The Great Bread Challenge

I enjoy baking my own bread for myself and family but with the cost of living crisis is it a luxury that we can still afford?

How I started baking bread is lost in the past. It probably was when somebody in a newspaper praised bread made from a bread machine. Eventually we bought one and the taste and texture of the loaf was much better than anything bought. After a couple of years I started wondering if I could bake my own bread without a machine. I bought a few second hand books on the subject and turned out my first loaf which was well received by my family. After a while, I started reading books by famous bakers such as Richard Bertinet then milk loaves, seeded bread and brioche started to appear on the table. Feeling confident in my bread production I took a deep breath and had a go at the holy grail of baking bread - sourdough! Now I enjoy experimenting with my own recipes. But with increasing costs of flour, butter and electricity is it a luxury?

My challenge was simple - can I bake a popular loaf such as the farmhouse white for the same price, or less than, than a bought one?

It has been a few years since I bought any bread, therefore walking around the bread shelves of a supermarket I was surprised to see such a wide range of loaves which covered every combination imaginable from plain to seeded and in different sizes and shapes. The supermarkets have tapped into the sourdough market but there is an ongoing debate about whether it is genuine sourdough because they can use bakers yeast to accelerate the process. On most high streets there are family owned bakeries such as Taylors of Bruton in Somerset, or Oxford’s in Dorset. They offer a reduced range of bread that include farmhouse white, seeded and sourdough as well as very tempting cakes, tarts and biscuits. Finally there is the artisan baker who turns up at farmer’s markets and usually concentrate on french breads, sourdough, seeded and flavoured such as olive and cheese. The price of the breads reflects the production process. The supermarkets rely on the Chorleywood Bread Process that mass produces loaves in their thousands per hour which can get the cost down to as little as 39p for a loaf. Whereas a family bakery has higher higher labour costs and therefore are more expensive. With the spectrum of bought bread my challenge was to see where the cost of producing my own bread would lie.

The key ingredients for baking bread are: flour, water, yeast and salt. A few other ingredients can be added to affect the taste such as sugar and butter. Cost for the different ingredients can vary considerably. For example strong bread flour can range from £1.30 for a 1.5kg bag for a supermarket brand to £2.40 for 1.5kg bag for a top branded product. Personally I can’t tell the difference between the flours because most of the taste comes from the crust which depends on how the bread is baked.

The breakdown of the approximate costs for making a 800g farmhouse white is as follows:

The total cost for my farmhouse white bread is £1.10 which is less than a typical farmhouse white from a supermarket costing approximately £1.20 therefore the costs are still comparable. The majority of the cost is the flour with electricity coming a close second. With some careful shopping such as buying the ingredients when they are on offer then the cost of my farmhouse white could be reduced further. To save a bit on electricity a number of loaves could be baked in one go which would spread the cost and could be frozen for later consumption.

Of course buying bread from the high street is more convenient that than baking it by hand which for many people with busy lives may be the best way. However, there are many advantages of baking your own bread. First their is health. Industrialised bread is one of the most common ultra-procesed foods in the UK and research is beginning to show that there are increasing health risks. Another aspect is that the ingredients can be controlled when baking your own bread. The Chorleywood Process relies on chemical improvers and antifungal agents as well as hydrogenated or fractionated fats which is being blamed for a sharp increase in gluten intolerance and allergy as well as obesity. Home baked bread uses none of these ingredients.

Another aspect to home baked bread is to do with mental health. There is a lots of satisfaction in throwing a few ingredients into a bowl, mixing it and then kneading it into life. During baking there is the intoxicating smell of fresh baked bread that fills the house and lifts everybody’s mood. Then there is the mental stimulation from learning to bake bread and the sense of achievement when you see everybody tucking into fresh slices bread. Finally it is great way to introduce children to baking and understanding how their food is made.

As the cost of living crisis worsens baking bread at home can still be a viable option compared to buying bread. Although it takes time to bake bread at home there are many benefits for health and wellbeing. We will still be cranking up the oven and watching the bread rise with its golden dome.