Do you think it's worth it to bake bread at home? I'll be honest and say it's something I never done it because I think it's really hard work, but with these new machines (that I doubt that work correctly) it seems to be much easier. What do you think, is it worth it to make bread at home? Do we actually save a good amount of money doing it?
Making bread at home is really easy and fun. All you need is about 20-30 minutes to prepare the ingredients and knead the dough thoroughly. But if you use yeast, it will take about 1-3 hours for the dough to rise, depending on your room temperature. You can experiment with all kinds of flours such as corn, buckwheat, quinoa and rye just to name a few. And then you can be even more creative with herbs and spices. I like to make olive and oregano bread, pumpkin bread and sunflower bread. For me it is about quality and not money. I can't remember the last time I bought ready baked bread in a store. I know from others that those bread making machines work really well. All you do is load a premixed dough into it and after an hour you have home-made bread.
20-30 minutes to bake the break and that's it? And how long to cook it? After doing it it's probably way more easier than before lol, I see it like a huge mountain in front of my eyes! Do you usually bake for one week, for one day, how often do you do it?
I've never made bread at home, but I sometimes buy bread dough from the bakery and freeze it so that when I make pizza I can make my own pizza base. I guess that's kind of a bread
It takes several hours to make bread - the 20-30 mins referred to was the time to make the dough - but it still needs time to rise and be cooked. Bread makers work well and if you just want to add the ingredients and turn it on, they are convenient. I don't make a basic loaf of bread at home. It isn't that cost effective and the time and cleanup aren't worth it to me. I do make things like pizza dough and cinnamon buns at home when I am in the mood. Some things are better when fresh baked. It is worth trying as you can control the ingredients better and enjoy the freshness, but I don't think it will save you a lot of money in the long run.
I remember back in the 90's when bread making machines were really popular. These days, though, as much as I like fresh bread, it's easier to just go down to the bakery and pick some up. Making it all from scratch is just too much of a hassle for me. And I think it actually ends up being more expensive.
Not wanting to share the laziness tommy, that pretty much how I feel too! But why do you say it ends up being more expensive, I thought it was the opposite, bread is really expensive these days! Oakster, how cheap is that bread dough you buy for pizza?
I like baking my own bread, I think for me it works out a bit cheaper than buying it, but the ingredients are far better quality than bread I'd ever get hold of in a shop. It doesn't take too much effort either, although it takes a few hours you're not actually actively doing anything for most of that time, just letting it take care of itself, and the flavour when you eat it warm out of the oven is soooooo good!
I agree that it's more healthy and the flavor might be way better too (nothing like eating warm bread right out of the oven), but not everyone has it. I for example fear that I could be stuck in the kitchen for hours and that the result might be catastrophic lol!
It's pretty cheap, I just go to the bakery at night and buy it straight from the bakers, not over the counter. I usually buy a few kilos and freeze it, I'd say fir the price I'd buy a frozen base at the supermarket I can make about 3 bases like this, and of course it tastes much better.
Not bad, so it's a good saving and probably that dough is better than the one you buy in the supermarket right? Not exactly the concept of baking our own bread, but I think you're going in the right direction, at least you're saving money.
No. I do not think it is worth it to bake bread at home. Baking bread at home is to much of a hassle for me. I would rather go to the grocery store, and pay $2 for bread that is already baked, and ready to eat. It is simply not worth my time.
I agree with this. What is the point of baking bread at home? It is not worth the time. A lot goes into baking bread, Why waste your time when a loaf of bread only cost $150 at the local grocery store? You are going to spend more than that on the ingredients you buy to bake it from scratch. I wouldn't do it.
I don't know about that, if you live alone maybe, but if you have a family of four or more I can tell you that the bread budget does has a big weight, kids eat a lot of bread lol! Imagine you bake bread once every two weeks and you freeze it, you're saving a lot of money.
Most definitely worth it. Once you get your base ingredients, you can make many loaves of bread. My favourite part is that you can customize your bread exactly how you want it. My favourite is honey, oatmeal.
I make all my own bread. I don't use a bread machine. I put 1 cup of warm water, a tsp of dry yeast, some sugar, salt, and half cup of flour in my kitchen aid stand mixer. I let that sit for half an hour, add a few tbsp. oil, any other additions I want, and about 2 more cups of flour, and mix with a dough hook for about 5-10 min. Have to stay near the mixer during this process just in case so this is when I wash dishes. After it's done kneading, I put it in an oiled bowl, turn it over so it's oiled on top, too, cover with a towel and let it set for a few hours. When I worked it would actually sit all day. Then I punch it down, shape it into a loaf, let it rise for an hour in an oven heated to 110°. Then bake it at 350° for 35 min. So easy. so simple. I vary the flours I use, wheat, rye, white, oat, barley, add various seeds at times (quinoa, chia, sesame, poppy etc) and various herbs. I put these in before I add the last 2 cups of flour if adding them. Work, minimal, cost, very cheap, depends on the price of the flour you buy, and oh so delicious. Less work than going to a store to buy a loaf of bread. You can also knead it by hand but that adds about 10 min of your actual work time. Bread machines, to me, are just something else to take up counter space. This can be done right in a stand mixer with a dough hook. The majority of the time involved in making bread is in letting the yeast proof and then letting the dough rise twice, all of which it does on it's own. I buy my yeast by the jar, you don't need a whole packet that they sell for a loaf or two of bread. About a teaspoon is enough, it multiplies, just give it at least a half hour to proof (just sit there and get bubbly). Yeast is probably the most expensive part of making bread because all the recipes tell you to use a whole packet, which is I think 2.5 tsps.. or maybe it's a few tbsp. I haven't bought that kind in about 30 years. So much cheaper to use buy a jar, and keep it n the fridge or freezer if you won't use it very fast.
Wow, great explanation really, just the mixer for the dough? But 35 minutes on the oven plus the 5-10 minutes with the mixer do consume electricity and gas, so those costs are not accounted for. Even so I think the quality will be far superior than what we usually buy, plus we can put in the bread whatever we feel like it.
I love using a bread machine to make bread at home. I just loves the way it makes my house smell while it's baking. The bread I make usually is incredibly heavy but I make it more for the aroma. However, I am currently without one, funny story actually. I was making a loaf and during the kneading stage, ( we live in a duplex right now with a tiny kitchen) it kneaded it's self right off the counter and broken. I was pretty heart broken at the time, but now it's a funny story and a lesson learned.
I currently do bake my own bread at home. It actually is surprisingly easy. I would recommend going to a cooking website such as epicurious and checking there for a good recipe. I did some math on this subject and it turns out that I save a good deal of money by doing this and I also get high quality bread. to me it seems liek a win-win. Also I highly recommend getting a bread maker. They are worth every penny.
The thing with bread machines is, my dad got one about one year ago, he used it twice and he never picked it up again. So what's the catch here, are they too lazy to use it or is it simply not worth it? I am sorry about your machine, I suppose you will get a new one?
