Have you guys saved money on baking stuff yourself?

[LG Gone Wild]

Dh asked about it. I am thinking of sandwich bread and bagels. I get a dozen bagels for $6 at Sams. A package of King Arthur flour is $4 or $5 then there is all the hassle of other ingredients and cooking. Other than satisfaction from doing it myself and controlling ingredients, is it really worth it?

 

I am not thinking of fancy, multigrain breads but just white bread. Is is cost effective to make your own. I do have a bread machine which I haven't been able to coax good bread out of yet.

[Orthodox6]

Bagels are more complicated than bread -- First you boil them, then you bake them. I never have tried because of that !

 

Homemade bread can be very easy, especially the "plain, unbleached white" type. I have a recipe for batter bread which is a snap to make, and never has failed me in thirty years. (does not require a bread machine, just a hand mixer)

 

I don't know about cost-effectiveness, however. I doubt that it saves any money, frankly, if your family enjoys good-quality breads. As soon as a loaf of bread is out of my oven, it disappears into whatever mouths are nearest the kitchen.

 

My "always make myself" baked goods are cakes, cookies, quick breads, and biscuits. I can't see buying commercial versions for routine use when the homemade ones are easy to make, and are so delicious. Specialty items for a special occasion from a top-flight bakery, however, fall into their own category !

 

P.S. I meant to say that I doubt any money is saved when comparing good-quality homemade baked goods against inexpensive, bad-quality commercial baked goods. (e.g. Rainbow Bread, "Twinkies", etc.)

Edited September 2, 2009 by Orthodox6

[BikeBookBread]

Regarding bread, I think we've saved money because:

 

1) before baking bread at home (BBaH) we bought $3 and $4 a loaf bread, and threw away half of every loaf.

2) we can buy our ingredients at the Commissary (military) and Costco so we save money on flour, yeast, etc. over grocery store prices.

3) now we rarely throw away half-eaten loaves, so that waste is gone.

4) our health is better: higher fiber, no additives, I control what goes in

 

Even if it didn't save us money, I think we would still do it.

 

I make my own pastries, cookies, buns, rolls, etc., too. Some are cheaper, some not. All are BETTER!!!!

[st_claire]

If we bake bread ourselves it is much cheaper, and cake especially is much cheaper. I almost always bake cake, but we usually buy bread. Sometimes time-saving is worth a bit more money.

[JennifersLost]

Bread can be much cheaper, especially if you learn to do one from a starter. I bake just about all our bread, and mine comes in at 50 cents a loaf. WAY cheaper than storebought.

 

Bagels are a lot more work, but they would also be much, much cheaper homemade.

[AnneGabe]

I've been saving a LOT of money since baking everything myself. At least $50 a month.

[Carol in Cal.]

If you get a 25 or 50 lb sack of white flour at Costco, you will definitely save money. If you buy boutique white flour in small quantities, you might not.

 

Expensive ingredients include dairy products. So, avoid the recipes that call for milk, or use dry milk in those--it tends to be a lot cheaper.

[kokotg]

I'd say you can save a lot of money baking yourself versus buying baked goods of the same quality at the store. I doubt I save much baking my own bread over what I'd spend buying the cheapest loaves at Aldi. But it's probably about the same price or a few cents cheaper and much, much better tasting and healthier.

[gardening momma]

We buy the cheap wheat sandwich bread at $1 a loaf. I haven't been able to replicate that at home. I do occasionally make homemade bread for snacking (like with butter, jelly, etc...), but not for sandwiches. I'd rather save money by making homemade muffins, cookies, quick breads, etc. than another futile attempt at getting the right consistency/softness/crumb/crust in a homemade sandwich bread. I also like to make homemade french bread, baguettes and artisan bread (I got a cool french/baguette loaf pan for that!).

 

My french bread pan looks like this:

Edited September 2, 2009 by gardening momma

[BikeBookBread]

We buy the cheap wheat sandwich bread at $1 a loaf. I haven't been able to replicate that at home. I do occasionally make homemade bread for snacking (like with butter, jelly, etc...), but not for sandwiches. I'd rather save money by making homemade muffins, cookies, quick breads, etc. than another futile attempt at getting the right consistency/softness/crumb/crust in a homemade sandwich bread.

 

If you are interested in a good old American white sandwich bread recipe...it's from Cook's Illustrated's Baking Illustrated book...pm me, and I'll e-mail it to you. It can be completed in 2 hours, and is perfect for toast, sandwiches, whatever. It is definitely not artisan, but it is soft, has that crust, crumb of American bread, and uses good old unbleached all purpose flour.

[gardening momma]

If you are interested in a good old American white sandwich bread recipe...it's from Cook's Illustrated's Baking Illustrated book...pm me, and I'll e-mail it to you. It can be completed in 2 hours, and is perfect for toast, sandwiches, whatever. It is definitely not artisan, but it is soft, has that crust, crumb of American bread, and uses good old unbleached all purpose flour.

Have you tried making a light wheat version? We don't use white bread for sandwiches. The wheat version in the store is what I'd call a light wheat. Maybe take the Cook's Illustrated recipe and substitute a little wheat for white flour?

[gardening momma]

If you are interested in a good old American white sandwich bread recipe...it's from Cook's Illustrated's Baking Illustrated book...pm me, and I'll e-mail it to you.

I tried pm-ing you, and it won't let me...do you need to change your user control settings?

[BikeBookBread]

American Sandwich Bread

From “Baking Illustrated” (a Cook’s Illustrated book)

 

Makes one 9-inch loaf

 

This recipe uses a standing electric mixer. You can hand knead the dough, but we found it’s easy to add too much flour during this stage, resulting in a somewhat tougher loaf. To promote a crisp crust, place a loaf pan filled with boiling water in the oven as the brook bakes.

 

3 ¾ cups (18 ¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup warm whole milk (110 degrees) I’ve always just used whatever is on hand, usually 1%

1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons honey

1 envelope or 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast I use regular active dry yeast, not instant, and let the liquid combo just sit a few minutes until yeast has softened

 

 

 

• Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat to 200 degrees. Once it reaches 200, maintain for 10 minutes, then turn off the oven.
  
• Reserve ¼ cup of the flour. Mix 3 ½ cups of the flour and the salt in the bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook.
  
• Mix the milk, water, butter, honey and yeast in a 4 cup liquid measuring cup. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the liquid in a stream.
  
• When dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is smooth and satiny, stopping 2 to 3 times to scrape dough off of the hook. Knead about 10 minutes. (After 5 minutes, if the dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl, add reserved flour 1 tablespoon at a time up to ¼ cup total until dough is no longer sticky.)
  
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead to form into a smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds.
  
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, rubbing the dough around the bowl to coat lightly. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the warmed oven until dough doubles in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
  
• Once risen, turn onto lightly floured work surface. Gently press the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick, and no longer than 9 inches. With long side facing you, roll firmly into a cylinder, pressing to make sure the dough sticks to itself. Turn the cylinder seam-side up and pinch it closed. Place the dough seam-side down in a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and press it gently so it touches all four sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap; set it aside in a warm place for second rise, or until dough almost doubles, 20 to 30 minutes.
  
• Keep one oven rack at the lowest position and place the other at the middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Place an empty baking pan on the bottom rack. Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Pour the water into the empty pan on the bottom rack, and set the loaf onto the middle rack.
  
• Bake until an instant read thermometer inserted at an angle just above the rim of the pan into the center of the loaf reads 195 degrees, 40 – 50 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan, transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature.
  

 

Edited September 2, 2009 by BikeBookBread

[BikeBookBread]

I tried pm-ing you, and it won't let me...do you need to change your user control settings?

 

Just fixed the setting...I posted the recipe before I saw this message...it really is good bread. I am off to make a loaf right now in fact. :)

Edited September 2, 2009 by BikeBookBread

[BikeBookBread]

Have you tried making a light wheat version? We don't use white bread for sandwiches. The wheat version in the store is what I'd call a light wheat. Maybe take the Cook's Illustrated recipe and substitute a little wheat for white flour?

 

Yes, I've tried using white-wheat and it is a bit grittier, but still works very well. It won't have that "bunny bread" texture, but still good. What I often do is do a 50:50 ratio of white to white wheat or standard whole wheat. Sometimes I use buttermilk as a substitute for milk as well which is great -- I keep powdered buttermilk on hand and sub water for the milk portion, adding the powder to the dry ingredients. There are other variations in the cookbook: the buttermilk version as above, oatmeal (you soak 1/4 cup of rolled oats in a portion of the water, and add to the dry ingredients), throwing in raisins, and one more that I can't think of off of the top of my head.

Edited September 2, 2009 by BikeBookBread

[FO4UR]

Yes!

 

I buy my wheat in bulk and mill it at home...and even the year I bought the grain mill we came out ahead.

 

In order to get a loaf of bread comparable in nutrition (meaning real whole wheat, and not "enriched" anything), we have to pay about $2.50 per loaf. I use a simple recipe and know I don't pay near that much per loaf.

 

The places I really save the $ though are pancake mix (I pre-make mine so I can whip it up half-asleep in the am:lol:), whole-wheat cookies that taste good LOL, graham crackers, cakes, etc...

 

I've made bagels once. It's a lot of work - I buy those.