*I wanna* start making my own bread

sugarwalsh

We have a bread maker, get one freom free cycle or try facebook - we have a very active 'sell and seek' group nearby. I got 2 for free, lucky as the first one broke!

I must admit that my husband used it loads to start with, but now we use it to mix and prove and bake it in the oven. It can't be cheaper than shop bought, surely, by the time you inlcude cooking etc. However, it is nicer. Last night I made fabulous baker brothers burger buns and they are amazing, especially with their slider burgers. I have also taken to making my own flat breads, nan breads and the likes. Again, not necessarily cheaper but certainly nicer. I find if something is nicer to eat you feel more satisfied and eat less...

Good luck and get stuck in, you can't go wrong.

sonastin

For a small white loaf in the breadmaker
400g strong white bread flour (currently 79p/1.5kg in Lidl, 80p/1.5kg in most supermarkets) - 21p
0.5-0.75 tsp dried fast action yeast (Allinsons green tin c. £1 for 100g. 1tsp ~ 3-4g) - 4p
1 tsp salt (29p for 750g in Asda. 1tsp ~ 6g) <1p
1 tsp sugar (£1.74 for 2kg in Asda. 1tsp ~ 5g) <1p
1tbsp oil (£1.39 for 1l in Asda. 1tbsp = 15ml) - 2p
Electricity - my panasonic is rated at 550W. Shortest program is 1hr55 for rapid white bread. I doubt it will be going full pelt on the electricity draw for the full time but for arguments sake, lets say it is. So 1.1kWh, current tariffs seem to be around the 15p/kWh mark so lets call it 20p for electricity.

Total ingredients cost is <30p, total price of the loaf is c.50p. I reckon a small white loaf from my panasonic BM is about half the size of a standard supermarket cheap loaf so you'd need to double it for the equivalent size. So, if the SM bread is less than £1, home made isn't necessarily the cheaper option. If you're paying more than that, it is.

iammumtoone

sonastin wrote: »

Total ingredients cost is <30p, total price of the loaf is c.50p. I reckon a small white loaf from my panasonic BM is about half the size of a standard supermarket cheap loaf so you'd need to double it for the equivalent size. So, if the SM bread is less than £1, home made isn't necessarily the cheaper option. If you're paying more than that, it is.

It depends on how much of the loaf of supermarket bread you would get through. There are only two of us so we tend to waste a fair bit of a supermarket loaf so our comparison would be the price of one HM loaf to one supermarket loaf. I think the OP mentioned he made bread pudding with the extra but unfortunately neither myself or my son like this. If you are a large family eating lots of sandwiches and always get through the whole supermarket loaf then I agree, it is probably not cost effective for to use a bread machine for standard bread.

However I have just made a cinnamon loaf, I didn't work out the costs but if you add to your costings a charge for a tsp of cinnamon and 5/8 cup of raisins (I used sultanas as they are cheaper) I am sure this would come out alot cheaper than the cost of a fruit loaf at a supermarket as they charge high prices for the specialty loafs.

Steveswift

sonastin wrote: »

For a small white loaf in the breadmaker
400g strong white bread flour (currently 79p/1.5kg in Lidl, 80p/1.5kg in most supermarkets) - 21p
0.5-0.75 tsp dried fast action yeast (Allinsons green tin c. £1 for 100g. 1tsp ~ 3-4g) - 4p
1 tsp salt (29p for 750g in Asda. 1tsp ~ 6g) <1p
1 tsp sugar (£1.74 for 2kg in Asda. 1tsp ~ 5g) <1p
1tbsp oil (£1.39 for 1l in Asda. 1tbsp = 15ml) - 2p
Electricity - my panasonic is rated at 550W. Shortest program is 1hr55 for rapid white bread. I doubt it will be going full pelt on the electricity draw for the full time but for arguments sake, lets say it is. So 1.1kWh, current tariffs seem to be around the 15p/kWh mark so lets call it 20p for electricity.

Total ingredients cost is <30p, total price of the loaf is c.50p. I reckon a small white loaf from my panasonic BM is about half the size of a standard supermarket cheap loaf so you'd need to double it for the equivalent size. So, if the SM bread is less than £1, home made isn't necessarily the cheaper option. If you're paying more than that, it is.

Brilliant response thanks for taking the time and effort.

Steve

Honey_Bear

I advertised on Gumtree for a Panasonic breadmaker. The first one I got paid for itself within eight months and only conked out about a month ago. We mainly eat wholemeal and as it's much more expensive than white bread, the figures depend on what you want from it.

Fortunately, knowing it was a really elderly model, I'd found another. It's a much more up to date version, bigger (but cheaper) Panasonic for when the old one broke down, again - on Gumtree. It's fantastically reliable and I wouldn't be without it.

Unlike some others, it does work out cheaper for us.

sonastin

BTW - I have to add the BM has saved us money because we weren't big fans of the cheapest white bread. By my sums, BM bread is financially comparable to the cheapest loaves the SMs sell but that was never what we bought.

I reckon it has paid for itself much quicker than I expected because it made me realise that I can make my own pizzas. BM pizza dough recipe works out as c.20p per batch which is enough for 2 x 12" pizza bases. Carton of passata ~30p (usually only use half but lets account for it all here as worst case!), ball of mozarella ~45p so I can make 2 12" cheese & tomato pizzas for less than £1. I usually add mushrooms, onions, perhaps some salami and/or some olives but I reckon that probably adds up to an extra £1 of topping. We've gone from £7 for 2 of the tesco finest range large pizzas to £2 for homemade. We probably have pizza a couple of times a month so its paid for the panny in about a year, without reckoning on the savings on bread!

(NOTE - I realise I could have made the pizza dough by hand years ago but it never crossed my mind & I didn't really know where to start. The BM was one of my first investments on the road to OS MSE!)

peachyprice

I rarely make a loaf, it works out more expensive because you just can't get that many slices out of it. If I do make a loaf it only lasts one lunchtime.

However, I do make rolls and french sticks from a 500g flour/3tbs oil/2tsp yeast recipe which works out at about 45p, this works out at half the price of supermarket rolls and sticks and much tastier.

MrsE_2

I like the BM for the dough & then bake in the oven.

Steve059

Steveswift wrote: »

<snip> have i in essence gotten that right? <snip>

In essence, yes.

I make my own bread, especially bread rolls, for special occasions. You invite a lady friend for dinner and both the soup and the bread rolls are hand made ...

I also just for the fun of it. Sometimes I do it just to spite Baronet Gideon and IDS. Kneading dough is a great stressbuster and good upper body exercise.

However, I still also buy and freeze supermarket budget brand sliced white bread for fried bread for breakfasts, fried sandwiches when you're a bit drunk (cooking when very drunk is not a good survival strategy), and croutons for soups.

Use your loaf (pun completely and utterly intended).

Mimi_Arc_en_ciel

Ok, im tempted to make some white rolls by hand.... anyone got a fool proof recipe? x