I’d like to introduce you to my friend Lori Viets from BreadClass.com.  She makes a light and tasty 100% whole grain loaf of bread and isn’t afraid to share her secrets!  I asked Lori to write about the cost effectiveness of baking bread at home to help me keep up with my blog and she readily agreed.  Here’s Lori: 

Does Homemade Bread Really Save Money?  The answer for me is a resounding “Yes!” but it all depends on your goals and the prices you’re comparing.

Is it more important for you to get the rock-bottom price for bread, regardless of taste or nutrition value?  If so, the deals at the bread thrift store are hard to beat!  Just keep in mind the money you save now could cost you more in medical bills later, if your overall health is compromised.   (Angela’s note:  I buy my 100% whole grain bread at our day old bakery and the cheapest I can get it is $1 a loaf.  This is defnintely a luxury item for us since I could bake it at home much cheaper–see Lori’s cost break down later in the recipe.  I plan to start baking again as soon as we get back from all our business travel!)

Money savings aside, baking at home gives you quality control.  There’s peace of mind knowing you’re eating “real” food, instead of laboratory-created chemicals.  Do I even have to mention how much better homemade bread tastes and smells?  To compete in this category, you’d have to buy premium bread made at a farmer’s market or a fancy bakery at $4-$6 a loaf.

How much bread do you buy in a typical week?  Count one “loaf” for each:  sandwich bread, hamburger/hot dog buns, sweet rolls, doughnuts, pizza crust, dinner rolls, breadsticks, etc.  Assign an average dollar amount for these, and write it down on the worksheet from the link below. Once you’ve mastered basic bread dough, it’s easy to replace all of these breads with homemade versions.

Now I’ll tell you about my bread.  I make 100% whole grain, 100% yummy bread that my husband and kids love to eat more than any I can buy at the store.  I grind my own flour from wheat kernels (but you don’t have to!) and I make a 6-loaf batch once every 7-10 days.  The whole process takes 90 minutes from wheat to eat, and most of that is rising/baking. 

Bread made my way costs $.64 per loaf* for ingredients bought in bulk, but I could spend even less if I wanted to.  This price includes some “luxuries” such as organics, fresh flour, gluten, and natural dough enhancer.  To make a 1-loaf batch of my recipe with only non-specialty, mostly generic ingredients in common sizes, the cost is $.90** per loaf.  My “luxurious” loaf costs less overall!

4 Tips for Keeping Bread Costs Low

1.   Buy in bulk – especially flour, yeast, and vital wheat gluten (if you use it).  A 5# bag of whole wheat flour costs  $.40 per loaf** but a 50# bag costs $.22*.  Bulk prices can fluctuate dramatically in a short time, so stock up when the price seems lowest.

                        A good rule of thumb is 1# wheat = 1# flour = 1 loaf bread.  At 1 loaf per week, a 50# bag is a year’s supply.  But consider all the “loaves” you listed in your weekly purchase above and it may go faster than you think.  Also figure ½#  flour for each                                                   batch of pancakes or muffins.

2.  Use sugar instead of honey.  Honey loses most of its nutrition benefits during cooking, so I use it only as a topping. Per loaf, my less-refined sugar costs $.03* while basic white sugar is $.02** and honey is $.12*

3.  Spend a little more for better taste, if necessary.  You can’t save money if your family won’t eat your bread!  Until I learned the simple steps for making consistently great bread, I threw away too many whole brick-loaves and half-eaten cardboard-loaves. 

                        This could mean increasing sweeteners or natural conditioners to suit your family’s taste.  I’m an advocate of adding gluten to whole grain breads.  For the non-allergic, gluten is a miracle worker that makes bread softer.  I use 1 T. per loaf at a cost of $.06*.  The addition of rolled oats or oat flour will noticeably lighten the texture of your bread, too.  My recipe includes 25-30% oats as part of the flour for $.05* or $.10** a loaf. 

                        A bag of wheat kernels for grinding can sometimes cost more than the same amount of bulk flour, but it will never taste bitter or unpleasant, the way stale or rancid flour can.  Wheat kernels can be stored for many years  and lose none of their quality or nutrition, while flour has a shorter shelf life.  Some stores provide a grain mill you can use if you buy your grain there. This time wheat cost me $.37/loaf* instead of $.22*  for bulk flour.  A few weeks ago I was paying $.28, but the price went up. 

4.  Make larger batches of dough.  You’ll use less yeast, because you don’t need as much proportionally.  Yeast runs $.08* to $.34** for a 1-loaf batch, but only $.05* each for a 6-loaf batch.

                        Form the dough into fewer and/or larger shapes, e.g. larger instead of smaller dinner rolls.  You can fit more into the oven in a single bake cycle and save energy.  My oven costs 15 cents an hour to run, so the more it holds, the less it costs.

There are an infinite number of variables depending on your recipe, ingredient choices, and local prices, so print this worksheet to calculate the cost of bread made your way.  If you decide to sell some of it, you can easily see how much profit you’d make.

 I added these to my chart, since they weren’t listed:

 Yeast:  .25 pkg = 2 ¼ tsp.,  4 oz. jar = 12 T, 1# pkg. = 48 T.

Vital Wheat Gluten: 1# = 45 T.

Blue Chip dough enhancer (optional) 1# = 74 T.

 To learn more about making your best bread ever, whether by hand or machine, click on Angela’s link,  “Got Bricks?” to head over to my website.

 Happy Baking!

Lori Viets 

*based on bulk prices at Trails End Bulk Foods 

**based on lowest generic unit price at Wal-mart

Both as of 1/18/11 in Cameron, MO