Breadmakers... is it cheaper to use

oakie, Jan 23, 11:14pm
a breadmaker these days... I mean comparing it to say a Ploughmans loaf etc... can't compare with that $1.00 a loaf rubbish!

ibcreative, Jan 23, 11:26pm
I reckon it is, especially for specialty breads. I've never done a price comparison though.

ibcreative, Jan 23, 11:27pm
And even if it isn't at least you know what is in your breadmaker loaf.

magenta, Jan 23, 11:35pm
When you add up the cost of flour and yeast it is cheaper than buying good quality bread. If you add in cost of power and your own labour it is probably still a bit cheaper. However because it is so nice you will eat more of it, maybe not!

horizons_, Jan 23, 11:36pm
2 c flour = 50c
yeast = 20c
sugar = 10c
water/milk = 10c
salt = 2c
That's what goes into my plain bread and I get a large loaf or 2 sm ones.
Rye meal, bran or other flours etc add approx another 50c.
My prices are a guestimate based on the purchase price and quantity used. I also make my bread by hand and I don't always use milk and never use milk powder.

gotland3, Jan 23, 11:41pm
Does it really matter about a few cents either way. Its the enjoyment of making a loaf the way you want, when you want, and the contents you want.

ibcreative, Jan 23, 11:42pm
Wow, thanks for that horizons. That means it is considerably cheaper, not to mention tastier and better for you.

I love my breadmaker.

lythande1, Jan 24, 1:28am

coreblimey, Jan 24, 1:39am
Hi there, that is a great site that I have looked at before but never bought anything yet.Sounds like you would recommend it?I assume that the unbleached bakers flour would be an equivalent to the high grade flour from the supermarket?What a shame I don't have storage for 25kg of flour - my freezer is full!

timetable, Jan 24, 1:40am
mine works out to around 90c - 1.00 pr loaf depending on which grains we put in.. from our point of view it is healthier and cheaper and it goes alot further... but i always say each to their own.....we have noticed a difference in our food budget not buying bread and little or no difference in our powerbill... so still for us it works out cheaper... money saved to spend on other household outgoings..

timetable, Jan 24, 1:41am
core i just buy homebrand high grade flour and i find it is lovely for making bread and all my baking needs (countdown)... i think what has made a difference in our breadmaking has been buying a 1.5kg tub of supa bake yeast mix from bin inn... its got all the raising agents in one...hope that helps...

coreblimey, Jan 24, 2:01am
Hi Timetable, thanks for your reply.I use the same flour for my breadmaking - well everything actually!Buy it in 5kg bags but I think it's around $10 per 5kg and that website would work out cheaper per kg but storage is an issue for me.
The biggest thing that has made a difference to my breadmaking is also the yeast.I bought a packet of "Angel" brand instant dried yeast which has made a huge difference.Soooo much better than the surebake and other in the supermarket.I don't use a breadmaker but make it by hand and the difference was obviously from the first prooving.We don't have a Bin Inn here and I am jealous of people that do.Lucky you :)

timetable, Jan 24, 2:11am
hi core.... i used to do my bread by hand when we lived at the big farm house cos i was blessed with a coal range for riseing and then into the electric to finish off... then when we moved to the small farm house my wonderful parents blessed us with a panasonic breadmaker for christmas that year... unfortunatly we wore the poor we girl out and didn't have one for ages then God was good and someone 'gifted' us a brand new sunbeam!!i use the panasonic recipes cos i find they acutally do better than the sunbeam ones - go figure lol...
i hadn't looked at that website but i will now - thanks for the heads up!!!we get homebrand at our gore countdown for around $7 pr 5kg so that was what i stocked up on last week... now have 12 put aside and praise God that we did as was shocked at fruit and veg prices and meat this week!!we are on the last of our cattlebeast and sadly no more to come but are blessed with friends who raise 2 pigs for us each year so we will only now buy and stock up when other meats etc are on special.we have a lovely fish shop that gets fresh straight in from bluff so have a $90 order in for 3 weeks time and that will do our wee family of 3 nicely for around 3 months.have been buying in chicken when on special and find the butcher is better than the supermarket so we alternate the fish and meat stock up so that not coming out of the same officers allowance .... hang on in there kiddo you are doing a brill job.... its gonna be hard this year i reckon so anything that we can do to help each other and our own has to be good!!!and yes bin inn is fantastic!!!

coreblimey, Jan 24, 2:35am
You're right Timetable.We live on a small lifestyle block and the reason I have no room in the freezer is because it is full with 2 homekill hoggets!I have just bought a mincing machine to make our own mince and sausages - 2 kids and hubby eat a lot of mince!Our vege garden is just coming into it's own with tomatoes just starting to ripen now, courgette, apple cucs, capsicum, corn, cucumbers, beans etc coming out my ears.As much as possible I am freezing, preserving what I can.We have more beef and lamb growing in the paddock and our own free range eggs/chooks.We are quite new to this kind of lifestyle so on a huge learning curve!Loving it though :)And I really enjoy baking/cooking and now preserving - who knew!

timetable, Jan 24, 6:47am
oh well done core - its an awesome feeling i remember it well lol... so cool to get the wee house all stored up before winter.... i still do but not on such a big scale now only cos we are in town... but hey God is good cos we are still able to be semi self seficiant and it soooooooooooooooo helps with the budget... bless ya kiddo and take care... hey awesome re the mincer - what a brill idea!!i never made our own as we were blessed with a very resonablely priced butcher who handled our home kill for us lol he reckoned that having my shortbread was betta than payment any day lol...

gardie, Feb 26, 10:49am
If you want cheap bread - have a look at the easy ciabatta thread on here.The recipe is sooo simple, sooo cheap, and oh soooo yummy.Keeps well too.Watch the video - its has a few good tips.Need to start making it the day before.Go on, mix up a batch now for tomorrow.You won't regret it.(I use cooking spray on the gladwrap and my hands to shape it - also on the cooking sheet and just sift some flour over the top before leaving to rise).