How much does one save making their own bread?!


Question: How much does one save making their own bread!?
I picked up a bread maker at a yard sale for 10 bucks! It works well!. I don't pay the electricity bill in my apartment!. What kind of savings are realized by making my own (with bread maker) bread!? Is it half price!? Store bought bread has gone way up in price in the last few months!. Am I saving a lot by making my own!? Any idea of how much I CAN save!? 20%, 40% 50% !.!.!.!.!?!?!?Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
If we're talking about simple bread (flour, water, yeast, salt), this is how much it costs me - I live in New England:

King Arthur All-Purpose flour: $4!.99 / 5lb
Yeast: SAF: $5 / 1lb
Salt: $0!.59 / 26oz
Water: negligible

For one loaf of bread, I use:

4 cups /16oz flour = $1
2 tsp /0!.1oz yeast = $0!.03 (maybe)
2 tsp /0!.25oz salt = $0!.01 (maybe)

So, for a loaf of bread, it costs me a little over a dollar when I make it myself!. If you add oil, milk, butter, etc it will cost a little more, but nasty preservative-filled white bread in the store costs at least $1!.50 here, and nothing beats homemade bread!. The breadmaker takes all of the work out of it, too!.

Bottom line: you will save money, I would say at least 40% if not more depending on what you pay for store-bought bread!.

Www@FoodAQ@Com

If you're just doing simple water-salt-flour-yeast bread, I think the main variables are how much you pay for flour and yeast!. Flour is not cheap these days, but if you know where to look you can probably slam out a loaf of simple French-style bread for $1!.50 or a bit less, depending on how much you pay for the yeast and whether you use premium flour like King Arthur or regular stuff like Gold Medal or PIllsbury!. Www@FoodAQ@Com

It would be more expensive if you paid for the electricity!.
Bakeries save money by cooking many loaves at once!.
The price of flour has gone up dramatically, recently!.
Figure the cost of the package of ingredients!.
Then figure your labour at $10/hour for example!.
Check the wattage on the bread-maker,
multiply by the hours used, divide by 1000!.
We pay about 5-6 cents per kilowatt-hour!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

If you are making basic bread it is NOT cheaper to buy it in the store!. You can make a small loaf with two cups of flour, a little yeast sugar, oil, etc!. You can get maybe twelve cups of flour out of a bag!. How much you are saving depends on what you were buying and what you are now making!.
Do not buy yeast packets!. Go to Smart & Final and buy a bag of yeast!. It's good for at least a year!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

The main thing is homemade bread goes stale faster than the store bought stuff!. See if you can buy wet yeast since it is a dollar a pound and you can make like 50 loaves from it!. Try a small bakery for it!.

You save a LOT of money by buying flour in 20 pound or bigger bags!.

The other thing you can do is make your own mix once a week so you make less mess!. Put it into baggies!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I don't know!. You should buy the ingredients and take note of how many loaves you get out of all the ingredients and take note of the total cost of the items!. Then you can figure the cost per loaf and compare it with the cost of store-bought bread per loaf!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I just asked this question about two days ago and I bought three three-packs of active dry yeast and two bags of bread flour and powdered milk!. Total $21!. If I buy my bread I'll get five loaves for $20!. With what I bought I think I can probably make ten or more loaves!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Truthfully even though I love homemade bread it is cheaper to buy it from the store (even without factoring in not having to pay for electricity)!. Www@FoodAQ@Com

let's assume you are paying $3!.00 for a loaf of bread with maybe some herbs or seeds in it!.

now, let's do the math!. a 5 lb!. bag of flour, is about 16 cups!. it takes 4 cups of flour to make a loaf of bread!. where i am, the bag is less than $2!.00!. thats $!.50 for flour!. bread flour is a bit more!.

water is free

yeast will run about $!.85 per loaf if you get the pricy little packs!. i can get 2 lb!. for less than $4!.00!. that's about $!.10 for me

that comes to about $!.60 per loaf!.

add the cost of 'goodies' such as fat, raisins, cinnamon, dried fruits/nuts, other kinds of flour or grains, flavor extracts, dried garlic, onions, bacon bits, flavored oats citrus peels or juice!. well you get the the idea!.
the cost of the electricity is nominal!.
so if you are a really cheap person like i am a loaf of plain bread will cost you about $!.60 to $!.85 per loaf!.!.
if you add the extras, none of which are budget breakers, your cost must include them, but then you have a speciaity bread which would cost more than your $3!.00 at the speciality store or bakery!.!.
so!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.depending on where you live and the prices there, and how cheap you want to be your bread machine makes a bargain bread!. and, you cannot beat the ease, creatiivability, smell, and the taste of your own homemade bread!. then, they're are all the things you can put on top!.
congratulations, you have the potential of making one of the greatest foods on earth!.Www@FoodAQ@Com





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