Is homemade bread REALLY cheaper?

Addiscomber

geordie_joe wrote: »

You and Anguk are right, using an oven is not that expensive. Also, most of the energy is used heating the oven to the required temperature. Once that has been reached it only uses just enough energy to replace the heat lost through the sides and top of the oven.

We could add into the equation that, during the cooler months, that lost heat isn't lost to the household. It contributes towards the general warming of the house.

I do have a Remoska which I use for dishes that don't take long, and they are cooked before my big oven would have warmed up, let alone cooked the item. I also use it for single items. However if I want to cook lots of stuff, or a roast dinner the big oven goes on. I don't think the cost of oven use is a problem for those of us that cook for families, but might be for single people. When I lived alone I never gave it a thought, if I wanted to eat it, I cooked it but I don't recall energy costs being the issue that they are now.

jasperconran

Hi Guys,

I need some help with an argument that I am constantly having with my OH. I get thru alot of bread, so I am thinking of making my own. My OH keeps on saying that its not cost effective cos of the amount of gas used etc etc. I cheat and buy the bread mix (about 50p i think) and was thinking about making 4 at a time so I can freeze some. what do some of you experienced old stylers think?

Me and OH are arguing constantly at the min anyway, and I would like to be able to win this argument for once!:rotfl:please help, also any tips/hints you can give me for making just plain white bread? thanks:D

taplady

I was reading the tightwad gazette last night and she says that as long as you have no physical limitation its not timesaving or moneysaving to make your own bread.
She seems to think its better to buy bread when its reduced in price and freeze it and people seem to eat far more HM bread than shop bought.
However if like us you like HM bread then carry on making your own!:)(I do a mixture of the 2)

sorry if thats no help for you to win your argument x

zarazara

I think it is worth it. HM is lovely bread,and to buy the equivalent quality you would have to spend more than what the usual sliced industrial loaf costs.

Butterfly_Brain

Well with bread on average at £1 a loaf I would say that making your own works out a lot cheaper
See this thread there are many of us who think it is cheaper

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=448840&highlight=is+using+breadmaker+cheaper

valk_scot

Depends entirely on the type of bread you eat. If you're happy with Value type white then it's definately cheaper to buy it. If you like high end bread made with any sorts of seeds, nuts or flavourings like sun dried tomatoes or herbs than you save a lot by making your own, even from mixes though it's cheaper still just to get to grips with bags of flour and yeast. Even if you want plain white or wholemeal it's still cheaper to make your own, especially if you batch bake and freeze.

Wouldn't bother arguing with your OH about this btw. If you're in charge of the cooking and household budget, do it your own way. My OH has all sorts of quaint misconceptions about food shopping and cooking which only come to light when he actually has to do any of it, goes to the supermarket, finds out how much things cost and the effort involved.

thriftlady_2

I make four loaves at once at least twice a week. I make wholemeal or granary bread which is a bit more expensive than white.

Here is the cost od making 4 white loaves.

2kg of Tesco white bread flour 82p
1 tablespoon of Dove's Farm easy-blend yeast 11p
1 tablespoon salt 1p
water

94p for 4 loaves = 23.5p a loaf

I should say these are fairly small loaves. The quantities are actually for 3 loaves but I find it goes further if I divide it between 4 loaves.

You should really take into account fuel costs for having the oven on at 220 c for 40 mins. That's where baking more than one at once is money-saving.

I would definitely say that baking your own bread was cost effective, especially as it tastes a hundred times better than the cheapest factory made loaf which has all sorts of rubbish in it.

Check out this thread.

maman

taplady wrote: »

people seem to eat far more HM bread than shop bought.

Can't add anything to your argument with OH but taplady has given my reason for not cooking my own:D

I'd say unless you want to enjoy the flavour/smell of it cooking etc you'd be better off buying whoopsies and freezing them.

Norman_Bean

H makes all our bread as here in France sliced bread is really expensive about €2 a loaf :eek: and baguettes don't keep more than a day.

He bakes a batch of 6 at the weekend and freezes them .... we do eat more HM though

I think you can get really good deals BOGOF etc in UK so could make more cost sense for you to buy deals and freeze them x

phizzimum

and if you bake the bread at the same time as cooking something else then it's not costing you any more in gas/electric