Hey, c/frugal, I was reading through this little post, (https://lazysoci.al/post/23833029) when a comment about baking bread reminded me of something I had heard back on reddit: that apparently baking bread is a great way to be frugal. <br> I haven’t had bread for a while, and would love to engage with the bread-eating community again, and so I wish to ask your favorite frugal bread recipes! From loaves to naan, I would love your input :) <br> P.S. I would also love to ask what you all think of breadmakers, are they a good frugal buy?
I once did some math just before starting to make my own “bread”. I learned it’s about 3-4 times cheaper to make it myself (and to get much more at the same time).
So, after maybe fifteen years I retried making it myself. It’s a chore, yes, but the fruits are a little bit more rewarding than how awful the tedious work feels like 😅
(of course, if you can buy old bread which date is past the best before, you can go cheap without making food yerself).
I like like the pizza bread recipe by @Aragusea@youtube.com. I use it as a pizza dough as well as focaccia dough. I find it good to use after 3 days in the fridge and up to 5 days where as Adam Ragusea wait for a week. But it is easy to make. I cook it in on a sheetpan with no need of specific equipment and it can be store quite long for a fresh bread dough, neatly packed in the fridge.
Here’s a 4 ingredient Artisan loaf recipe that is foolproof:
Less than $1.75 cad with ‘regular priced’ groceries. If you buy bulk, etc, the cost drops below $1.40.
I have been doing this for years. The recipe you linked is too much work for me, I usually just finish the dough in the same bowl, less clean up.
I use a canadian “all-purpose” unbleached flour, water, salt, and instant yeast, and vary additives based on the kind of loaf. For sandwich bread I add rolled oats and red river cereal and a bit of dairy (for crust softener) and bake in a loaf pan at lower temperature than the dutch oven for a boule.
Tonight is an extra dough for pizza too, so that dough will be just white flour but not as “slack” (wet), and I will turn it out onto a pastry board for shaping.
My wife bakes two loafes of sourdough bread every Weekend, without a breadmaker or anything Its always great, even when its “bad” its still way better than any storebought bread
