The price of a good loaf of bread is about $3.50 – 4.50 in my area. I’m not talking Walmart-brand bread; but the good stuff (Pepperidge Farm, Orowheat, etc.). I have always bought whole wheat bread and occasionally a good sourdough or country white, but recently I have started baking my own for several reasons:
1. It’s easier than you think;
2. It’s way cheaper than buying your own;
3. I like to know what I’m eating and what I’m serving to my family
If you look at the label on a good loaf of bread, it’s full of weird stuff (dough conditioners (?), bromates, preservatives, and other stuff) that I don’t think we should be eating. And of course, there is always the ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup, which is a man-made freak of nature no one should be eating. That stuff is dangerous and I avoid it as much as possible because it is in almost everything because it’s so cheap to produce. But I digress…back to bread. I always loved how great fresh bread smelled and tasted. It’s also a lot cheaper to make your own. To make 4 loaves of homemade whole wheat bread, it costs about $4.00. Not bad, and you know what’s in the bread. I know day-old bakeries can be cheaper, but you lose the great smells of bread baking plus you get the bizarre ingredients again. I like to think that baking your own bread is a healthy middle ground, and if you do it in bulk, the savings are significant.
Today after church I made 4 loaves of wheat bread with only about 15 minutes of hands-on time. The recipe I use below I got off of the back of a King Arthur flour bag. I quadruple the recipe; I have used honey, molasses, maple syrup, and brown sugar for the sweetener and it came out great every time but my favorite is the honey. I have also used an equal amount of butter and it was great too. I usually use oil because it is cheaper.
1. It’s easier than you think;
2. It’s way cheaper than buying your own;
3. I like to know what I’m eating and what I’m serving to my family
If you look at the label on a good loaf of bread, it’s full of weird stuff (dough conditioners (?), bromates, preservatives, and other stuff) that I don’t think we should be eating. And of course, there is always the ubiquitous high fructose corn syrup, which is a man-made freak of nature no one should be eating. That stuff is dangerous and I avoid it as much as possible because it is in almost everything because it’s so cheap to produce. But I digress…back to bread. I always loved how great fresh bread smelled and tasted. It’s also a lot cheaper to make your own. To make 4 loaves of homemade whole wheat bread, it costs about $4.00. Not bad, and you know what’s in the bread. I know day-old bakeries can be cheaper, but you lose the great smells of bread baking plus you get the bizarre ingredients again. I like to think that baking your own bread is a healthy middle ground, and if you do it in bulk, the savings are significant.
Today after church I made 4 loaves of wheat bread with only about 15 minutes of hands-on time. The recipe I use below I got off of the back of a King Arthur flour bag. I quadruple the recipe; I have used honey, molasses, maple syrup, and brown sugar for the sweetener and it came out great every time but my favorite is the honey. I have also used an equal amount of butter and it was great too. I usually use oil because it is cheaper.
King Arthur Recipe:
2 ½ tsp. instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 Tbs. water
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
1 ¼ tsp salt
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the yeast/water mixture, honey and oil to the dry ingredients and mix until combined and the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Turn out on a floured surface and form gently into a ball. Knead for 6-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm area for 1 hour. Punch down dough. Form into a loaf and place into a greased bread pan. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes ort until loaf is about 1 inch over the top of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out bread onto a rack to cool. Makes one loaf.
Here’s how I do it:
Whole Wheat Bread for a Week
10 tsp. instant yeast dissolved in 5 1/3 cups warm water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
14 cups whole wheat flour (this is exactly one 5lb. bag of flour)
1 cup nonfat dry milk
5 tsp. salt
I mix all the dry ingredients up in a party tub bowl with a wooden spoon; it’s huge and I don’t have ingredients flying out of the bowl when I’m mixing. I got the tubs at Kroger for $4.59 each (I use the other tub for the rising step):
2 ½ tsp. instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 2 Tbs. water
1 1/3 cups lukewarm water
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup honey, molasses, or maple syrup
3 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup nonfat dry milk
1 ¼ tsp salt
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the yeast/water mixture, honey and oil to the dry ingredients and mix until combined and the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Turn out on a floured surface and form gently into a ball. Knead for 6-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a towel. Place in a warm area for 1 hour. Punch down dough. Form into a loaf and place into a greased bread pan. Cover with a towel and let rise for 30 minutes ort until loaf is about 1 inch over the top of the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out bread onto a rack to cool. Makes one loaf.
Here’s how I do it:
Whole Wheat Bread for a Week
10 tsp. instant yeast dissolved in 5 1/3 cups warm water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup honey
14 cups whole wheat flour (this is exactly one 5lb. bag of flour)
1 cup nonfat dry milk
5 tsp. salt
I mix all the dry ingredients up in a party tub bowl with a wooden spoon; it’s huge and I don’t have ingredients flying out of the bowl when I’m mixing. I got the tubs at Kroger for $4.59 each (I use the other tub for the rising step):
I then mix all the “wet” ingredients together and then add them to the tub:
Mix the dough until it starts to leave the sides of the bowl and then dump it out on a floured surface:
Form into a ball:
Knead for about 8 minutes:
Place dough ball into a greased bowl:
Cover dough with towels and place in a warm spot for 1 hour: ( I put it by my coffee maker; which always has heated water)
After one hour, punch down dough and turn out on a floured surface. Cut dough in quarters:
Press out each quarter into a rectangle about twice as wide as it is long:
Roll up the dough and shape into a log:
Place dough in greased bread pans and cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes: (my coffee maker does dual duty!)
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out on racks to cool. Makes 4 loaves.
When the loaves are cool, I put them in clean produce bags that I pick up at the store (nothing has been in the bags) and use a twist tie. One loaf gets double-bagged and goes in the freezer. The remaining loaves are used up during the week. The loaves stay fresh for 4-5 days after they are baked. If anything is left after the 5th day, it goes in the refrigerator. I use the bread for toast, sandwiches, grilled cheese, and French toast. Most of it is eaten as toast or sandwiches.
My rationale for bread as an investment strategy is twofold; the bread is cheaper this way than if bought at the store, and it is healthier for my family so it is also a health investment. Another plus was that I found I could actually bake bread and it tasted good, which was a boost to my cooking self-confidence and makes me less afraid to try baking other things. If you want to try making this bread, go for the King Arthur recipe first, but I highly suggest you double it because once your family has homemade bread, it’s hard to go back to store-bought!
Place dough ball into a greased bowl:
Cover dough with towels and place in a warm spot for 1 hour: ( I put it by my coffee maker; which always has heated water)
After one hour, punch down dough and turn out on a floured surface. Cut dough in quarters:
Press out each quarter into a rectangle about twice as wide as it is long:
Roll up the dough and shape into a log:
Place dough in greased bread pans and cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place for about 30-45 minutes: (my coffee maker does dual duty!)
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Turn out on racks to cool. Makes 4 loaves.
When the loaves are cool, I put them in clean produce bags that I pick up at the store (nothing has been in the bags) and use a twist tie. One loaf gets double-bagged and goes in the freezer. The remaining loaves are used up during the week. The loaves stay fresh for 4-5 days after they are baked. If anything is left after the 5th day, it goes in the refrigerator. I use the bread for toast, sandwiches, grilled cheese, and French toast. Most of it is eaten as toast or sandwiches.
My rationale for bread as an investment strategy is twofold; the bread is cheaper this way than if bought at the store, and it is healthier for my family so it is also a health investment. Another plus was that I found I could actually bake bread and it tasted good, which was a boost to my cooking self-confidence and makes me less afraid to try baking other things. If you want to try making this bread, go for the King Arthur recipe first, but I highly suggest you double it because once your family has homemade bread, it’s hard to go back to store-bought!
A special thank you to my daughter Juli for being my expert photographer.
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