Over the Christmas holiday I got a gift from my parents of some cooking tools; a sifter, some measuring utensils, two bread pans, etc. I’d mentioned that I wanted to take some time to learn to make bread and they were happy to give me some support in that direction.
Why the interest in baking, one might ask? Part of it is economics: food is getting more expensive, and I want to curb my grocery bill before it gets larger. Part of it is due to the pandemic, now stretching out into its third year; a result of which is there are a number of foods I can no longer get by relying on stores or fast-food places. And part of it is a desire to learn new things, gain new experiences, and perhaps acquire a few new skills that might be useful later in life.
Now bread is hardly scarce, but it is costly, depending on where you buy it and what brand. And the skills needed to make bread can also be used to make other things; like rolls, or pizza.
So, I found a recipe online that will make two loaves, got the ingredients I didn’t already have, and yesterday, proceeded to bake bread.
(For those interested, this was the recipe I used: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/basic-homemade-bread/ I apologize in advance for the auto-playing videos and ads; those seem to be a standard component of sites like this one).
As this was my first time, I certainly made mistakes, some which I caught almost right away (like forgetting to mix the canola oil with the yeast mixture before adding it to the flour), while others I wouldn’t realize until much later. But, about five hours after I started, I finally had two loaves ready for baking:
Half an hour later, I extracted them from the oven, with the crust now formed and near a suitable golden brown:
Well, the new loaves looked okay, but are they edible? Once I let them cool down a bit, I cut off a slice, buttered it and gave it a try. The verdict: edible, and even tasty, but a bit dense. The bread didn’t rise in the oven as much as I hoped it would, so something went sideways along the way. I toasted two slices this morning and found that it doesn’t brown as much as other breads might. That density issue again, I suspect. But, overall, I’d say this was a good first try.
Is this cheaper than buying it from the store? Yes, but not by much. I picked up a 1 kg bag of flour and a three-pack of yeast pouches, each of which had enough yeast for the recipe. In total, the venture cost me $6.48. Sugar, salt, and canola oil I already had. So, dividing the yeast cost by 3, the two loaves would have cost me $4.82, which in turn works out to $2.41 per loaf. Most store-bought loaves I’ve found usually start at $2.70 and go up from there. I’m hardly going to pay for college with the savings here.
Plus there’s the time investment as well. It took me roughly five-six hours for everything, from preparation, to mixing and kneading, to waiting for the dough to rise, to baking. This is not something one does on a whim.
But, for all of that, it was a good effort, and gave me something tasty to have for my breakfasts and lunches. I think I’ll try it again next weekend!
Looking good AC.