How much to make bread

abwsco

as title really as I'm still debating if I can afford a breadmaker as I want the Panasonic one. Realised that it usually costs me between 60p - 90p for a large loaf of wholemeal bread from the supermarket and as my family eat loads it seems to be costing a fortune. TIA.

melancholly

i can't think to work out at this time of night how much a loaf in the breadmaker is - now much at all though. and you get to set it on timer so you wake up to find fresh warm bread. it also won't have as much salt or as many preservatives in as supermarket stuff. in the long run it will probably save you money, but also has other advantages too.

apple_mint

I have the Panasonic breadmaker ... and if it broke down tomorrow I'd dash out to get another. We used to buy 5 seeded wholemeal loaves and OH worked out that we make ours for less than half the price of shop bought (and for larger loaves). The big bonus is that our loaves taste better ... I never buy a sandwhich when I'm out shopping as it is now just a chewing exercise ... whereas BM loaf sandwiches are a real pleasure. Our BM is set to finish at 6 am this morning, so we have lovely fresh bread for our toast and lunch boxes. To be honest cost doesn't come into it anymore, we just love the taste and the ability to have really fresh bread as and when we want it. We also make bread roll dough and pizza dough in ours.

thriftlady_2

I don't use a breadmaker,but it costs me 33.2p to make one 2 lb wholemeal loaf.I haven't calculated the cost of fuel.I know you can buy really cheap bread.I believe that hm bread can be made for the same price as a value loaf but with the same quality as one of those posh artisan-style loaves the cost over £1.So you can save money and get a better product.

Here's a breakdown of the cost(if you're really interested )
1 white bread flour - 15.9p
1/2 lb wholemeal bread flour - 13p
1 tsp easy-blend yeast - 4p
1 tsp sugar - 0.3p
1 tsp salt - neg.

Total - 33.2p

I make 3 loaves at a time so that saves fuel costs.

Mr_Proctalgia

At a rough guess my plain white loaves cost a little over 20p each and wholemeal/brown loaves about 28p ish. Its hard to say as I get my flour from Lidl @47p per 1.5kilo but I mix it with the el cheapo white at 17p a kilo also last week yeast was free with flour in Morrisons and the rest costs next to nowt as well. I now hand bake and batch cook 4 at a time in the gas oven so saving there as well, and, if I'm really organised some pizza, cheese scones and yorkshires will go in as well, then whilst the oven is cooling stale bread goes in to make breadcrumbs for later use.

If it is of help to anyone yesterday I bought a pack of Lidl pre mix bread at 87p for a kilo, it made 2 enormous Rye breads and will probably last me over a week. Well worth it IMHO as Rye can be a bit of a so and so to get consistent results.

halloweenqueen_2

I also get my bread from lidl - I haven't found anything I like using better. I also buy the dove farm yeast from lakeland, £1 for a box that makes quite a lot of bread, i think they have them in tesco as well - not sure if its the same make.
I usually make rolls as it doesn't take so long in the bread maker and I use the same heat as I'm using to cook the dinner, so no extra cost there.
the other thing I use, is marvel milk powder instead of fresh milk. My recipe uses 1/2 pt milk, so a couple of tablespoons of marvel and make it up to the half pint with water. Nobody noticed the difference and I actually think it improed the taste.

melancholly

halloweenqueen wrote:

My recipe uses 1/2 pt milk, so a couple of tablespoons of marvel and make it up to the half pint with water. Nobody noticed the difference and I actually think it improed the taste.

my BM recipe book actually asks for powdered milk! and i agree, no-one would know it from the taste. I tend to add one tablespoon per cup of water.

squeaky

My basic white loaf costs about ten pence.

27p for a pack of value plain flour (which makes three and a bit loaves)

Free yeast from the bakery counter at my Asda

I tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt


Optional extras at a penny or three each are a dollop of a fat or a glug of oil, and one tbsp of milk powder.

seraphina

I think the major expense is what kind of flour you use.

For my first breadmaking efforts, no expense was spared and I used Dove Farm Organic which cost me £1.45 for 1.5kg :eek: - you would get 2x2lb loaves out o f that.

I am now down to Allison's strong bread flour at 81p/1.5kgs and there is no difference between that and Dove Farm Organic. Next I plan to use Tesco's own brand at 51p/1.5kg and taste again. I make 3lb's worth of dough and make a 2lb and 1lb loaf every time to save on oven costs. I would make more but I'd run out of tins and I'm not sure of the dough capacity of my Kenwood Chef!

I like the idea of mixing cheap flour with not-so-cheap flour and will give that a go soon!

thriftlady_2

squeaky wrote:

My basic white loaf costs about ten pence.

27p for a pack of value plain flour (which makes three and a bit loaves)

How does using plain flour compare with using bread flour Squeaky?I was under the impression that you couldn't make a good loaf unless you used strong bread flour?

squeaky

It works just fine. The problem you can run into with breadmakers is that it might take slightly longer to rise, the program doesn't give it enough time, and so you get a brick.

I normally set mine to make dough. Then I keep an eye on it until it has risen enough, then set the machine to bake. If the timings turn out to be close (usually to a wholemeal program) then you can go back to full programs when you get the hang of it.


For hand making, or for dough for rolls or pizza you'll not notice any difference.

There's a similar thread listed in the Complete Breadmaking collection and I've linked it below:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=736363#post736363