Is it cheaper to make bread or purchase....

[MI Mom]

I am wanting to cut costs and eat healthier. I pay about $1.48 a loaf for bread. This is just white bread. I would like for us to eat healthier bread but the cost goes up a great deal. I am looking for recipes that I can make in my bread machine that would cost less than what I am paying now and be better for our bodies. Do they exist? If so, would you please share your recipes?

 

Thanks,

Audra

[SonshineLearner]

My mom grinds her flour and makes bread. I think that when she just figured out the price, it's about .80 a loaf. If you use a fresh egg... the cost would go up a bit. I've thought of doing the 5 minute bread for dinners and such... Make... keep and then just pull off a dinner sized portion....

Carrie

[Anita in NC]

It is cheaper to make your own. Especially if you buy the yeast and flour in bulk.

[Blessedfamily]

I don't make bread, but it's got to be cheaper to make than paying over $3 a loaf for whole wheat with no HFCS or preservatives. (Which is what I pay.)

[Tutor]

It depends on your sources. Here, it is about the same to make or buy healthy bread because we have access to a bread thrift store that carries pretty decent wheat bread. We like the taste of homemade better, though, and have access to bulk supplies, so we prefer to make it.

 

In our last place, it was cheaper to make it because even though there was a bread thrift store they didn't carry whole wheat bread. We also had access to really inexpensive bulk baking supplies, so baking was much cheaper and healthier than buying.

 

You'd have to look at what is available to you, I think, before determining what was the cheapest, healthiest source.

[Spy Car]

I suppose it depends if you factor in "labor" or not.

 

Bill

[Jayne J]

This is the tastiest whole wheat bread recipe ever. However, it is only cheaper than storebought if you buy ingredients in bulk. I think I figured the price (a few years ago mind you) at about 1.25 a loaf. But it is healthier.

 

2C. warm water

1/3 C honey

1Tbsp yeast

1/3C gluten

1/3C oil

2 tsp salt

5-7 C whole wheat flour

 

Combine water, honey and yeast. Combine 3 C flour and gluten, oil and salt. Mix in yeast/water, and slowly stir in remaining flour as needed. Knead 5-8 min. Cover and let rise 45 min. or til doubled. Punch down, knead briefly, form loaves and let rise 1 hour, covered. Bake at 350 for about 30 min. This makes two loaves.

 

Yeast is especially expensive--look for the bulk bags and store it in the fridge or freezer. I just about keeled over when I did the math and figured out how much more I was paying for the little packets!!

 

Honey is the other big expense. I can't tell you how to save much there--if you know, please tell me.:D

 

I have experimented and done fairly well replacing part of the whole wheat flour with other flours like spelt, or oat flour, but wouldn't advise replacing more than 1/3 of the total amount of flour.

 

Good Luck!

[athena1277]

I suppose it depends if you factor in "labor" or not.

 

Bill

 

:iagree: It's worth the little extra to save me the time of baking.

[DawnM]

We don't buy white bread so our bread is about $2.50 per loaf on sale.

 

I am just now learning how NOT to make a door stop brick loaf :lol: so I am happy about that.

 

If you factor in a wheat grinder and a mixer it will be more per loaf for a long time before paying for itself. But I personally think it is worth it for health reasons.

 

Dawn

[chiguirre]

You can buy Nature's Own whole wheat, no hcfs bread at Dollar Tree for $1. The trick is to know when they get deliveries. I know there are Dollar Trees with this deal in VA and TX, look for them where you live.

 

If you can't find this, WalMart's own brand of Whole Wheat bread (not Wheat bread) is $1.50. I've gotten store brand ww bread at Randall's (Safeway) for $1.25. You've got to read the label carefully, but IIRC they didn't have hcfs either.

 

All of these do have dough conditioners. Home made bread wouldn't, but OTOH, home made bread won't last as long or be as soft. If you have picky eaters, you may be better off with store whole wheat bread.

[Blessedfamily]

you can buy nature's own whole wheat, no hcfs bread at dollar tree for $1. the trick is to know when they get deliveries. I know there are dollar trees with this deal in va and tx, look for them where you live.

 

If you can't find this, walmart's own brand of whole wheat bread (not wheat bread) is $1.50. I've gotten store brand ww bread at randall's (safeway) for $1.25. You've got to read the label carefully, but iirc they didn't have hcfs either.

 

All of these do have dough conditioners. Home made bread wouldn't, but otoh, home made bread won't last as long or be as soft. If you have picky eaters, you may be better off with store whole wheat bread.

 

Whaaaaaaaaaat???? It's not organic, but Nature's own is a good compromise for us. I haven't found another whole wheat bread I can tolerate.

[*Jessica*]

I am not aware of where to buy ingredients other than those found in my local grocery store. Three packets of yeast cost almost $3. That is just the yeast! I don't see how I can make bread cheaper.

You can buy 2lbs from Amazon for $14.17 with free shipping. It's even cheaper at Sam's club if you have one nearby.

[LuckyDuck103]

Honey is the other big expense. I can't tell you how to save much there--if you know, please tell me.:D

Good Luck!

 

Have you tried molasses instead of honey? I have a similar recipe that uses molasses. It comes out darker and a tiny bit nuttier...

[alpidarkomama]

I just did a bread analysis here. Been wanting to do it again anyway. :)

 

Here's my recipe:

 

4 cups whole wheat flour

4 cups white flour

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup bulgur or other grain cereal (optional)

4 cups water

6 T. oil

1/4 cup sugar

1 T. salt

1 T. yeast

 

I combine all of that, let it rise until doubled, shape it in loaf pans (4 loaves, 1.5 pounds each), let it rise for an hour or so then bake it at 350 for about 40 minutes (until slightly before the hollow thumping sound; freezes a bit better). I usually do a triple batch and freeze all but two loaves. The bread easily lasts a week in the fridge, and at least six months in the freezer.

 

I buy ALL of my ingredients in bulk. Many grocery stores carry bulk yeast (at least in a 1-cup jar, if not larger.) Yeast stores for quite a while. Flours you can get online through Amazon/free shipping. I use Bobs Red Mill (which is 15 minutes from my house!). I pretty much buy everything in 25-50 pound sacks.

 

Here are how the costs break out, based on what I pay for my bulk ingredients:

 

oatmeal: $0.26

sugar: $0.12

flour: $1.52

salt: $0.03

yeast: $0.08

oil: $0.26

Bobs Red Mill 7-grain cereal: $0.32 (optional)

 

So, for four loaves it costs $2.27–2.59 (depending on whether you add the extra cup of grain or not). The cost is probably a good 40% higher if you buy small packages of yeast, small bags of flour, etc.

 

TOTAL COST FOR A LOAF OF ***DELICIOUS*** BREAD: $0.55!!!

 

(I've been meaning to re-calculate this. The price has gone up. It was $0.50 per loaf a year ago!)

[stripe]

I am not aware of where to buy ingredients other than those found in my local grocery store. Three packets of yeast cost almost $3. That is just the yeast! I don't see how I can make bread cheaper.

Do not buy yeast in packages.

Look for Fleischmann's yeast in a glass jar. My grocery store sells it for around $6 for 4 oz or so. It's marked for bread machines.

 

But if you can find a 1 lb bag of SAF instant yeast, buy that. I have found it at ethnic and natural grocery stores and at Cosco, Sam's Club, or GFS; you can search online from their website to find a store near you that carries it. I buy it for $2-3 for a 1 lb bag. (I am not sure how much the smaller packs cost.) They also carry it at King Arthur Flour, for about twice that. Keep it in the freezer and use it up within the year. It's worth it for me to just throw out what I haven't used up when it starts not working.

[Deidre in GA]

Whaaaaaaaaaat???? It's not organic, but Nature's own is a good compromise for us. I haven't found another whole wheat bread I can tolerate.

 

there's a Flower's Bakery thrift store near me. whole wheat/no HFCS Nature's Own there is about $1.29 and the freshness date can be a week or more off. they also carry the Nature's Own brands that are organic whole wheat/no HFCS; they are usually $1.49-$1.89. i go about every other week, stock up and freeze.

[abbeyej]

It costs me about $2-3 for a decent loaf of "real" bread (at Trader Joe's -- more elsewhere). I can buy 5lbs of whole wheat flour for $3 or $5 (organic). That's maybe 6-7 loaves? My recipe uses only whole wheat flour, salt, and a *tiny* quantity of yeast, so the other costs are negligible. I do sometimes replace some of the flour with other grains and / or flax seed meal, which increases the cost, but it's still very low compared to buying the "good" bread.

 

Here's the recipe I've been using as I typed it up for a friend (it's takes overnight, but requires no kneading, so it's incredibly easy to make!):

No-Knead Bread:

3C flour (I mostly use King Arthur Organic White Whole Wheat, but I've tried it with white flour -- heavenly, but coma-inducing -- and I often replace some portion of the whole wheat flour with rolled mixed-grain cereal and flaxmeal)

1/4 teaspoon yeast (yes, it's very little, but it works because of the long, slow rise)

salt (I don't measure... I think maybe the original recipe was 1/2t?)

1 5/8 C water (same as 1.5 + 2T), room temp

 

In a large mixing bowl, stir the dry ingredients together, then mix in the water thoroughly. You don't need to knead at all, but you want to make sure there are no pockets of dry ingredients.

 

Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap or damp cloth. Leave for 12-24 hours (18 is ideal).

 

With floured hands, remove the dough from the bowl and fold in on itself a couple of times, then form into a ball. Place on a floured piece of waxed paper with the seam of the ball down and cover again lightly with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Allow to sit for 2 hours.

 

Meanwhile put a heavy baking dish with lid into the oven and preheat the oven to 450. (I usually use my enameled cast iron Le Creuset, but I've also used a glass Pyrex dish with a lid. A cast iron dutch oven would probably be perfect as well.) When the dough has risen for two hours and the oven is fully heated, pull out the dish and flip the dough over into it, so the ugly seamed side is facing up. Put the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to bake for 15 more minutes.

 

You should have a lovely, crusty round loaf! It's great fresh with butter or served with soup. Or let it cool *completely* and slice for sandwiches. (I usually slice it in half, then stand the halves up and slice into sandwich bread... Seems to work reasonably well with the funky round loaves.)

 

[T Baer]

So I am not sure if it will cut the cost for us. We go to Aldi's and it's about 1.80 a loaf for WW

[Excelsior! Academy]

I think you need to factor in more than just the actual cost. I've noticed that we eat less sweets when I make homemade bread. We also have the smell and satisfaction of homemade food.

 

It is not that time consuming. Hillbillyhousewife has an overnight bread recipe. You mix it the night before, put into loaves in the morning, rise, and cook. You could have fresh bread in the morning easily this way.

 

IMO homemade bread makes better French toast, too. We also like using ours to dip in an oil and vinegar dip similar to the restaurants.

[Stacie]

I do both store bought and homemade. Homemade is much less money than store bought. I pay $8 per small loaf for the gluten-free store bought bread, but I can make it for about half that amount. Since only half of the family is gluten intolerant I buy Nature's Own for the other half. I'll have to look for it at the Dollar Tree--that sounds promising!

[kmacnchs]

My mom grinds her flour and makes bread. I think that when she just figured out the price, it's about .80 a loaf. If you use a fresh egg... the cost would go up a bit. I've thought of doing the 5 minute bread for dinners and such... Make... keep and then just pull off a dinner sized portion....

Carrie

 

Let me just say the cost of the mill and the bread maker must be added in! I don't count labor b/c it really doesn't take much time. I got my mill and breadmaker for free (a present) so it is TOTALLY worth it for me but those things cost! (esp the mill)

[Blessedfamily]

there's a Flower's Bakery thrift store near me. whole wheat/no HFCS Nature's Own there is about $1.29 and the freshness date can be a week or more off. they also carry the Nature's Own brands that are organic whole wheat/no HFCS; they are usually $1.49-$1.89. i go about every other week, stock up and freeze.

 

Wow. Thank you.

[Whereneverever]

I make specialty breads, but the bulk of the bread we buy is store bought. I live in a tiny, tiny town that has a bakery that daily sells whole wheat, preservative free, HFCS free, all natural bread- for $1.50 a loaf. And it's delicious. So I can support local business and have cheap great bread. MMMMM.

[My3Boys]

You said you wanted recipes for your breadmaker, right? Here are my 2 favorites:

 

Basic White Bread

 

1 1/4 c water

1 1/2 T oil

1 1/2 T sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 to 3 1/4 c bread flour (all-purpose is okay too)

2 T dry milk

2 1/4 tsp bread machine (instant) yeast

 

Place in pan in order given. Set for white bread, 1 1/2 lb loaf, medium crust.

 

French Bread (This is easier, cheaper and lighter tasting, and our favorite)

 

1 1/3 c water

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 T sugar

3 2/3 c bread flour

1 1/2 tsp yeast

 

Place in pan in order given. Use french bread cycle. This is for a 1 1/2 lbs size loaf but I find I need to set it on 2 lbs with medium crust setting (I have a Breadman breadmaker).

[coffeefreak]

:iagree: It's worth the little extra to save me the time of baking.

 

:iagree:

 

I am no good at making bread. I've found you really do have to grind your own wheat and invest in good quality yeast etc to make wheat bread that will rise. I don't have the time for this so, it's cheaper for me to buy bread for $2 a loaf.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

[MI Mom]

Thanks for all of the good ideas and advice. I made a loaf today and it took a total of 5 min. to throw the items in the breadmaker and push start. I plan to teach the dcs how to use the machine, so they can help me out. It will be fun for them. Using the recipe I used, the bread turned out a little heavier than we like but the taste was wonderful. I plan to try a different recipe tomorrow. I think the biggest trouble is going to be finding the ingred. at a good price. I will check Amazon like someone suggested.

 

Audra

[MI Mom]

I went to Amazon to find bulk ingred. for making bread. I found yeast that I think is a good price, but the flour I am finding is $64.99 for a 50# bag!! I can get a 5# bag at Aldi for around $1.70. Where can I find bulk flour for a good price? I tried to find a bulk food coop in my area but haven't had any luck. Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Audra

[Dobela]

Call a local bakery or a school and ask them where they purchase their supplies. Sometimes the distributors will also sell to individuals.

 

I am another that doesn't bake her own bread right now. We have a bakery thrift store that sells the Nature's own bread for $1 a loaf as well. It is always fresh so I buy up as much as I can and freeze it. It also carries other brands of great bread for less.