Is homemade bread REALLY cheaper?

LondonDreamer

Honestly, it depends on the cost of your ingredients.

I just priced my chocolate cake and it costs about £2.50 to make, although it can be closer to £3 depending which ingredients I use (more expensive cocoa, etc). The nearest ready made version is £4.50 from Mr T, so it's still a good saving. I'm not too sure about the cakes you can get really cheap though, e.g. victoria sponges for £1. They may not be cheaper to make (haven't costed it to be sure though) but will certainly taste better homemade.

I think biscuits are usually cheaper to buy, particularly if you like the value varieties. As an example, I love Mr T's value plain chocolate digestives which are 45p for 300g. You can barely buy the amount of chocolate needed for that price. So I tend to buy most basic biscuits and only make the fancy (M&S style) ones which are expensive.

Someone asked a similar question yesterday, so here's some more replies: Cheaper to make everything from scratch than buy?

OrkneyStar

Depends what you make really!
Also if you put things in the oven with other things or switch it on simply for the cake/biccie!

the_cat

Priced piece for piece, it probably doesn't look like it will save a huge amount

The thing we find though is that one piece of HM cake etc is far, far more filling than the shop equivalent as it is not pumped full of cr=p to bulk it out.

Poundland do some reasonable baking tins etc which would last a reasonable while - I would start off with a baking sheet, 2 sandwich tins and a loaf tin if you want to try bread (or just make rolls and put them on the tray!)

SailorSam

anhf wrote: »

Can anyone help me with a good recipe?

We normally eat white bread and I know that isn't healthy but I have been trying brown bread too which is okay. I'm not too fond of having seeds and the sorts in the bread though as it makes it too chewy.

I make my own and normally do 70% wholemeal and 30 white, as in the panny booklet and it's lovely.
Having said that the one i made yesterday didn't seem up to the norm for some reason, then i've just realised as i read this thread ..... i can't remember putting any Stork in, still it was ok in soup.

bees**knees

Get hold of the Be-Ro cook book - a bargain around £1.50 I think. Simple easy recipes that really work!

http://www.be-ro.com/index.asp

Go to 'about us' and scroll down to link to buying cookbook. Also think they sell it in Morrisons.

Cool_Mint

No it usually costs more to bake your own because you can't compete with the economy of scales but when you bake your own you can use better quality ingredients, also the supermarkets sometimes just don't bake 'em right! Flapjacks are easy to make and they should be chewy with a crispy crust but the ones in supermarkets are soggy to the point of being inedible.

SailorSam

the_cat wrote: »

The thing we find though is that one piece of HM cake etc is far, far more filling than the shop equivalent as it is not pumped full of cr=p

Home made is not just more filling, it's more fattening.
'cos you can never stop at one piece, it's so nice you have to eat the lot.

adelight

Get two loaf tins so you can bake two at once, and also throw in a tray of scones(cheap and easy) and maybe even the dinner to make the most of the oven being on. Traybakes and flapjacks are cheaper at home, especially compared to those $$$ tubs of a few little squares of brownie!!
Keep your eyes peeled for whoopsies. Reduced bread is especially good imo, noone wants to buy it so you can pick it up for pennies and turn it into bread pudding or freeze and use for toast!

Aside from baking, dried pulses are an excellent way to bulk up a meal. Adding 5 portions of dried beans/lentils to a stew will cost you 10-20p(depending on variety) and will fill up your family and give them lots of fibre

angeltreats

While you're in Poundland, also see if you can find a cheap muffin tin. Muffins are dead easy to make and very economical as you can basically throw in whatever you like

Oh and if you're wanting to use chocolate in your baking and can afford a bit better than Tesco Value, Lidl and Aldi do 100g bars of chocolate for 99p each. They come in dark (I think 55% cocoa), white and milk (and I think some other variations like fruit & nut) and they are by far my favourite chocolate for cooking. Lidl also do lovely jam at reasonable prices which is great for Victoria sandwiches, bakewell tarts etc.

Sorry one more thing - if you are going to make muffins, frozen berries (again try Lidl) work out really economical. You can just throw them in frozen, no need to defrost.

Penelope_Penguin

anhf wrote: »

Is it cheaper to bake breads at home than purchasng them from the shop? I normally go for Kingsmill and Hovis and don't know how much it would cost for making bread at home in general vs buying bread.

oompahloompah wrote: »

Anyway, I was thinking about starting to bake, but never having done it before I will need to invest in some equipment - tins etc - so don't want to unless it will definitely save money.

Most old stylers think making your own is not only cheaper but much better :T

I'll add thse thread tio the exisitng one to give you more suggestions.