Do bread makers save money?

[wincrasher]

I have a bread machine - don't use it much. My old one was more consistant that this one. You can have your choice of machines for about $40 bucks brand new.

I generally go to our "day old" store. Last time I went, I got loaves of multi-grain that generally $3 to $4 for about $1 each. Bought 17 loaves and put them in the freezer. Every town has one of these places - you should check it out.

[Miss Curly]

One thing no one has mentioned is how the bread is a different shape than store bought bread, depending on your bread maker. Mine makes square shaped bread, and the bread itself doesn't fit well into many things. Like if I were to try to pack sandwiches, etc. The bread slices are too big for sandwich sized baggies and normal tupperware style plastic containers. Something to think about when you look at bread machines.

That said, the fresh bread is so good, you can easily eat it all the day you make it, especially in the beginning when you have fresh baked bread around.

I do use mine to pizza dough, especially when I am not using it to make bread. Just let it make some dough while I cook something else. The dough freezes really well and I find that it defrosts easily in the ziploc bag and even rises again.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Miss Curly

One thing no one has mentioned is how the bread is a different shape than store bought bread, depending on your bread maker.

That's true, but there is no reason that you need to bake it in the machine if the shape is important to you. You can use the machine to do all the mixing and then put the dough into a loaf pan for the final rise and baking. That way you can get it whatever shape you'd like.

We have a heart-shaped bread pan that we've used a few times for special occasions. We've also made pizza dough, challah bread that we've braided and other stuff that we've shaped ourselves or put in another pan to bake.

[Miss Curly]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

That's true, but there is no reason that you need to bake it in the machine if the shape is important to you. You can use the machine to do all the mixing and then put the dough into a loaf pan for the final rise and baking. That way you can get it whatever shape you'd like.

True. But running the oven can be a hot proposition, especially for Radiance in Florida, and her a/c is already running quite a bit. There are normal shaped loaf pans available, which may be more or less important depending on whether or not you care about shape and care about reducing/increasing the heat in your house. Personally, I like running the oven in the winter, when Texas actually gets somewhat cool, especially since I like colder bedrooms and warmer living areas. But in the summer, spring and fall? I don't use my oven if possible.

[Thrif-t]

mmmm we love fresh bread and use our bread machine all the time. We mostly use it for toast not sandwiches or to eat hot bread with our dinners. I've started using my machine to make pizza dough too and make homemade pizza. I buy a 25# bag of flour from Sam's Club that probably lasts us 2 or 3 mos and is aroune $7. I started making bread because I'm trying to get away from high fructose corn syrup which is in everything. Plus its so yummy warm.

[rob62521]

Good plan on the high fructose corn syrup...as well as preservatives. Two of the same reasons I like baking my own bread.

[Inkstain82]

It costs me about $0.40/loaf to make simple homemade bread.

It's not really good for sandwiches, too crumbly, but it's great as a side. Honestly, I love it so much I usually just eat it for breakfast every morning with a glass of milk. Not much cheaper than that.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Inkstain, to get a less crumbly loaf, buy a box of gluten and add a tablespoon to your dry ingredients. Gluten is just the protein in the flour. It makes the bread stick to itself, a little chewier, a little denser.

The person who is having trouble with their loaf falling as it cooks might also benefit from adding some gluten to the recipe. Sometimes all it takes is to switch brands of flours. Some brands are milled from wheat grains that naturally has more (or less) gluten. The low gluten flours are good for biscuits, cookies, muffins, and cakes. We like the higher gluten flours for breads.

In a large supermarket gluten is usually in the aisle with flour, but on a shelf with the special flours and milled seeds and grains other than wheat. Bob's Red Mill is one recognizable packager of gluten.

When looking for flour for bread, you could consider buying those marked for bread making, or those marked high gluten. My own local supermarket generic brand is okay for bread, but I prefer a very dense bread so I do prefer more gluten.

[Inkstain82]

I'll try that, thanks!

[rob62521]

I found a great non bread machine recipe for bread that is easy and doesn't take forever... it's good for regular meals, slicing, and even making croutons:

Old Fashioned Brown Bread

2 1/3 cups boiling water
1 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup butter, cubed
1/3 cup molasses
5 ½ to 6 ½ cups all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
In a large bowl, pour boiling water over oats. Stir in butter and molasses. Let stand until mixture cools to 120-130, stirring occasionally.
In another bowl, combine 3 ½ cups flour, yeast, and salt. Beat in oak mixture until blended. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Turn onto lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into loaves. Place in two greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 35=40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

[lynclarke]

Steve- I also LOVE home made bread. I usually make two loaves at a time and they disappear. Recently, I bought a new bread book- Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day (Jeff Hertzberg Zoe Francois). I love this book!! It takes a little thinking but once you "get" it --it is terrific. They use a "steam" method so I put an OLD as in rusty cupcake pan filled with water on the shelf below the bread. The best part is you make up the batch of dough---with NO KNEADING--great for people with arthritis, and once it rises then you put it in the fridge. You have two weeks to use it. So, I will take out a "lump", stick it on the counter to rise, and toss it in the oven to bake whenever the spirit moves me. It is great. Each recipe makes three loaves. There is something comforting about knowing there is dough just waiting to be baked in my fridge. And, yes, I add gluten to every loaf.

[Saving_spree]

Bread makers do save money.. The best part of owning one is that you can have fresh ones every time. My family likes home made ones..

[superdad1580]

I have found this very interesting, I had been considering buying a bread machine to save money. I have 5 children and we go through a few loafs of bread a week. After reading through this thread I have decided I am going to purchase one.

Thanks
Charlie

[superdad1580]

Also, rob62521 That bread recipe sounds delicious.

[GrimJack]

I am still using the 'no-knead' bread recipe - DW gave me the book for Christmas so now I am trying to bake Focaccia as it only takes a couple minutes work but the Focaccia is oven-ready in about 6 hours. The pizza recipe is even quicker.

[Mjenn]

I got one for Christmas, after chatting about it for over a year and it's been a huge moneysaver so far....

But this is mostly because I really like fresh bread and cannot stand anything that's got a massproduced texture to it....

So I was spending probably about 8-10 dollars a week buying bread from the baker....

We haven't bought a single loaf since Christmas, and although we have bought some less processed flour, it really doesn't come close to the cost of before

So probably about 20-30 dollars/month.

Although in the beginning we were baking a ton of bread because it was sooo good, now we are down to a more reasonable level.

[wfhouses]

I don't think you will save much moneywise, unless you just get enjoyment out of doing it. My mom used to make bread and it is very time consuming. Your time might be better served elsewhere.

[PaydayLoner]

One way I found to save on bread and baked goods is to look for bakery outlet stores. There's a Heiner's Bakery store a couple blocks down from the grocery store where I live, and they bring the bread there every day that they pull off the grocery shelves. I get all my baked stuff there.

They sell bread for $1 a loaf, and sometimes if they're overloaded, two for a dollar. Honestly, I can't tell that it's not as fresh as what you get at the grocery. In the last year, I think there was only one time I got a loaf that went stale in a day or two.

The catch is that it's hit or miss what they'll have on any given day. Sometimes it's beaucoup everything, sometimes the shelves are empty. They've got crackers, hotdog buns, cookies, other stuff too at discount prices.

It's not anything like homemade bread, but if you're baking-challenged like, ahem, me, it's another alternative to save.

[mom-from-missouri]

Right now my bread makers are both in the RV. I am now using frozen dough it is soooo much cheaper and has a very good taste. I can get a package of 6 loaves for $3.29. I can't buy the ingredents or fresh bread for that price. And, if I use my shopper card, I can often get it for $2.99

[Rei]

Our fam has used a bread machine for nearly 10 years. We wore out a Funai & now use a Breadman 2lb Corner Bakery. We buy bread flour & oatmeal from the bulk food store and we buy yeast in bulk packaging. Our bread is inexpensive and the oatmeal bread is VERY enjoyable. Substituting a quarter cup of flax seed for the same amount of oatmeal is a nice twist. Now that our kids are in college, we use less bread, but we are addicted now.