Bulk buying bread flour?

valk_scot

khampson wrote: »

, whats sort of extras do you put in? I know seeds are good, what else?

30% wholemeal/70% white flour.

Honey instead of the sugar plus sunflower seeds.

Butter instead of oil, milk instead of water. (Makes a very soft delicate loaf.)

Couple of tablespoons of pinhead oatmeal or rolled oats. (Add one extra tablespoon of water per tablespoon of oats.)

Finely grated parmesan cheese and rosemary,

Finely grated ends of cheese (hard is fine) plus a spoonful of dried onion flakes.

Malt extract and sultanas.

Any mix of poppy, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Chopped dates and walnuts, plus a teaspoon of mixed spice.

Finely chopped sage leaf and dried onion flakes.

squeaky

khampson wrote: »

I am new to bread making after buying myself a bread maker, I have been buying the hovis bread mix for about 70p plus electric a loaf, but I want to be a little more adventurous and bake from scratch, I have found recipes for basic white loaf but it all seems immeasurably, like use 1 cup of flour and 1 tbs yeast ect, but I have been to the major supermarkets and yeast is sold in little 7g sachets and its all too complicated for me.

So what I want is a place to buy the ingredients cheaply in bulk so I can get the price of making a loaf down as I originally bought a bread maker to try and cut my shopping bill.

Also I want a simple recipe where I can weigh the ingredients so i can get the same consistency every time which I am not happy with using a tablespoon of this and a cup of that, so if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be most greatful.

Keith

You don't have to "measure" ingredients by weight when making bread - especially if making by hand... BUT... for a bread maker the exact proportions of ingredients is fairly critical because the machine works on a timed program. Wrong amounts will throw the timing off.

Using cup measures is simple. A level cup and a level teaspoon is easy to use and is, in fact, very precise.

A set of cup measures from the kitchen department of most superstores is usually between £1 and £2 and the same again for a proper set of spoon measures.

(Also using cup measures makes using any American recipes you might have googled very easy to make.)

Once you have your measures then you can buy any flour or yeast that you like. So you can buy Tesc0 or Arsda's own bread flour or even just plain flour (with reservations) and any bulk yeast such as Allinsons and even use fresh yeast.

So my very best advice is to get some measures and use them. Honest

zippychick

Hi Keith
Ive merged this with our bulk buying bread flour thread

The manual with your BM should have a basic recipe?Or their website?

This thread may help also - basic bread recipe in BM. If you like the "mixes", make yourself up batches of ten in little bags to save some money but still have the convenience?

Zip

Karena_3

Lidl in my area have Wrights bread mix white and with seeds 500g packets in at the minute for 69 pence a packet for anyone interested,I got some last time they were on offer and thought they were very good.

Popperwell

I can and have made my own bread before but being single now(Mum passed away a few weeks ago)is it cheaper for me just to buy my bread or make it(allowing for the cost of baking in an oven)Also if I don't manage to use all my flour, does it matter if it goes past the use by/sell by dates?

I now have a combi/microwave and may be getting a halogen oven(Can I bake bread ineither of these)which they say uses less energy than what may valled a proper oven?)

I don't think I have any more room to consider buying a bread maker...I also would hate to buy one and then not use it...

nuatha

Its a while since I costed my own breadmaking. from memory I couldn't beat the supermarkets value branded stuff, but was on a par with the major brands and cheaper than the instore bakery bread.
It depends on what you want in bread, personally I prefer home made breads so rarely buy ready made (and bought pullman tins for sandwich loaves.
I do bulk buy flour, and largely ignore the best before dates. White flour will keep longer than wholemeal stored in identical conditions, but even then I've never had wholemeal go rancid on me.
I hand make (well I sometimes use a Kenwood Chef to do the bulk of the kneading) and try to ensure my oven is fairly full when I'm baking to get the most for my money electricity wise - but then have a tendency to fill the freezers. I've never felt the need to buy a breadmaker.
Hopefully someone else will be along soon who has experience of halogen and combi ovens.
HTH

Popperwell

Thank you for that Nuatha

Sometimes you cannot beat what the shops sell items at I mean I bought some baguettes they were on offer for £1(Four)and some smaller one's elsewhere(50p)and can be put in the freezer or kept for a month in the fridge what would it cost to in ingredients and they only have to be baked for perhaps 15 minutes...

I have seen pictures of bread and cakes being baked in a halogen oven. I don't know about a combi microwave though, it might be possible because it has the option of a kind of oven affect alongside the microwave function.

This worry over watching energy has come about because I am really worried about the income I have coming or or may lose if/when benefit changes come in and as you may see elsewhere problems over Mum's meagre savings may see me having to pay full rent and community charges for a while(what she had won't last long and I have been told I have to save all my bills)and in time I have no idea if I can reapply for help again or I should say I can apply but with changes there is no guarantee I'll get it...and I am doing all kinds of thrifty tips to try and stay warm and feed myself.

For now the CAB and DWP said I'd be ok but I don't know so much...

I feel like I have suddenly stepped back 70-80 years...

alinfranglin

According to me as per your problem you have already get the help of google but you are not satisfied and so that to get best quality flour with cheap price than you can found it from big grocery shop and malls which are helpful to you.

nuatha

Popperwell wrote: »

Thank you for that Nuatha

You're welcome

Sometimes you cannot beat what the shops sell items at I mean I bought some baguettes they were on offer for £1(Four)and some smaller one's elsewhere(50p)and can be put in the freezer or kept for a month in the fridge what would it cost to in ingredients and they only have to be baked for perhaps 15 minutes..

I've yet to master baguettes despite many attempts. I have bought the par baked baguettes and crusty rolls when they are on offer.
If cost is the major priority at the moment, I'd look out for yellow stickered bread and freeze the surplus down. My local Asda seems to YS a large quantity of bread every day.

I have seen pictures of bread and cakes being baked in a halogen oven. I don't know about a combi microwave though, it might be possible because it has the option of a kind of oven affect alongside the microwave function.

I'm sure I've seen threads on here about baking using halogen ovens - OH already complains I have too many kitchen gadgets, though she does admit they all get used, and enjoys the output - but decided the spend would outweigh the savings in my case.

This worry over watching energery has come about because I really am worried abouyt the income I have coming or or may lose if/when benefit changes come in and as you may see elsewhere problems over Mum's meagre savings may see me having to pay for a little while full rent and community charges and in time I have no idea if I can reapply for help again...and I am doing all kinds of thrifty tips to try and stay warm and feed myself.

I have, and I can understand the worry. I can't help on the benefit system - though others on here probably can (my last encounter with the benefits system left me bed bound for several months because of a medical which classed me fit for work, and literally had me crawling out of the building. I would rather starve than go back through that).
Any help I can offer on the staying warm and feeding yourself front you are welcome to - though to be fair I've learned a lot of them here.
Returning to the original question, I've bought flour from Approved Foods, that was already past its best before date and not had problems.
I have half a sack of Watermill wholemeal that is dated last year and made beautiful bread this morning. In my opinion, a lot of people worry too much about best before dates and not enough about the quality of the ingredients they eat.
As I said at the beginning, I can't beat the price of the value brands, but if you have access to a supermarket that overstocks its bread than you could probably get quality brands cheaper again by looking for reduced to clear stickers.

Popperwell

I knew it might get difficult but not to this extent, just when I think things are not to bad something else comes along to make me think otherwise...

Thanks again...I hope the CAB can help on Tuesday but sadly there is only so much even they can do and they are suffering cuts of their own...