How much cheaper is it to bake your own bread??

hello007007

I normally buy a loaf of bread from Adli for 49p. Its a thick, white, toast bread. Its very nice however, sometimes it a bit hard and for this reason I sometime find myself buy a loaf for 75p.

I am thinking about baking my own, I have no bread baking experiance so will be looking to buy a bread maker (and an electric knife to cut the loaf nicely).

Can someone recomend a bread maker, the loaf need to be long as I need to make at least 5 thick sandwiches from each loaf (for school lunches the next day). If I could use it to make small buns too - it will be a bouns.

How much cheaper is it to make your own?
How long does it take?
If I will mostly buy a bag bread mix to use with the bread maker will it be more expensive or the same as a shop brought loaf?.

kathrynha

I don't think making your own bread will be cheaper.


You have the initial outlay for the bread maker which will be at least £30 plus flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil, electricity. Add to that the electric knife you say you need, although in my opinion it won't cut you bread that nicely, and with a regular bread knife it's just down to practice.


Most bread makers make a square loaf, not a long one, but your requirements for number of slices might change, as homemade bread is denser than sliced white so more filling.


Bread makers can be used for just the kneading and first proving stage if you want, allowing you to shape it and bake it traditionally in the oven if you want, but obviously that add to the time it takes.

My bread maker takes between 3 and 4 hours depending on the type and size of loaf.

The bread mixes I don't find are worth it, as it is so easy to do it yourself. Some of my recipes require weighing, but most work on cup and spoon measurements.

SailorSam

I reckon i can go and buy a loaf much cheaper than when i make one. But if you want your bread to taste like bread, you're going to pay a lot more in the shops than it costs to make your own.

Farway

All the above, plus bread mixes would not be cheaper for bog standard but do make a nice change for something more exotic, such as tomato & chilli, onion, seeded / malted types

On offer in Waitrose at present BTW, 66 or 74p depending on type

suki1964

Home made bread is delicious once you get the hang of it

Many moons ago I bought a bread maker and tbh is was carp. Make good tea loaves etc but bread- yuck

The cheapest bread recipe is strong flour, yeast, a tsp of salt and sugar and a bit of olive oil

I buy the cheapest strong flour from tesco 95p and it makes perhaps 3 smallish loaves or 18 rolls. I prefer to make rolls

You have to factor in time and oven energy.

Time is about 20 mins, oven energy depends on what else you are using the oven for

Rolls take around 10 mins to cook. However because there are no preservatives in them they can be chewy within 24 hrs

I make mine the night before, prove over night in the fridge , shape and bake them just before eating them and believe me, the bread is delish

Bread making by hand isn't hard or time consuming. If like me you have no power in your arms to knead, pulling and stretching the dough works. I do use my kenwood to get everything going but always finish by hand as I think you get a better finished product

The most important part is knocking the dough back after the first rise so you don't get huge air bubbles

Upsidedown_Bear

Thread here you might want to read:
Breadmakers - are they worth it?