There is nothing like cutting into a fresh loaf of homemade bread. The smell of it while it is cooking is intoxicating and the butter on it when it is hot is just plainly delicious!
I have never made it the old fashioned way and I just started making the Basic White Loaf this past week when we got our bread machine, which I might add, we got on FreeCycle...so you can't get much better than that!
There are various recipes in the manual from wholegrain to cinnamon raisin bread and you can make pizza dough and all sorts of other yummy things with it. I know it is cheating to a certain point but it is amazing and cheap!!!!!
I will break down the cost to make a loaf using this basic recipe:
2 1/4 cups Flour
2 tbp of Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp of yeast
7/8 cup of water
By the way, the recipe calls for a tsp on dry milk, I don't use it.
A jar of yeast makes 54 loaves so I decided to do my calculations this way and with the prices I pay for the ingredients here.
Flour = 3 1/2 bags x 5 lbs bags= 1.99 each Total Cost $7.00
Sugar = 8 cups which is 4 lbs = 1.99 Total Cost $1.99
Salt= 54 tsps Total Cost $1.00
Butter= 7 sticks x 25cents Total Cost $1.75
Yeast= Jar Total Cost $3.98
For a grand total of $15.72 for 54 loaves!!!!!!
Meaning a loaf of Basic White Bread costs 29 cents to make. Now this doesn't cost the electricity of the bread machine being on but it does put things into perspective. I will be buying flour in bigger bags if I can get it at a better price so it may even end up being cheaper than 29 cents a loaf!!!
Obviously the other loaves like the multigrain would be more expensive but not that much more besides even if it cost 1.00$ to make it would still be tons cheaper than buying store bought. The other benefit of making your own is you know EXACTLY what is in it and for me and my husband, well, we just love eating piping hot bread and butter.....So it is really a win win situation.
One thing I know for certain, I can't see myself going to buy storebought bread any time in the near future!
i just started making bread for my family of five it makes sense and saves money they love it and i know whats in it
ReplyDeleteI agree so much. My mother made bread when we were kids and we were a family of 8, once she started getting sick she stopped making it and we were buying. I just started doing it with the bread machine and love it, I know it isn't "old fashioned" homemade but still so much cheaper and better than store bought. Are you doing it with a machine or "old fashioned"?
DeleteI found this post from the sustainable ways post on frugally sustainable, along with another post showing how to have never ending yeast.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check that post out!
DeleteI've been making my own yeast bread for awhile now. Recently I read that store-bought breads not only have chemicals in them but fillers such as paper bits, etc., This definitely made up my mind to go homemade. Although I have a bread machine and food processor, I enjoy doing it the old-fashioned way. It's easy for me because I only make one loaf at a time so it's no biggy and I enjoy the accomplishment of watching my creation rise and bake.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely better for you than store bought! I have never made it the "old fashioned" way...would love to do it that way...the way my mother did it. We just got our bread machine last month but after having it all the time, there is no reason to go back to store bought. Love love love it!
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