Is Baking Bread Worth It?

Is Baking Bread Worth It? Spending one or two hours in the kitchen making your own bread has more benefits of what you could think.

When you love to eat freshly baked bread, you may have a good bakery near you, where you can purchase your bread, but when you start making your own bread at home, you might be wondering it is worth it or not?

Is Baking Bread Worth It?

Thinking about if it is worth to make your own bread at home or not, it has two sides you can take a look at, at the end you will have enough reasons to decide whether or not to keep making your own bread.

How Much Does It Really Cost To Make Your Own Bread At Home?

  • At The Grocery Store

Many will think about how much money it will cost you to start baking your own bread, so let’s talk about money.

When you go to the grocery store, there are plenty of different types of bread you can buy, some are very affordable and some might have a higher price tag.

At the grocery store you can find some bread made in big factories and they are made using the best quality ingredients, and they can get to keep the prices low.

Some grocery stores may have “artisan bread”, they are made following artisan recipes and some are good enough if you like artisan bread, they can be found with a higher price tag, but they are affordable.

  • At The Small Bakery

Now, let’s talk about getting your bread at the small bakery in your town or city, you can be sure they are freshly baked almost every day, and you might know about what time bread is just baked, so you will be buying a better quality loaf of bread.

Bread made at the small bakery will have a higher price tag, and I must say that is OK, as you will be buying a better quality freshly baked bread from them, and you will be supporting a small business in your neighborhood.

You will get to know if they bake every day the same type of bread or if they have some specialties one day or the next one.

  • Baking Your Own Bread At Home

When you bake your own bread, the cost may be lower, even if you buy the best quality ingredients, you won’t be paying for the labor hours every baker puts on each loaf of bread.

If you take your time to make numbers to learn how much each recipe can cost, you may notice that most bread recipes are really low cost of money.

But you need to start making the starter, then spend a few minutes adding all the ingredients in the stand mixer, let the dough proof, depending on the recipe, proofing can take a few hours, and you need to be at home and not miss the right moment or the dough can go bad.

Looking after the bread in the oven, can require from you to be in the kitchen and follow the steps the recipe tells you, as some bread recipes require a hot oven at the beginning and lower heat later, some recipes will tell you to add some steam in the oven and that will take some time from you.

At a conclusion, if you bake your own bread at home, you should not only take a look to how much the ingredients cost, but also on how much time you need to be at home to follow all the steps on the recipe.

Making Your Own Bread At Home With The Best Ingredients

Let’s talk about you’re making your own bread at home for yourself and for your family, and this tells me that you’re doing it the best way you can do it, and nothing can beat this.

When someone starts making their own bread is because that person loves it, you need to love what you do, so you don’t mind spending long hours in the kitchen to make a loaf of bread, and sometimes you will be making more than just one loaf of bread.

Baking is another way to tell your family how much you love them!

Baking your own bread at home, should not being seen as just like “how much money will you be saving from the grocery ticket”, you will be saving some money, but you will be using the best quality ingredients you can afford.

Keeping the ingredients price lower will help you to get some other ingredients to make different types of bread, otherwise you couldn’t afford, and this is a huge point.

Another thing to add here is about the benefits you can get from making your own bread, if you love it, you can be sure baking every loaf of bread is a big achievement, and you can be sure that is a feeling like running a whole marathon!

Teaching Your Children To Make A Loaf Of Bread

One plus point I must add is when you have a family with young children, they will have the best bread you can make for them!

Starting to bake your own bread with the help of your children, will allow them to learn some new skills, family time and the joy of a family achievement together.

At any meal time, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can be sure your children will feel so proud of themselves when you bring the bread they helped you to make!

Children grow so fast, and from my personal journey as an artisan baker, I remember when my young son started helping me preparing the dough and baking the bread, then as he was a young teenager, he started suggesting to me some new recipes.

Today he is a pastry and gelatto chef, and we often talk about new recipes and we have made some trips to visit a new city to visit some new bakeries or ice cream stores.

My other two sons have different careers, but we often talk about the time we spend in the kitchen together when they were young, and sometimes they ask me for a recipe or for a baking tip.

With this, I must say, the time you spend with your children in the kitchen making your own bread for your family, is time that is worth spending, and for me that is a huge point!

Closing

Is Baking Bread Worth it? Whether you do it to save some money, or to bring the best loaf of bread for yourself or for your family, I must say this is something that is worth to do it.

As a hobby or as a way to save some money, it has more benefits that many people will think it has, but one thing I must say here, you need to love to make it, and don’t worry if a recipe doesn’t go the way it should be once or twice, keep at it, you will get better with every try!

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Is Baking Bread Worth It?

6 thoughts on “Is Baking Bread Worth It?

  1. If you ask my family if they think is it worth baking your own bread, they would unanimously tell you that yes, it is worth it. And that is because of the taste! Also, we can use ingredients that might not otherwise be in a shop bought bread. I have a gluten intolerance, so if I use flour, like almond flour, then I know I will not have a reaction to the bread. We also like making a health loaf with wholemeal flour and seeds in, and that we cannot find locally. Making your own bread is certainly worth while. 

  2. Hi Alex, 

    I think that baking your own bread is worth it. There is a bit of a time commitment involved, especially when you are first learning, but it usually pays off in the long run. It is fun, a great way to tell people that you care about them (like you said), a good activity to do with kids, and it makes your house smell really good. 

    I’ve heard that some real estate agents recommend baking bread before you tour your house, as it helps sell it quicker- because it smells so good and homey!

    All the best to you, 

    Beth

  3. I have a friend that has been minimalizing her expenditure and one of the areas she has focused on is making her own food, which includes baking her own bread. I was a skeptic at first given the time commitment and the need to get the right mix of ingredients but I was wrong. The taste, texture of the bread and knowing exactly what was in it was all the more worth eating. I, therefore, concur doing your bread baking at home can have very significant financial and health benefits into the long term. 

  4. Oh, I love this idea! Why didn’t I think of it before? Just for that delicious aroma of bread baking, it’s worth it but I have another reason.  

    Almost a year ago I switched to a wholefood plant-based diet and it’s been difficult to find whole-grain plant-based bread so I’ve defaulted to a rye bread we can get from our local grocery store.

    Do you perhaps have a recipe for a vegan whole-grain bread I can make at home? Ideally, I’d like a gluten-free option.  Am I asking for too much?  Vegan Whole-Grain AND gluten-free?  It might be so heavy and hard it’s impossible to eat. 😉  

    1. Hi Lauren Kinghorn

      Thanks so much for reading our blog today, no you’re not asking much, it’s always a pleasure to get more ideas for bread recipes from our readers, I will add your suggestion for a wegan whole grain bread to our recipes list, I’m sure there are a few you might like!

  5. I appreciate how you mentioned that baking is another way to express your love for your family. For this reason, I shall be baking bread with much love 🙂 And if baking my own bread can make me feel like I’ve run a marathon, I’m ready to start doing it myself because it appears to be a satisfying feeling after each accomplishment.

    Wow, based on your own experience, I believe that baking with your children is the perfect time to spend with your family. I’ll be sure to buy a stand mixer for my kitchen, as you mentioned that it will make kneading the dough much easier. Of course, because I am a newbie, my first recipes will fail, but I will continue to bake my own bread, and with time, I am confident that I will become an expert.

    Great article.

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