Bread Machine EconomicsHaving now run the machine for a while we are getting some idea of the benefits. I made three loaves this weekend—we now eat a lot of bread.
A large wholemeal loaf from our baker costs £1.45. It is nominally a 800g loaf but weighs 780g when purchased. From the supermarket they are £1.11. This is decent bread, not packet cotton-wool.
To make one in the machine using stock (supermarket) flour costs 50p for a large loaf. It is a different shape, but I checked and it weighs 800g after baking. If I were to use organic stone-ground flour from the beanie shop then it would cost 93p. Fancy flours like spelt and rye put up the cost, and white loaves are cheaper.
So it is very good value. The cost is almost entirely the flour; the only other ingredients are 25g margarine, 2tsp sugar, 1.5tsp salt, 1.25tsp dried yeast and the power (0.43Kwh); together they account for about 12p. And there is zero wastage which is better even than hand made home baked bread. Everything that goes into the pot comes out in the loaf and is eaten—no floury hands, bowls or kneading boards.
The bread keeps well and tastes good, not only straight after baking but on to the next days as well. Now that we are confident, I will try experimenting with the ingredients. I want to see what lowering the salt, sugar and fat does to the results as that would make it even healthier. The only complaint we have is that our (Panasonic) machine has a very quiet “done” beeper, especially considering how much noise it makes while running, so we have to keep an eye on the time.
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I heartily recommend a loaf with sunflower, sesame seeds etc in.
Naan bread are very good,pizza dough also, as is a caramelised onion bread and malt loaf is great. I have succesfully reduced the salt and usually forget the milk powder, I never weigh the butter and I usually put in less than the recipe-I weighed it once and was quite stunned by the amount they recommend! The favourite loaf in this house is a 50:50 white/wholemeal loaf. I have a very good book if you wish to borrow it.
Done seeds. Haven’t tried dough yet nor onion bread (sounds good). My recipes don’t call for milk powder though I have done a milk loaf which had a creamy taste and different texture. The spicy fruit loaf I did on Saturday is great but extravagantly rich.
I was thinking of buying a machine (our freind and parish priest made us a loaf this weekend, which was a treat) and I was wondering about the cost, so found your post. As an accountant I think you may have missed a couple of costs from your 50p estimate – electricity / gas for baking but also the cost of the machine, which you would have to depreciate on a per loaf basis ! That said, even if it is slightly more expensive than a decent load from the supermarket, I think it will be worth it for the results, the smell when cooking and the fact that the kids will actually eat it. Plus we can play with different ingredients, baking different bread each weekend in addition to cakes. I’m sold !
I do include the power requirement but, you are right, I should have included depreciation. In my case it was a gift but it has been running for 18 months now producing an average of one loaf a week with no trouble. If it died tomorrow then it would be very poor value. I don’t know what the true calculation should be but at £100 cost you would need to make of the order of 200 loaves to break even – about 4 years.