Jun

Easy Bread Making Update

Last week I wrote about an easy bread making recipe and method that I had found at Cheap Like Me blog. If you’re interested, you can get the recipe here.

Inspired, I had a go at baking bread again myself. Here are the results.

Measuring and mixing the batter took about 2 minutes. I used 1 cup of wholemeal flour with the plain. I didn’t use special bread flour, just what I had in the cupboard. I mixed it in a Tupperware container and kept in on the bench overnight rather than in the fridge.

Night before.

Morning after.

The next morning I shaped it into a ball, this took about 30 seconds. I still had time to photo it before the kettle boiled! I left it to rise for about 3 hours.

I started shaping the dough into a round, but my casserole is oval – der!

The bread is ‘resting’ under the tea towel. The tea towel is one from my mum – about 30 years old (the tea towel that is). It is clean though it’s got a few stains.

Then I baked it in my casserole. Another 30 seconds work and 50 minutes in the oven.

All up, were talking less than 5 minutes work to bake a loaf of bread.

Ta Daaa!

And the result?

Not bad. The crust is still hard. I always make hard bread for some reason. But the inside is soft and fluffy, a little denser than the supermarket fluff, and the bread has a lovely flavour.

So, I’ll have to work on it a bit. Maybe try a bread flour, or leave it to rise in a warmer spot. Any suggestions?

Nothing like real butter on warm bread.

Some calculations

We usually buy our bread ‘reduced to clear’. We get the white home brand rolls or Vienna or whatever is left over. The cheapest we have ever bought it is 78c but it’s usually around 98c or $1.18.

A packet of home brand regular plain flour at our local is 95c or 11.88c per cup. 1 loaf of bread is 3 1/4 cups of flour so it is about 39c for the flour, plus the yeast and the sugar, so no more than 45c a loaf. Assuming I keep baking twice a week , that amounts to a saving of between $35 and $75 a year.

Not much you might say. Is it really worth it? But image being able to save this much on every item that you buy. The savings start adding up. We are already saving $21 a year on the organic milk I like by buying it at another store. At the same store I can get free range eggs for $3.29 instead of $5.89 and upwards at our local, saving $135 a year. So between bread, milk and eggs alone that’s a saving of around $200 a year.

And of course our bread is better – or it will be when I perfect the crust. It is made with wholemeal flour, has no soy or sugar or additives or preservatives or all the other crap that “they” put into our food these days.

I’m looking forward now to experimenting with spelt, and other grains and seeds – and getting the crust right!

Made any bread lately? Why not share your bread making experiences?

Have you read these posts?

7 Responses to “Easy Bread Making Update”

Cheap Like Me Says:
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:25 am

Hurrah, good for you! Just a couple of comments in hopes they’ll be helpful … for this recipe, the crust is intended to be hard (chewy, crusty, crunchy bread on the outside, soft and chewy inside). If you bake it inside a casserole, it will be firmer still — the bread steams, and the steam creates a crunchy crust, like on a French baguette.

If you prefer your bread soft all the way through, including the crust, perhaps check out the book for ideas, or try adding some fat (olive oil or softened butter) — that is supposed to tenderize dough and keep it from crisping. Check for other ideas online, because I’m not an expert on soft bread. Good luck and happy baking!
Melissa Says:
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:08 am

Ta for the advice. I’ll have to try adding a little oil.

I think part of the problem was I didn’t wait long enough for it to cool – actually I didn’t wait at all before digging in! It was softer at night when we ate it. Trying it again today. Thanks for the recipe, I’m really loving it.
Aileen Says:
June 27th, 2009 at 6:11 am

The bread looks fab!
I wonder, though, about the actual savings. In addition to the cost of ingredients, there’s time and labor (though I think it’s more fun than work), the cost of electricity for the oven, the cost of air conditioning from the oven heating the house. Using a bread machine might be more cost-effective, though.
Melissa Says:
June 27th, 2009 at 10:15 am

@Aileen. Thanks for the comment. You make a really good point. The opportunity cost of the time spent making the bread needs to be factored in.

For me it is better to bake than not, but for others maybe not. Although it takes less than 5 minutes labour time as there is no need to knead

I thought about calculating the cost of running the oven but was a bit lazy – lol, you caught me out! I didn’t even think to consider the cost of air con as we don’t have air con, but another good point. The cost of electricity would be measured in cents though.

We buy cheap and nasty bread, but to buy a loaf of comparable quality is around $3 to $4 here so still cheaper for us to bake our own.

Using a bread machine may very well be more cost effective.

Thanks for adding those points. They should definitley be considered when calculating the savings.
BrisyBel Says:
June 28th, 2009 at 11:24 am

Hey guys just tried the bread this morning and it worked out really well, nice and tasty, tho didn’t rise much, lol.

…and Aileen, having the oven on in the morning when its a bit chilly saved me standing in front of the heater, not sure about baking in the middle of summer tho.
Jamie Says:
July 1st, 2009 at 3:57 am

I have had great luck keeping my crust soft by placing a pan of water in the oven while the bread bakes. I use the bottom of my broiler pan on the bottom rack of the oven and fill it with 2 cups of water. I cook my bread on the second rack from the bottom.
Melissa Says:
July 1st, 2009 at 7:42 am

@ Jamie – Thanks Jamie, I’ll have to try that.