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Mick
Member
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Posted: Fri Nov 16th, 2007 07:40 pm |
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I just made my first large order of grain and accessories from BB.
The bill for materials and shipping to TN was $420
I will have about 210 pounds of dry material.
A two pound loaf has just over one pound of liquids and some will go off as steam.
So I guess there will be about one pound of flour mix per loaf.
Doing the math: $420 / 210# = $2 per loaf.
Of course a one pound loaf would be $1 per loaf.
The reason I posted this is I saw somewhere a 25 cents per loaf number?
Maybe in the 1950's but not today! Or they were wee little loafs.
A two pound nutritious loaf for $2 is OK with me.
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Tue Feb 10th, 2009 03:33 pm |
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You way over-estimated the weight of flour. If you put a pound of flour in your loaf, you'd be using it for a door-stop.
I calculated this out before, and I have adjusted it to current prices.
I bucket of Hard White Flour weighs 45 lbs. It costs 38.03 (I'll get into shipping later).
I cup of fresh ground flour, made from this wheat, weighs 5.5 oz. (I weighed it on my Ohause Lab Scale).
My recipe uses 4 cups of flour and makes 2 very large loaves, or 3 normal sized ones, so there is roughly 2 cups of flour per large loaf. That means that every bucket of flour I buy makes aprox. 125 large loaves.
38.03/125=.304, or 30 cents per loaf. I calculated the other ingredients the same way.
Flour .30
fresh honey .05
olive oil .05
flax seed .10
yeast .05
salt .01
water .01
gas (stove) .20 Total=87 cents per loaf. I am sure I figured high on the ingredients.
Now, on shipping, I order many things at once so the shipping is split betwwen many things. I'll estimate the shipping at .10 cents, which is probably high, so now we have .97 cents per loaf. I don't figure my time in because I would be doing something at home anyway.
This is all I put in my basic bread, so the cost of a loaf of basic home-made bread, measuing on average 18" long, by 10" high, by 8" wide, using whole ingredients, is 97 cents per loaf.
That's a bargain in anybody's book.
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Mick
Member
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Posted: Sun Mar 15th, 2009 01:40 am |
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Hello Gigmaster and Friends.
I have great admiration for your knowledge as a Chef and have read most of your posts but I'm having a little trouble with two 18" x 10" x 8" loaves from 4 cups of flour.
I use 4 1/2 cups of flour (including flax and sifted) in my Zo machine to make one loaf, 8 1/2" x 5" x 5". This is the Bread Becker recipe.
I just weighed a loaf that I made yesterday with an estimated 1/4 gone and it weighted 1.48 pounds so 2 pounds a loaf is a good number. And using your 5.5 oz. per cup for flour my loaf would have 4.5 x 5.5 = 24.75 oz. = 1.55 pounds of flour.
This is a picture of my loaf:
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Mon Mar 16th, 2009 07:13 pm |
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Nice loaf.
The actual recipe (from the Bread becker Book) calls for 5 cups of flour, but I never make it to 5. I put in 3-1/2 cups, then add it 1/4 cup at a time until the proper consistency is reached. I just guessed it as 4 cups, but it may be 4-1/2. And I don't use a machine, or machine recipes. I use the Slightly Sweet But Simple recipe from the book. And sometimes I use the 7 loaf recipe, as well.
The 18" measurement was a typo. My Norpro breadpans are 12 x 4.5 x 3. I never weighted the loaves, but since I have a set smaller, I was guessing that these were 2-lb loaf pans, and the others 1 Lb. loaves. I am not that precise. As long as the loaves come out light, big, fluffy and with the right texture....I'm happy.
And I am sure I save money by doing my own wheat, not to mention the money saved in less trips to the doctor, improved health and Quality-Of-Life, etc...
I can't eat store-bought stuff anymore. It tastes nasty!
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Mick
Member
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Posted: Tue Mar 17th, 2009 01:23 am |
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LOL, I thought you had some European bread pans that were labeled in centimeters.
18 x 10 x 8 cm would equal 7 1/4 x 4 x 3 1/4 inches.
Not saying you Georgia Mountain Men could not handle a 18 x 10 x 8 inch loaves.
LOL
I think our estimates on the cost are close and agree with the benefits.
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Gigmaster
Member
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Posted: Tue Mar 17th, 2009 02:22 pm |
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No. I was just tired and not paying attention. I hit the wrong keys a lot when I get like that.
Personally, I wouldn't really care if making whole grain food did cost more. I would still do it, because I feel better, my health is better, and the taste is incredible. I can't eat hardly anything from the store anymore, because it all tastes nasty and chemically. All we buy are meat (sometimes), sugar, spices, etc... My milk, eggs and honey, I get from local producers, unpasuerized and un-hormoned. I make our cheese, butter, condiments, sauerkraut, etc... I harvest fish and game (according to the game laws), and buy beef, pork, chicken and fresh vegetables from local producers. The rest I get at Bread Beckers, Honeyville Foods, or Bulk Foods.com. I trade a lot of services for food, sometimes, and we all benefit.
I have a Holistic Health Clinic in Cleveland, Tn. ( in addition to being a retired chef, I am also a Doctor of Naturopathy, Master Herbalist and a Licensed Massage Therapist for the state of Tn.) and I was thinking about starting classes on using whole grains. I need to do some checking first to see if there is enough interest, but I believe it will work.
Bon apetit!
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Chris, GA
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Posted: Mon Oct 19th, 2009 08:12 pm |
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I make the Bread Beckers Zo recipe and this is how I figured the cost estimate of the major ingredients...
Hard White Wheat
45 lbs hard white wheat @ 2.5 cups wheat per pound =112.5 cups per bucket
I use 3 cups wheat berries per loaf = 37.5 loaves per bucket
Where the 45 lbs costs $36.99, wheat per loaf costs about $1 per loaf.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 gallon tin = 16 cups EVOO
I use ½ cup per loaf = 32 loaves per 1 gallon tin
Where the EVOO costs $ 21.45 for 1 gallon, EVOO is about $.67 per loaf.
Wild Flower Honey
12 pounds Wild Flower Honey.
1.33 cups per pound = 15.96 cups per jug
I use about ¼ cup per loaf, which means I can make about 64 loaves per jug.
Where the Honey costs $27.70 for 12 pounds, it costs about $ .43 per loaf.
So just for those 3 ingredients, my 2 lb loaf of Zo bread costs about $2.10.
Chris, GA
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