Is it worth it baking your own bread

I make my own sourdough. I make two loaves once every two weeks and slice them up for the freezer just removing enough for toast every day. Use had the same culture going for about 10 years and I find it lives quite happily in the fridge between baking sessions. I take it out a day or two before baking and 'feed' it, use what I need for the loaves, then 'feed' it again for a few days before returning to fridge. I've even bought a bread slicing machine. Apart from the expense of the bread slicer I'm sure each loaf is a lot cheaper than buying in an artisan bakery. I use organic flour so no additives and much nicer.

We use a breadmaker, Waitrose flour with seeds in, make three to four loaves a week. We like nice bread which is quite pricey round here. I daresay sliced white would be cheaper, but I would rather have my own without additives.

I love making bread. I started during the first lockdown (as many people did) and just kept going. Ok, there are two of us but I make small loaves and rolls and freeze them, taking out just what we need that day in the morning. I do a double size quantity about once a week. I use locally milled flour which averages out at around £4.50 for a 1.5 kilo bag. That's the equivalent of three large loaves. Plus the dried yeast which doesn't cost a lot. Yes, you can get much cheaper bread, but is it really bread? And the artisan stuff which I'm told mine is as good as is a lot more expensive.

Yes, it is worth it in my opinion. Most bread is full of additives and improvers whilst a good homemade loaf is wholesome and makes lovely toast. I use Granary Crunch flour from a local mill and make it using the dough hook in my Kitchen Aid mixer. Yes, there is proving time and the cost of the oven to take into account but I think the pleasure it gives me is worth it and it's healthier too!

I've been baking bread for years, and still do but also buy it. We like Warburtons seeded loaves.
My method doesn't take much oven baking time - only about 15-20 minutes. But it does take a lot of rising time, especially if it's a cold day. 2 lots of rising.
I use organic wholemeal flour mixed with 30% strong white.

It's a lovely thing to do , but living alone and not being a big bread eater, especially now I'm cutting down on carbs, and not using oven much due to high fuel charges, it's just not desirable or economic for me.

“Multiply IT” ????

I like baking but I’m trying to avoid using the oven at all. There are recipes online to make bread in a microwave oven or a slow cooker, but I haven’t tried any. I’m buying yellow-stickered sliced bread to freeze, and occasionally treating myself to a tiger baguette at the weekend.

Years ago as part of a fundraising scheme at our church we were each given £1 and invited to multiply - like the parable of the talents.
I used my £1 to buy bread flour and yeast and baked and sold fresh loaves (no, no fishes- different parable )to the “working singles” of whom there were quite a few in the congregation. I charged 50p each so every 2 loaves paid for the ingredients for the next batch . I did it the old -fashioned way, lots of kneading and proving and kneading and DH at one point commented that I must have been getting rid of my frustrations on the bread dough as he had never known me as sweet tempered and patient before (or since!)

Like Sago I bake my own. During lock down I rediscovered the pleasure of making home-made bread from scratch. I find it therapeutic and very satisfying, plus it produces a result which is incomparable with its shop-bought equivalent. I bake in batches, cool and partly freeze, slice, then freeze. Is it worth baking your own bread? Yes, imo.

I think it is. You can't beat the taste! Do you have any neighbors or family that could help you get through what you make? There's no rule you have to eat it all yourself!

I bake all my own bread, couldn’t go back to shop bought bread now.

Best organic flour, I costed granary. Made a large loaf and it was 99p plus electricity and the yeast. The very best most wonderful bread. I never buy bread. Used a new style panasonic, takes 5.5 hours for this slow bread

Thank you all. I agree the smell and taste of homemade bread takes some beating. Also, I like the kneading of the dough; I find it quite therapeutic. Baking several loaves and feed the freezer obviously saves time and energy. I can switch the central heating off and let the oven heat the house! I really am thinking of ways to reduce my energy consumption.

Used my breadmaker through each lockdown as had to isolate, much prefer the flavour to shop bought which is invariably sweet for some reason.
Now I only actually make soda bread , not to everyones taste I know but we love it and so simple to make. Only 30mins in the oven. Double batch, half in the freezer the rest to enjoy on the day and sublime toast the next.

I have a bread machine, so much cheaper to run than my oven, and yes, I think it’s worth it. Apart from having fewer preservatives, and tasting much better, I can make loaves that are either hard to find, not available, or very expensive.

I slice the loaves and freeze some if I think k there’s too much.

Depends on how you define “worth”.
Like many home made/handmade things, from knitting to marmalade it will not be cheaper. But it will probably be better and bound to be fresher and all the more satisfying for your achievement!

I have to eat gluten free bread so I often make my own. I also live on my own so I slice it and freeze it to avoid any waste.

It’s definitely cheaper to make my own as gf bread is expensive and I get the best results by making and proving the dough in the bread maker then baking it in the oven.

I also make focaccia bread this way using sandwich cake tins to bake it.

It’s probably cheaper to buy and freeze ordinary bread than make your own but nothing beats the smell and flavour of home baked bread.

Greta, it's certainly 'worth it' if you appreciate having bread just the way you like it. Nothing compares really, although bought bread is relatively cheap. I batch bake and freeze half, just every now and then (about fortnightly) and tolerate the bought stuff in between.

Is it worth taste wise or price wise? No contest that taste is infinitely better but not sure that you would save money.

It's not cheap - perhaps because of the expensive flour we like (and the baking obviously)
Maybe bake a few loaves and see if you like it better than bought.
I doubt it will save money unless you buy really pricey artisan breads.

Perhaps cheating I know ... I have made bread during lockdown 2 or 3 loaves in the oven ... but majority I did in my bread mixer