When I went to talk to folks last week, I happened to mention that I make homemade bread. Of all the things I talked about, that was the one that they made me promise to post about. We go through a reasonable amount of plain loaf bread around here with sandwiches, toast, French toast, etc. It's nice to be able to make a loaf of sandwich bread at home, though, and I finally found a decent recipe.
First, let me reiterate that I am not Suzy Homemaker. I do not have the time or patience to grind my own flour or invest half a day in some of the artisan loaf recipes floating around the web. I do, however, appreciate being able to customize recipes and to feed my family things with fewer preservatives. Homemade bread allows for experimentation, and it's ridiculously easy if you have a bread machine to mix the dough.
I mentioned several years ago that I was looking for a breadmaker, and my sister kindly gave me hers, saying that she never used it. I have gotten so much use out of it since. If you don't have an amazing and generous sister with a spare bread machine sitting around, I suggest looking on Craigslist. You can probably snag one for under $30. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for yard sales. Bread machines are the sort of thing that folks either use all the time or want to get rid of to free up storage space. I recommend getting one that offers a two-pound loaf capacity, just to have the room for yeasty breads to rise properly.
1-lb loaf of dough in 2-lb machine
When I first started using a bread machine, I followed the instruction manual meticulously, and only baked loaves in the machine. A couple of years ago, I started to branch out, and learned that it's most valuable for making dough. Pop the ingredients in (liquids on the bottom, followed by sugar/salt/fat, then the flour, and the yeast on top), and select the 'dough' setting. When it beeps, you pull out your dough, shape it, let it rise the second time, and bake it. Easy peasy.
Liquids, then dry ingredients, then flour, then yeast
Another thing I discovered is that tiny little packets of dry yeast are a pain. You can get a good deal on them with coupons, but they come in 3-pack strips and you really have to watch the expiration date. Here in NC, summers are humid and one damp packet means you've just lost all your other ingredients on a failed loaf of bread. One day, I was at the warehouse store and stumbled across the 1-lb packs of yeast. They sell at under $5 for two pounds. A pound of yeast has lasted almost a year for us.
The packs are vacuum-sealed and shelf-stable until you open them, and I just keep the opened yeast in a mason jar in the freezer. The last thing I do before starting the bread machine is pull out the jar, measure my yeast, and immediately put the yeast jar back in the freezer. It hasn't deteriorated at all.
I found this recipe for plain white bread and halved it. It's probably the closest I've found to sandwich bread. I made a loaf this morning to share with my sister over coffee.
Straight out of the machine, kneaded slightly to remove air
Shaped and ready for loaf pan
Seam side down
40 minutes later, doubled in size
After 30 minutes in the oven
It continues to rise as it bakes
Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes
Inside texture is just like a fresh loaf of sandwich bread
So, is making your own bread at home going to save money? If you factor in the ingredients plus the electricity to make the dough and bake the bread, plus the cost of a machine (used), versus an 89-cent loaf from the store... probably not. If you actually enjoy dabbling in the kitchen, though, the machine and bulk ingredients are a worthwhile investment, and you have the option of making fresh sandwich bread. Once you've practiced with one recipe for a bit, you'll want to move on to whole wheat bread, multi-grain bread, pizza dough, soft pretzels, challah, dinner rolls, and sweet dough. That's where you'll realize greater savings. Why pay $4 for Texas Toast when you can make a loaf and slice it as thick or as thin as you'd like?
Plus? Nothing's nicer than the smell of yeast bread baking on a weekend afternoon. It just puts everyone in a good mood.
Next up: Improvising a recipe
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