With the high price of bread now, is it economical to make your own? Has anyone done a comparison? I am interested because I have a barely-used Breadmaker and am thinking of getting it out of retirement! mrs cucine
shaun16,
Apr 14, 4:34am
i doubt its cheaper. flour and other ingredients are getting more expensive all the time. then theres power and youre time etc. the upside is you know whats going into it, and you can wake up to warm fresh bread or make it whenever you want or need it
harrislucinda,
Apr 14, 4:36am
wellcouldbecheaperdependshowmuch you go thruthenthereisthefailedonesthatawasteofflournowevery onedoeshavefailures
nzl99,
Apr 14, 5:14am
I don't know if it's cheaper for your average loaf of bread... I know I can make ciabatta, foccacia and other breads for a hell of a lot cheaper... use my breadmaker all the time for the dough mixing.
cucine,
Apr 14, 6:20am
Knowing what is in it is a big plus, shaun16, so think I will go for it... nzl99, could you share your ciabatta recipe please? Thank you!
pickles7,
Apr 14, 6:58am
....cucine....The flour is the cause of a lot of failures, I bought some bread improver from Bin Inn and have found my bread has been coming out way better. I also like to be around to make sure my bread maker is not struggling, if it is, I add another 1 or 2 Tbsp of water, depends on how dry the mixture is looking. The best part of making your own bread is it is more filling than the bread you buy.
lythande1,
Apr 14, 7:28pm
Buying 5kg bags of flour from Pak N Save, add yeast and water, a smaller than shop sized loaf, I worked it out to be 60c a loaf. Depends what you buy, what you add to your loaves and the size you make them.
You can buy 20kg bags dirt cheaper (cheaper than the 5kg pak n save price) from Silverdale flour people.
horizons_,
Apr 14, 8:07pm
Definitely cheaper to make your own, and much more rewarding. I love the smell of it baking.
cucine,
Apr 14, 8:55pm
Thank you, everyone, guess what I will be doing this weekend! We only have a New World where I live so will be stocking up next time we visit the big smoke. Again, thank you.
lilyfield,
Apr 14, 9:36pm
lots cheaper and better. 20 kg flour my last one worked out at 80 cents a kilo.
ashanti,
Apr 14, 10:38pm
I make our own bread in the breadmaker, fruit loaf especially as it is so dear to buy. Buy 7 grain mix from bin inn when we get over to kerikeri occasionally, would like to find a supplier of really good whollegrain.
bearskin,
Apr 15, 12:22am
For the last few months I've been baking Sourdough bread every weekend. Considering the price of a similar loaf at our local market ($10) it is very economical. Yes, I have had to go through the process of creating the "starter" and the process is mildly long-winded, but the bread is amazing and lasts almost all week - usually finish it up on Thursday (and then start looking forward to Sat afternoons new loaf!)
We still buy a loaf a week from Foodtown for the kids - we like the Rustic White which is often around the $3 mark.
icefinery,
Apr 15, 3:41am
I calculated it for our breadmaker making a 750 gram loaf. All up the ingredients costs us 95 cents per loaf as compared to $2+ from countdown. And usually when we manage to go shopping the cheap bread is all gone so we have to buy the $3.50 stuff. It helps that we have a Moore Wilsons down the road from us.
buzzy110,
Apr 15, 4:00am
Never a truer word has been spoken. Homemade bread is definitely more filling so even if a loaf turns out to be the same price, the amount you eat is certainly less.
The only problem I have discovered from reading these threads is that very few people understand how to make a bread that will last longer than one day, before it goes stale. In fact some people complain their bread is not very edible once it goes cold.
Crack that problem and you are away.
I love making bread by hand, (not using a breadmaker) and that is all we eat, but very few people want to be knocking up loaves of bread every week (which is how long mine lasts before I have to cut up the rest of the loaf for the freezer) and you have to decide whether you want to be tied to weekly breadmaking. Because we don't eat a lot I don't have to bake more than fortnightly and usually even longer goes between bouts of breadmaking.
mothergoose4,
Apr 15, 4:45am
Ashanti, would you mind giving me some hints for making good fruit bread.I never seem to have much luck.Bread itself is fine, but the fruit is not evenly spread throughout the loaf.Miaybe it has something to do with the sultanas - I guess they are heavier than the other ingredients, and so they fall to the bottom???
nzl99,
Apr 15, 4:48am
Sure can!Is just in the comments under the photo :-)
That is where the bread improver comes in. I am sure my bread stayed nice for three days, when there is only two eating the bread, you do have to look at the keeping quality. We eat it as bread for two days, then toast the third, nothing for the birds.
buzzy110,
Apr 15, 6:10am
Actually I don't think the bread improver is important. You had the idea when you mentioned adding extra water into the dough if you thought it was too dry. Dough hydration and kneading are the key to long lasting bread and sour dough outlasts everything else, even commercial breads. After a week on the bench, my sour dough is still fresh but it starts to loose that gorgeous sour taste after a week so I freeze what is left over.
pickles7,
Apr 15, 7:11am
The extra water is to save my bread maker from grunting, but yes it dose make for a moister loaf.The balance has to be right or the bread sinks, as it cools.
ashanti,
Apr 17, 2:53am
Mothergoose4, I have a panasonic breadmaker which has alittle extra lid thingy up top which adds the fruit at a certain point in the cycle, before that, when I had a cascade breadmaker I would just add them as teh last thing I put in the breadmaker, they were mashed up a bit more, but usually got a good spread of fruit through teh loaf. I put nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice, ground cloves, and allspice in my loaf, but I never measure what spice I put in, just tip it in and I usually seem to get it right lol.
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