Is homemade bread REALLY cheaper?

4Moneysaver

I bake bread by hand now too. The feeling you get producing a couple of loaves, rolls etc. is terrific. I wouldn't go back to shop bought ever again. And everyone thinks you're a genius in to the bargain!

missdemeanour

I recently Freecycled my bm as have finally taught myself to make bread by hand. (I never have to measure anything anymore!)

I generally use Lidl flour, some salt, lukewarm tap water...and my sourdough.
I started the sourdough off a few months ago by creaming some fresh yeast with a little lukewarm water and some flour and leaving it (covered) for a couple of hours, before mixing it with enough flour and water to make a loaf. Then I set aside a bit of this dough, covered, for next time. With the rest, I added a bit of salt, kneaded it and made that day's bread.

The set aside bit is like a little plant that needs to be fed on a bit of flour and water every couple of days. And every time you make bread, you start with the sourdough, make your dough and save a bit for next time.

Not only does the sourdough improve the flavour of the bread, but I have found that it also stays fresher for longer. Also, although the rising time is several hours, it is possible to use the sourdough without yeast, so saving more money! If you need it quicker, you can always add some yeast to your bread dough once you've set your sourdough aside.

If you make rolls instead of loaves it saves electricity as they don't need to be cooked for so long - and of course there is less chance of them being undercooked and doughy in the middle.

ksh123

brucie24 wrote: »

:j Took the plunge and haven't stopped baking since!

Have only cooked basic white and Granary so far but all agree it's great!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to all who helped persaude me to take the leap and to any one else thinking about buying one - Go For It.

Tasty - Healthy AND Money Saving.......... does it get any better :money: :T

Where am I going wrong?? I was lucky enough to be given a nearly new BM on Freecycle complete with all the measuring cups etc but I haven't had much success I am very careful at following the measuring instructions etc but have never had a perfect loaf.
1) mixing blade is always wedged in the bread making it pretty difficult to use bread from the midde for sarnies etc.
2) There is always a part of the bread (in the middle and varying in size) that is not properly cooked so can only use the outer bread.

I tried to make a cake in it the other a day (my oven doesn't cook evenly anymore) and was furious to find I had wasted 3 eggs and goodness knows what else and the flamin thing came out like a ton brick with gloop in the middle!
So now it sits accusingly on the worktop taking up loads of spoace and I am scared to use and waste more time and ingredients. Any ideas please?

milliemonster

I love HM bread but to be honest I don't think it works out cheaper for me, because, my 5 year old son doesn't like it (he prefers plastic bread! typical!) and because I think you can't cut a home made loaf up into as many slices as you would a loaf bought from the shop so you end up using more anyway. Also a home made loaf doesn't keep well like a bought one (yes I know its cos of all the preservatives! but we're talking moneysaving here)

I now buy my premium loaves from Tesco when they're in the reduced section (at 46p a loaf) and stock up and freeze them, they're still fresh and last a few days and this I have found is cheaper for me.

ksh123

milliemonster wrote: »

I now buy my premium loaves from Tesco when they're in the reduced section (at 46p a loaf) and stock up and freeze them, they're still fresh and last a few days and this I have found is cheaper for me.

I have refused to buy any full priced bread for about 2 years now. The price is such a rip-off. :mad: How dare they charge so much for something that is elemental to life and costs so little to make :mad: (I think everyone should stop paying full price for bread and the premium cereals then they'd have to reduce their prices!)

Anyway, as a result I only buy bread when it is whoopsied or in some other way reduced and buy as much as I can then freeze it. I now have in-built yellow sticker radar and can smell reduced bread from 500 yards:rotfl:

D&DD

I usually make our bread with flour etc but at our MrT's the hovis white and hovis granary breadmixes have been on for between 26p and 29p for the last couple of months :j
These come out lovely in the Panny, they really rise well, giving a nice big loaf
Maybe it would be cheaper for some to use these for the time being seeing as they are so cheap?

*DS3 also known as fussywotsits still loves his Kingsmill toastie occassionally at £1.27 a loaf* :eek:

oystercatcher

I love our HM bread but find the BM just can't keep up. With three teenage boys and two adults we get through more than a loaf a day and the BM takes quite a bit of planning to make sure that someone is at home to take the loaf out when it is finished. It would be very difficult to manage two loaves a day and I don't have the time or inclination to make bread by hand. So we eat plastic bread preferably when it's on offer. Mr M is good for bread offers although I refuse to buy the 'longlife' stuff that is on offer at the moment. How many chemicals have they added to give it a shelf life of 10 days or whatever it is . Yuck.
I go shopping two or three times a week and always buy 4 loaves, it just vanishes. Always buy 8 or 12 pints of milk for the same reason (and I don't touch the horrible stuff!)
HM bread is a treat for us. I'm sure it is cheaper though and especially if we make 'special' bread with seeds in etc. Although the boys hate this

I'm kind of both dreading and looking forward to the boys leaving home. Will miss them like mad but not the shopping bills.

Oystercatcher

Chaz25_2

Hi,
just wondering if anyone is able to help? My electric scales are broken due to my son spilling water on them. Does anyone know as a rough guide the amount of flour I need to make a 2lb loaf eg using standard drinking mug or tbsp to measure with.

Thanks

Chaz x

brucie24

ksh123 wrote: »

Where am I going wrong?? I was lucky enough to be given a nearly new BM on Freecycle complete with all the measuring cups etc but I haven't had much success I am very careful at following the measuring instructions etc but have never had a perfect loaf.
1) mixing blade is always wedged in the bread making it pretty difficult to use bread from the midde for sarnies etc.
2) There is always a part of the bread (in the middle and varying in size) that is not properly cooked so can only use the outer bread.

Sounds as if the BM is malfunctioning to me. If you're using the correct ingredients ie STRONG flour, correct yeast (suprisingly Doves Farm Quick Yeast from Tesco seems to be best value) and following all instructions no reason it shouldn't be cooked. Do you keep the lid shut until it's finnished?!

The paddle does make a small hole in middle but haven't found it to be a problem. Has it still got it's non stick coating?

Having said all that I am only a beginner, maybe a more seasoned expert will have other answers...

sunshine6650

I have wondered the same myself a few times, Ive only made home made bread twice, both packet as hovis had 2 for £1 so thought worth a try! Intrested in making my own tho, especially as ive got into homemade things at the minute.

Does anybody have any recipes to hand? quite keen on wholemeal or seeded bread now.
Once you have the basics in the cupboard it will just be keeping th flour stocked which is reasonably priced.

I will be amking it by hand tho as no BM!

**I have just searched on the index list but couldnt see a by Hand recipe for granary.whole meal...I am going to google but there is always someone on here that has a yummy recipe to hand!
Ive only started making HM things recently & only really trust recipes i find on here as they are always yummy!!!***

Ness
x