Cost of Homemade Bread - Tasty and Frugal

A couple of months back, I came across the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking. It features a no-knead bread of the sort popularized by this New York Times article. But the bread recipe in the book requires even less work. You mix the ingredients in a 5 quart container and then throw it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Whenever you feel like a fresh loaf, you reach in, pull off a chunk, let it rise, pop it in the oven and ta-da! Fresh homemade bread!

Now there is a bit of a technique to shaping the loaves, but after seeing the authors' demonstration on youtube, I started churning out bread like a pro.

This book has some critics; probably serious bakers who have an advanced palate and can tell subtle differences in the texture, or "crumb" of the bread. But I find the bread to be wholly worthwhile and as good as the deli loaves I could pick up at my chain grocer.

But a picture is worth a thousand words. From this:

To this:

Cost of a loaf:
yeast - 8 cents
flour - 72 cents
salt - .007 cents, seriously! Total for one loaf of bread - 80 cents!

I buy store brand flour in 5 lb bags. To cut the cost of a loaf another 20 or 30 cents, you could buy flour in 25 lb bags from a warehouse club or restaurant supply store, both of which I have nearby.

Here is the master recipe for 5 minute bread:

1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (about 1-1/2 packets)
1-1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6-1/2 cups unbleached flour, plus extra for dusting dough
Cornmeal

In a large plastic resealable container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm (about 100 degrees) water. Using a large spoon, stir in flour, mixing until mixture is uniformly moist with no dry patches. Do not knead. Dough will be wet and loose enough to conform to shape of plastic container. Cover, but not with an airtight lid.

Let dough rise at room temperature, until dough begins to flatten on top or collapse, at least 2 hours and up to 5 hours. (At this point, dough can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks; refrigerated dough is easier to work with than room-temperature dough, so the authors recommend that first-time bakers refrigerate dough overnight or at least 3 hours.)

When ready to bake, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza peel. Place a broiler pan on bottom rack of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees, preheating baking stone for at least 20 minutes.

Sprinkle a little flour on dough and on your hands. Pull dough up and, using a serrated knife, cut off a grapefruit-size piece (about 1 pound). Working for 30 to 60 seconds (and adding flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to hands; most dusting flour will fall off, it's not intended to be incorporated into dough), turn dough in hands, gently stretching surface of dough, rotating ball a quarter-turn as you go, creating a rounded top and a bunched bottom.

Place shaped dough on prepared pizza peel and let rest, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it in lidded container. (Even one day's storage improves flavor and texture of bread. Dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in refrigerator prior to baking day.) Dust dough with flour.

Using a serrated knife, slash top of dough in three parallel, 1/4-inch deep cuts (or in a tic-tac-toe pattern). Slide dough onto preheated baking stone. Pour 1 cup hot tap water into broiler pan and quickly close oven door to trap steam. Bake until crust is well-browned and firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool completely.

Today's ledger:

Grocery Game - $1

Sunday paper - $1