is it cheaper to make your own bread rather than buy it?

[milkgoddessmakesthefinestmilk]

if so where do i begin!

i use the ordinary yeast not fst acting it seems to work just the same and is alot cheaper

i use it to make malt loaf and gingerbread as well.

You can make your own naan bread too if you use yogurt instead of water and cook it flat on a griddle thingy.

i make sourdough, no yeast needed. just water (half white half wholmeal) flour salt and honey. doesn't go off either. very little kneading and no tin. ideal really but it is a bit rustic.

i have got a kitchen aid mixer which does all kneading etc for when i make fancier bread.

100% wholemeal will make a very solid loaf, i usually bung in a few tablespns of honey and a large handful of sunflower seeds pulverised. salt is preservative and is also essential or it tastes dreadful.

scooter would a cast iron griddle pan, be the sort of thing to make a nan on? would you do it in the oven or ho b? or grill

fishie i love thoses kitchen aid mixers

I've got a cast iron griddle and I use the flat side but I expect stripy nan would be fine. I make mine in the Kitchenaid too

We get the strong bread flour and dried milk powder from Lidl which definitely helps - it seems to work just as good as Tesco etc flour/milk and is alot cheaper. You might be able to buy bread about to go off for cheaper but homemade bread is sooooo lovely....

I think it's cheaper, especially if

• you buy breadmaker cheap(er) at ebay or bootsale (or better still, on freecycle, if anyone has an unused one)

• buy flour (strong) in bulk (I buy 25 kg bags)

• don't use milkpowder (haven't noticed much diffrence whe ncutting it out) and use oil instead of butter

And although adding seeds is adding to the costs a bit, it is very very nice. And healthy too...

oh don't make me with your kitchen aid!
you lucky gits !

im going for itthe breadmaking that is

where can you buy flour in bulk then and can I get it online/delivered?

Capital Investment: If you buy the top-of-the-range Panasonic @ £99 and make 3 loaves a week for 2 years, that is 31p per loaf towards the initial cost.

Strong white flour and wholemeal is about 75p a bag (I use Dove Farm Organic) and a bag makes about loaves.

half an ounce of butter, tsp of salt and sugar - about 6p

.75 tsp dried yeast about 5p max.

So that's about 67p per 400g loaf before electricity but including capital costs, for good organic wholemeal - much cheaper than any of our local shops. Would be cheaper if you buy a cheaper breadmaker or factor in the capital costs over more loaves or years.

I generally use half and half strong wholemeal and strong white, or sometimes make a spelt loaf.

If you buy one on ebay etc - MAKE SURE YOU GET THE INSTRUCTION / RECIPE BOOK that goes with your model.

i buy yeast in a tin. it's a bit less expensive than in the sachets.

for us, it definitely saves money because we live in a rural area, and if we ran out of bread it would mean a 4 mile drive to the nearest wee shop, which charged extortionate prices.

we buy flour in bulk in Costco a couple of times a year.

we do use milk powder, but again, it's bought in bulk in Costco and i like to keep some to hand no matter what in case we run out because again, it's a rural area.

MUch cheaper. I've not been able to make bbread at the mo as it plays havoc with my morning sickness, but we usually make all our bread, and even with the electricity factored in, it's much cheaper. I used to just make it by hand but my mum bought us a breadmaker for christmas and it's really good.

I buy bulk bags of yeast from flourbin.co.uk, I keep it in the freezer & use it from frozen & a £2 bag lasts me nearly a year (and I make bread most days).

I buy strong white flour by the sack from Costco & other flours from floubin website

thanks for the site, batgirl!

was wondering where to source yeast even more cheaply.

i'd love to make my own starter, but it needs to be kept warm and so far we've just not got the weather for it.

nothing much on ebay atm, although i can make it by hand for now to practise

try freecycle.

amazon also runs special offers on them often enough.

hi expat, ive tried freecycle. although ill keep checking

try gumtree and charity shops, too.

Just make it by hand. Takes me about 20 minutes, and that makes 6 loaves at a time. I freeze 3 or 4 of them, and that does us a whole week.
Off to look at that website now

I just use flour (any mix of white - grannary and wholmeal, mixing the flour make it not so dense) and yeast, sugar, salt with water.Each loaf cost me 30 p in ingrediants - have no idea of electric costs.

Like another post stated though it stops me shopping for a loaf and coming home with a basket full for £5.

Plus even if you use cheap unponce flour it doesn't have all the crap in the loaf and taste so much better.

i always use warm water.

Wrights cake mix are nice to in a bread maker for £1.50 quick and easy and fill the house with lovely smells.

Don't waste your money on a breadmaker, but if you find one cheap or free second-hand go for it!

I make our bread, it works out cheaper but I buy cheap flour in bulk. I also make pizza bases, rolls for lunchboxes, pitta bread and naan bread and it does work out quite cheap really. Our weekend lunches of lentil soup and home made olive bread works out really really cheap!

Once you get the hang of making dough, you can add all sorts of stuff, it is quite fun, especially if you involve the DCs.

Cinnamon raisin buns, banana bread, cheesy bread, olive bread, pesto bread, honey and sunflower seed bread, add pureed root veg for some vegetable bread, ditto pumpkin bread (with nutmeg), onion bread, garlic bread...

I'm hungry now

Did I mention rosemary and garlic foccacia?

Our local health food shop orders DOve's Farm bread flour in big bags for me, and I can then have it delivered by a bicycle delivery service - how cool is that..