Canadian bacon, American cheese, and an English muffin! Wow! So many countries wrapped up in one relatively healthy, delicious sandwich. Yum.

But then the gluten thing happened and I was left McMuffinless. No more staying up all night so I could head over to MickeyD's when they opened and grab some breakfast. No more finding out my first lesson was canceled and running down to the nearby McDonald's to get a breakfast value meal. I was so sad. After at least twenty years of filling my life and my stomach with McMuffiny goodness, we had to break up and go our separate ways.

It's true that an Egg McMuffin is a very simple sandwich, but that doesn't mean that it's easy to make. Getting the proper ingredients together while I was in Japan was almost impossible. Kraft singles barely exist outside of "international" markets, I always had to check the ham for gluten (usually in the form of soy sauce), and the selection of gluten free breads was pretty disappointing. Some "hamburger buns" I bought online made from straight up rice flour worked well enough as English muffins if you microwaved them forever, and finally I was able to put together something McMuffin-like. Not perfect. But it worked for at-home breakfasting (or lunching or dinnering) purposes. Of course, making that darn egg was always a challenge.

Then I came to America, where gluten free breads are a little easier to find. (Only a little.) I started my American McMuffin Experiment with one more ubiquitous brand of English muffins that had a texture that was kind like gnawing on dried glue. The flavor wasn't awful, a bit like burned rice, but it was the only brand I could find until one day I happened upon Glutino. And I almost passed up on the Glutino. Why?

Let's just say that Glutino and I ... have issues. Namely, out of all the Glutino products I've tried, very few have been any good. Their frozen dinners are disgusting, their cookies are bland, their crackers come broken into small pieces and their breads are too chewy (bagels) or too crumbly (Genius) with a very underwhelming flavor. I don't know why I keep giving them chances except that my choices are so limited here in Hawai'i that I just don't have very many options.

Well, I bought the Glutino English muffins despite all that. And they actually taste good, but I should point out that they do not taste like English muffins at all. They taste more like corn muffins and there's also something a little eggy about them. In the photo above you can see how yellow they are, and I'm not sure if it's corn or egg or both, but either way they are quite yellow. Anyway, they do make a decent fake McMuffin, even if the flavor is a little off.

However. The texture leaves something to be desired. They're plenty soft, but first you have to microwave them (especially if frozen) and then toast them. And after that you're going to find that they're a little crumbly. They already have cornmeal or something on the surface that constantly snows down while you eat, and then with the crumbliness, well, you do want to make sure you hold your sandwich over a plate. They were especially crumbly if I just thawed and toasted them without microwaving. Microwaving and then toasting seemed to make them hold up a lot better, but they still snowed quite a bit.

So how do I score these? They don't taste like English muffins, but they're tasty anyway. And they're light and fluffy, but they do crumble a lot if you're not careful.

I think I'll give them a 6.5/10. They're better than just average, but they don't taste like or resemble the thing they're supposed to be (except for the shape). The texture is okay, but they require too much work to be truly edible, and so much of the bread flakes and falls off when I cut them to put them in the toaster. And forget eating them on-the-go! They dry out too much and fall apart if you don't eat them warm.

Pros: Tasty, fluffy

Cons: Requires too much preparation, falls apart otherwise

Verdict: Will buy again for at-home breakfasting, but still looking for a good English muffin

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)