[MomToTwoBoys]

I made bread last night and DH asked me, "How much does it cost you per batch to make the bread and is it less than you pay in the store?". I told him I'd have to figure out how much the flour was, so I sat down today and did the breakdown:

A 10kg bag of flour (on sale) - $8.98
10kg = 22lbs
1lb = 16oz
1c of flour = 5.75oz
2.78c per 1lb of flour
61.16c of flour per 10kg bag (22lb bag) of flour

At the price of $8.98 per bag of flour with the above calculations, you're spending $0.50 per loaf of bread for just the flour alone. With the white sandwich bread recipe that I have, that's about $1.50 for the recipe (it makes three loaves).

 

[nuisance26]

~Your calculations are interesting. I did a similar calculation last year.
I dumped a 5lb bag of flour in a big bowl and measured it out cup by cup. The 18 cup estimate I had seen online was correct.
Then I just had to divide the price of the bag of flour by 18 cups. So $1.80/18= $.10 cup.
My recipe for two big loaves uses 6.5 cups(that includes all flour used in kneading and shaping!) so that's $.65 for 2 loaves or $.33 per loaf for the flour.
Personally I think you get a better bang for your buck by making French/Italian style bread. It has no milk, oil or eggs. Just the yeast, salt, water and flour. And my 7.5 cup recipe makes 2, huge 18 inch loaves.~

 

[MomToTwoBoys]

Yeah and the funny thing is that when I was in the store yesterday, I saw that flour was about $6.29 per 10kg bag.

 

[Debbie-cat]

I buy 5 lbs for 1.67 so that works out to .16.5 cents per cup.

 

[i.m.cheap]

How much is the yeast?

 

[Debbie-cat]

I buy 1 pound of yeast for $3.00 at a health food store here in town.

 

[nuisance26]

~I buy 1 lb packs instant yeast online. With shipping it's about $4lb. Each pound has 96 teaspoons which will make 96 loaves. So $4/96=$.04 per loaf.~

 

[tracyq]

Constance,
Can you please share with me your French/Italian bread recipe that you mention here? I think it would be a big blessing to us! Thanks!
Tracy Q.

 

[nuisance26]

~ French Bread ~

5 1/2-6 cups flour
4 tsp yeast(I use instant)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cups warm water(120*)

In large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of flour, yeast and salt. Add warm water and beat with electric mixer for 3 minutes. Stir in remaining flour.
Knead 6-8 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes by machine(KitchenAid dough hook), adding more flour as needed(about 1 cup).
Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with damp towel and let rise in warm place 1 hour.
Turn dough onto floured surface and divide dough in half.
Grease a large cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal.
Roll out each section of dough into a 15X10 rectangle. Roll up tightly into a loaves, seal ends and transfer to cookie sheet.
--**At this stage you may brush the loaves with a mixture of egg white and water to make the crust chewier or to hold sesame or poppy seeds onto the loaves but I skip it.**--
Cover and rise 35 minutes.
Bake at 375* for 35 minutes.
:-D

 

[Momtwo]

The last time I made bread it cost me $ 24 for 3 cups of flour based on what I paid for a bag. The bread was Cinnamon Raisin made in my breadmaker. Total cost including electricity was $ 13.7 for 1 and 1/2 lb. loaf!

 

[Brighid]

Awesome thread! Thanks!

 

[tripleb]

My mom used to make french bread all the time. Brings back great memories! One of my favorites!

 

[mauimagic]

Mahalo for the information and the French Bread recipe. definitely one that I will try this week!!

 

[Luckybustert]

The recipe for french bread looks great - will definitely have to try that one.

One thing about making bread at home that I think is priceless is that you have complete control over the ingredients. I figure if I can't pronounce it, it probably doesn't need to go in my body. Also, I feel that ingestion of less food additives may ultimately lead to better health and that translates to savings in the medical arena. Of course that's just my theory....your mileage may vary

 

[at home]

I just started making our own bread. Other than the problems with it rising (which I just figured out was the yeast) I have totally enjoyed it. Smelling the bread as it bakes helps me feel like I've gotten something accomplished, besides just all the cleaning and such

 

[joyofsix]

I make our bread. Thanks for doing the calculations. I always mean to but haven't. Try this recipe. It is so easy and also makes great breadsticks/hamburger buns/rolls/pizza crust. It's now my go to.
http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-114427.html

 

[Debbie-cat]

Thanks for the french bread recipe nuisance!

 

[Rebookie]

Terrific thread! Thanks!

 

[frugalfranny]

Good thread MTTB.

Thanks for the recipe nuisance....will have to try that one.

 

[lisettelovebug]

Sam's Club has yeast 2 pounds for less than $5. I have one in the freezer and the one I am currently using in the fridge. With flour here currently $.99 for 5 pounds, I can make 6 loaves of my bread for less than $2. I use the recipe on frugal village for 3 loaves of sandwich bread (not sure of the link since I got a new laptop and it;s not in my faves yet)