Price of a loaf of bread!

katiep_2

This is very un-mse of me, but I have to admit that when I do my supermarket shop, I tend not to look at the price of the stuff I'm chucking into my trolley - until yesterday. I was checking the difference in the price of the bread we usually buy, compared to the loaf I had to buy last week coz they were out of stock of my usual, and if I'd have been sitting on a chair, I'd have fallen off it! :eek: :eek: :eek: It's gone up about 40p a loaf! :eek:

So, what I'm wondering is if it's more economical to start to bake my own, baring in mind that the slices will probably be considerably thicker than a shop bought loaf. Has anyone figured out how much a home baked loaf costs?

soappie

It's definitely cheaper using a bread maker. I use top grade flour and yeast and reckon a loaf costs me (including electricity) about 35p.

It's also more economical in that I'm not throwing away the stale end of loaf. I used to buy 3 'quality' loaves of bread a week, I now make the same number in the bread maker so I'm actually saving around the cost of two 'quality' loaves of bread - i.e. about £2.50 (last time I checked the price - it's possibly more now!). This means I will have recouped the cost of the breadmaker within the year. (I bought the expensive panasonic one).

Other pluses are that the bread tastes fantastic and there are less additives.

katiep_2

Oooh - lots cheaper :j

So the next inevitable question is what breadmaker to buy? I can't really stretch to the panasonic at the moment, and would ideally like to spend under £50.

Penelope_Penguin

We OSers have been worrying about this for a while now - price of bread and milk.

Penny. x

Pink.

Hi katiep,

These older threads might give you some idea of the cost of making a loaf:

Is homemade bread REALLY cheaper?

Energy Cost of a bread machine

Postive and negative comments on breadmakers please?

Breadmakers and costs of loaves

I've averaged out the cost of my ingredients and find it costs between 30p and 40p for the ingredients for a 2lb loaf depending on what flour I'm using and whether or not I'm adding seeds etc.

For more threads on the pros and cons of breadmaking have a look in The Complete Breadmaking Collection.


Pink

MadDogWoman_2

katiep wrote: »

Oooh - lots cheaper :j

So the next inevitable question is what breadmaker to buy? I can't really stretch to the panasonic at the moment, and would ideally like to spend under £50.

Hi Katie,

This is the one I got for Christmas:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-Stainless-Fastbake-Breadmaker/dp/B00065IA6U/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1199273292&sr=8-2

It is really easy to use and the bread is lovely. It also makes jam - not tried that yet.

HTH

MDW

beemuzed

Definitely cheaper and tastes better too.

katiep_2

Thanks Pink-winged.

I'll spend my lunch break reading through those!

Pink.

katiep wrote: »

Oooh - lots cheaper :j

So the next inevitable question is what breadmaker to buy? I can't really stretch to the panasonic at the moment, and would ideally like to spend under £50.

I have the Morphy Richards fastbake and I love it. According to most people who post on here the panasonic is a better machine but the MR comes a close second.

It's on offer at the moment in Amazon for £46.52 delivered.

Pink


Edit ooops cross posted with MadDogWoman.

scotrae

DH has been suggesting we should get a machine for years because his mum's makes gorgeous bread. Now that our usual 'half and half' breads seem to have gone up to around £1.20 and I'm trying to budget £25 pw for groceries this month, I'm giving in ... although he won't know that til his birthday next month as I'm going to present it to him then!

I'm gutted that I've missed a fab offer on Amazon but the Panasonic one is still almost 20% off.

Good luck!

dolly_day_dream

Can I suggest that you look in charity shops or freecycle. I bought my Panny for £17.50!!! It isn't the most up to date model but it does make lovely bread. There are two breadmakers on my freecycle this week. It seems that some people just don't get on with them though I suspect that with all the price hikes comming more and more people are going to be using them.