Homemade Loaf Bread Cost

What does homemade loaf bread cost?

Homemade loaf bread cost is one of my top reader questions. As most of you know, my family switched to eating only homemade bread a couple years ago and it has been great! Homemade bread is healthier and tastier than it's store bought version. Homemade loaf bread cost is also less than purchasing it at the store..

One of the questions I get from readers is exactly how much does homemade loaf bread cost? If you are only looking at bread mixes and small yeast packets then it may seem expensive. But, if you purchase your ingredients in bulk then homemade loaf bread cost is next to nothing!

Homemade loaf bread cost

Homemade loaf bread cost really depends on what bread recipe you use, but if you are trying to find the cost of regular sandwich loaf bread then this white bread recipe works great (and is one of my favorite, quickest recipes). For one loaf of homemade bread you need:

• Warm Water (free)
• 1/3 cup sugar ($0.09)
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast ($0.04)
• 3/4 tsp salt ($0.01)
• 2 Tbs oil ($0.02)
• 3 Cups flour ($0.53)

Homemade loaf bread cost (for a regular white sandwich loaf) is $0.69 per (3 pound) loaf.

I buy my homemade bread ingredients in bulk (from Costco). The ability to buy ingredients in bulk will save you A LOT of money. You will especially save on the flour and yeast. Both of those are pretty expensive when you purchase them in small amounts.

• A 10 lb bag of sugar costs $5.55 and makes approximately 60 loaves of bread.
• 2 lbs of yeast is $3.99 and makes approximately 100 loaves of bread.
• 25 lbs of bread flour is $8.49 and makes approximately 16 loaves of bread.
• Vegetable oil is $9.49 for 1.25 gallons and that will make almost 500 loaves of bread! But, I usually use olive oil, which is a little more expensive.

Keep in mind that most of the bread you buy from the store is a 1 pound loaf! 2 and 3 pound loaves are also sold so make sure to check the bread that you usually buy for a good cost comparison between homemade loaf bread cost and store loaf bread cost.

Cost of Homemade Bread

Other Homemade Loaf Bread Cost Expenses

I use a bread machine to make my bread. You do not have to! It does make life easier though. Here is a post on choosing the right bread machine for your homestead. My bread machine only costs $70 and it works great. However, I will go with a Zojirushi Bread Machine when I upgrade simply because it is a much better machine, has more features, and I use my bread machine multiple times a week. For an occasional homemade bread loaf the cheaper machine will work great.

A couple other homemade loaf bread making supplies that will make your life easier:

• There is a learning curve when trying to Learn how to slice homemade bread. A bread slicing guide can make this easier, but is not necessary.

• In my bread making tips post I talk about homemade bread storage and using a bread keeper. I would consider this more of a necessity than a want simply because before I used it my bread only lasted a couple days before drying out or getting mold. I tried saran wrap and bags, but nothing worked like the bread keeper. If you go through a homemade loaf slower than one every day or two it is worth the $20.