Made my 50th loaf of bread today in the bread machine. Store-bought bread averages about $2.50 a loaf, so 50 loaves would be $125. Bread machine cost $100 and I figure the flour and other ingredients for those was well under $25.

Here’s to 50 more loaves of fresh baked bread.

  • billwashere@lemmy.worldEnglish
    43·
    8 months ago

    My wife works at a local bakery and the loaves are $8. This is fresh baked limited ingredient bread so much closer to what you’re making. 50 loaves of that would be $400. You are way past breaking even…

    • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
      4·
      8 months ago

      Who tf is out here paying $8 for a loaf of bread? I have made a lot of bread in my life and can’t possibly see a way to get the cost of making a single loaf (taking into account that the labor/capital required to make an individual loaf decreases dramatically as you start making more bread at once) up that high for a bakery. If I were making that shit one at a time in my house yeah it would probably cost that much but with professional equipment there’s no fucking way they aren’t doubling their costs on that.

  • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
    25·
    8 months ago

    My bread machine died, developed a leak. So now I make the dough in the stand mixer and just let it rise. Sometimes I wish I still had it, but it’s mostly good. Just need to set a timer to punch it down then put it in the oven!

      • PriorityMotif@lemmy.worldM
        8·
        8 months ago

        Thrift stores have massively increased their prices in the last few years, but you can still find good deals here and there. I avoid going to goodwill and go to the habitat store and two of the local thrifts that actually benefit the community. I recommend looking at local estate auctions on hi-bid and going to garage sales. You might also check fb marketplace/ Craigslist / whatever is popular in your locality.

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteBannedOP
      9·
      8 months ago

      Costs about 17 cents per loaf in electricity, and my power rate is pretty high at $0.25/kWh.

      1. Blend: 7 minutes @ 100W (0.1 KW x 0.12 hours = 0.012 kWh). I’m being generous here since this is just an intermittent blend and the motor pulses slowly and doesn’t use 100 watts for the whole cycle).
      2. Rest: 1 minute @ 0W
      3. Mix: 25 minutes @ 100 W (0.1 KW X 0.42 hours = 0.042 kWh)
      4. Proof 1: 58 minutes @ 50W (0.05 X 0.97 hours = 0.05 kWh)
      5. Proof 2: 50 minutes @ 50W (0.05 x 0.83 hours = 0.04 kWh)
      6. Bake: 50 minutes @ 650 W (0.65 x 0.83 hours = 0.54 kWh)
      7. Keep Warm: I never use this, but up to an hour at probably 100 watts. (0.1 KW x 1 hour = 0.1 kWh)

      Total: 0.684 kWh x $0.25/kWh = $0.17 per loaf ($0.20 per loaf if I use the keep warm feature for the full hour).

      For comparison, the regular oven is 4400 watts and takes 10 minutes just to pre-heat. That’s $0.18 cents in electricity cost before I even bake the bread.

      • debris_slide@lemmy.world
        3·
        8 months ago

        Thanks for doing the math. That’s really interesting. If we don’t count labor costs, electricity makes up about 40% of the cost of a loaf of bread. However, if you didn’t have a bread maker and just used your oven, it would take much longer to recoup your investment. I love how efficient that machine is.

    • AlecSadler
      2·
      8 months ago

      Electricity is close to 5 cents per kW where I am so that’d be the least of my worries…

  • dandelion
    5·
    8 months ago

    why a bread machine? I’ve never found them good at kneading compared to a stand mixer, and I don’t even like using a mixer so I knead by hand and use my normal oven.

    Does the machine really work for you and add convenience, like, does it earn its keep / counter space?

    I think I hate appliances and single-use tools, I hate even owning a food processor …

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteBannedOP
      10·
      8 months ago

      Totally agree about single use appliances, but the bread machine is the sole exception. Figured it wouldn’t get more than a few uses, so bought a cheap one to start with. Turns out I use it daily.

      I used to use the Kitchen-Aid with the dough hook. Mostly just the convenience factor won out. Just pouring everything into one pan and hitting a button was the big sell. Plus, it’s got a timer so I can load it up before bed and have fresh bread in the morning.

      Also switched to using a kitchen scale instead of measuring cups, and combined, that has massively reduced the amount of dishes and mess I have to clean.

      • i_dont_want_to
        8·
        8 months ago

        The “set it and forget it” convenience of a bread machine is very enticing.

        • dandelion
          2·
          8 months ago

          presumably the bread machine, most have these little paddles that are supposed to turn and knead the bread for you - you just throw ingredients in the pan and the bread machine does the rest

      • dandelion
        2·
        8 months ago

        I have never managed to get enough gluten development from time alone, have you?

        Besides, the kneading is good for my bones 😅

          • dandelion
            2·
            8 months ago

            huzzah, the recipe worked!

            click to see pictures

            flavor and texture was good, I’m shocked! It’s a wet dough, like used for Neapolitan style pizza. I used a large amount of sourdough discard, which added a lot of flavor, too. (Threw off my hydration ratio, but I eye-balled it and looked to have a shaggy and wet dough like in the pictures, and it seemed to turn out well.)

            Thanks for opening my world! 🌈 💖 🍞

          • dandelion
            2·
            8 months ago

            amazing, thank you - I’ll try this recipe out; I wonder if I could use it to make typical white sandwich bread 🤔

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteBannedOP
      9·
      8 months ago

      I think the fastest I’ve got it going is like 90 seconds.

      Most of the ingredients are measured in tablespoons. I use a scale and just pour the flour into a bowl, add the dry ingredients on top, and throw it in pan.

      Plus it just tastes better and makes the house smell amazing.

  • redlemace@lemmy.world
    4·
    8 months ago

    I had one, but it’s not for me. Whenever I bake bread it’s all by hand. and no one (!) Touches my tin!

  • Pronell@lemmy.world
    4·
    8 months ago

    I’ve been using no-knead recipes and some with a little kneading, don’t even have a mixer or bread maker.

    But I am buying the little accessories.

    And your math is right, you should be around .30 cents dollars a loaf. I’ve started using diastatic malt powder, so the cost goes up a bit but so does the taste.

  • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
    3·
    8 months ago

    Are your loves all little one pounders? Otherwise, you’re definitely paying significantly more than that on ingredients.

    • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteBannedOP
      4·
      8 months ago

      I do 1.5 lb loaves. I also buy in bulk when things are on sale. All 50 loaves were made with just what’s in the pantry (which is why my estimated price-per-loaf is just a guess).

      But the main thing is homemade bread just tastes better. Even if it costs more in ingredients, it’s still worth it

      • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
        3·
        8 months ago

        Agreed, I haven’t bought bread in a decade!

        My bulk bread flour has jumped up to about 50¢/lb. but food is relatively expensive where I live.

        • Iced Raktajino@startrek.websiteBannedOP
          1·
          8 months ago

          I"m not sure what the actual bulk price is here, but the little 5lb bags are like $2.60. When I say “buy in bulk” I mostly mean I buy a lot of something when it goes on sale. Back in March, there was a weekend where you got 15% off your entire purchase on top of whatever was normally on sale. Flour was buy-one, get-one at the time, so I basically filled up a cart lol. I’m still baking through it and have about 15 bags left. 😆

      • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        8 months ago

        Well I’m basically in the same boat, bread curious bread noob, looks good to me lol!

        I’ll take a random suggestion from a lemmy user in dull mens club over… well actually a whole lot of other kinds of recommendations or ratings.

        Thanks!

        (Also don’t worry I’m not gonna instantly impulse buy this, but it’ll serve as a frame of reference for further research)

  • KingBoo@lemmy.world
    2·
    8 months ago

    Would you recommend your bread machine? If so, which one is it? I was thinking of getting one.

  • ikidd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    8 months ago

    I bought a deLonghi Magnifica fully auto coffee machine about 15 years ago for about $1000. While I’ve had to fix it a couple times, the counter on it shows almost 50,000 shots. At 2 shots per americano, at $2.50/cup at Second Cup, I estimate that machine has saved me over $60,000.

    • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
      1·
      8 months ago

      I thought this when I bought my own espresso machine but then I realized that although the cost per cup is dramatically lower than what it would be if I paid for it at a coffee shop, I drink WAY more espresso (and coffee in general) than I did before I got it, meaning that any savings are purely theoretical. For example, I drink a double shot of espresso every morning as my morning coffee. On this basis, I saved money because the cost of my machine brings the cost per cup down to almost just the cost of the coffee. But before that, I was drinking coffee made by a $30 drip coffee machine that I had had since I moved out to go to college, which was already to that point. So on that basis, I didn’t save any money at all. I still think it’s worth it because I fucking love having a cup of espresso every morning but I no longer think of it as a “money saving” thing.