Food Tips & Info > Cooking From ScratchJune 12, 2004

By Patty Getz

I often get the question is it really cheaper to make something rather than buy it. One example is bread, when you can buy bread for 50 cents, why make it? There are a lot of reasons, besides cost to make bread. Whether it is worth your time, and is cost effective, is largely an answer that only you can answer.

You must start with your time, because there is nothing more frustrating than buying all the equipment, and ingredients, to only watch them collect dust on a shelf, because you never had a chance to use them. Will you have the time this change requires? Bread does not have to take a lot of YOUR time, but you will find that it does require you to be home for a long period of time, that is unless you opt for a Breadmaker. To make bread from scratch, takes about 5 hours, but it only requires only about an hour of your time.

Breadmakers are the ideal solution for many families, as it allows you to put your ingredients in, and walk away. I prefer to make mine from scratch, I do use a large mixer, but it gives me far more flexibility, and making it from scratch I think yields a better quality product. Do you have the time? Will you still feel the same way in 3 months? What about 6 months? Or a year? This is the time to be really honest with yourself.

So once you have decided that yes you can reasonably commit some time to your project, then you have to decide, how much you will need to invest on equipment. Some things require no special equipment, and again with bread making you do not have to have much in the way of equipment, but you may wish to use a breadmaker, or mixer. Be realistic, will you do it by hand? That takes more of your time, and physical effort. Will you make enough bread to pay off your investment. I almost never buy bread products from the store anymore, so the investment was well worth what I paid for it. Will it be for you? Only you can say. If you are going to be an occasional baker, and want to know if it is going to pay off, chances are the answer will be no.Do some research, dont just go down to your local department store. Do a search on the internet, check yard sales, watch the sales.

Now you have the Equipment handled it is now time to do some number crunching, go to the places in your town where you get the best prices, dont forget to look for restaurant supply stores, and wholesale warehouses,they are great sources of bulk ingredients, at a decent price. Find the best prices on the ingredients, you can get. I can get a 50 lb sack of flour for 8 dollars, a large package of yeast for 3 dollars, and since my basic recipe takes little else, I dont worry too much about the rest. But other prices you make want to look at, are sugar, honey,salt, and oil, all common ingredients in the basic bread.

Then you will need to estimate, how many loaves of bread that sack of flour will make, I do know that I use about 2 packages of yeast, for one bag of flour. So I can weight the amount of flour the recipe calls for, then divide that number into the price of the flour, and you will have the number of loaves of bread that 50lb sack will make. Now that you have the number of loaves for bread, and the yeast, you can calculate the price per loaf. You can do the same for any other ingredients, I just guestimate the cost of the salt, sugar, and oil, because the recipe I use, only takes a small amount of each.
Dont forget your electricity as well, just like you should remember the cost of gasoline to buy loaves of bread.

In the end my calculations come out to about 29 cents a loaf. But there is still more things to consider. One is storage, and the proximity of your store. If you are like me and cannot buy cheap bread close by, you will choose to buy several loaves of bread. This takes up precious space in my freezer. When I bake bread, my ingredients are stored, mostly on my shelf, I usually have enough for 3 -4 months baking. In all honesty that is far more convenient for me, than running out to the store for a loaf of bread. However do you have the place to store your bulk ingredients? If not you may have to settle for a smaller bag of flour, that too will bring your costs up.

And Finally the health issues, these days, there is a growing concern for what is being put in our food,and legitimately so. Preservatives, and additives,such as colors, and flavorings, do not need to be accounted on the label, which means there can be a variety of things in your bread that you dont realize. Many of the chemicals and additives, are under the Generally Recognized as Safe category, which is not tested, and is not regulated. I believe many of modern day disease stems from these products. There is a growing trend by many families, to eat as much whole food as possible, and to eliminate the presence of these chemicals and additives in our diet.
So there you have it, all the information that you might need to make an informed choice, about your decision to bake or not bake. I hope this gives some food for thought, and helps you to decide, whether it is cheaper to make it or buy it.

About The Author: Patty Getz is the owner, and editor, of Totally Frugal and loves to spend her time with family, in the kitchen, and teaching others, how to have a more fullfilling life. http://www.totallyfrugal.com

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