Baking vs Buying: White Sandwich Loaf?
We bought a Kiss white sandwich loaf this week and I noticed it cost TT$10.75…i mean…how long ago was this $7? or … $6? Well, the $8 not too long…the others, I don’t recall.
Does anybody? I wish somebody kept track.
Anyway, I decided to work out how much it cost to make a sandwich loaf home.
The kiss bread said it was 590g so I used Peter Reinhart’s White Bread‘s Percentage Formula to work out the ingredients and then tried to remember the cost of ingredients.
Shame on me for not remembering the cost of yeast. I use so much of it.
*sigh*
Some costs I can’t remember exactly but have decent-ish ideas.
If anybody wants to quibble on price…or contribute…feel free.
I’m sure mom will come along to save the day, yet again. I’ll edit as time goes on.
| Ingredient | g | oz | vol | cost | notes |
| Baker’s Flour | 303 | 10.66 | 2 3/8 cups | $2.17 | I think a 10kg bag of baker’s flour is TT$77 but it could be TT$73 or something. I forget. Went grocery, baker’s $71.49; AP $67.993 |
| Salt | 5.5 | 0.2 | < 1 tsp | $1.00 | let’s call this neglible and count this, sugar and water as $1? |
| Powdered milk | 19g | 0.66 | 1/8 cup | $1.19 | I think 800g costs about TT$50+-TT$5. I don’t buy it! And I’m not sure if that’s the correct size of the big bag.3 |
| Sugar | 23 | 0.82 | 5 tsp | – | see salt |
| Instant Yeast | 0.11 | 1 tsp | $0.502 | this is like half a packet? 5 packets in a box? which costs TT$52. I should know the cost of yeast. I use it so much. I just can’t remember. |
|
| Egg | 1/2 egg | $1.02 | um, use the other half as egg wash. i think we got 18 eggs at pricesmart for TT$18.xx |
||
| Water | 4/5 cup | – | see salt | ||
| Sub Total | 590 | $5.88 | Labour/Etc | ??? | Work Time: 30 min Bake Time: 45 min Total Time: 5 hrs |
| Total | ??? | ||||
Well, the ingredient cost for my equivalent white bread is say about TT$7 as opposed to TT$10.75. But I haven’t even factored in gas or labour charge. I guess since I’m making it for home, for me, I could work for free. Am I saving?
Well, at least for the most part I know what’s going into my bread.
Would you still bake bread?
- If you’re interested, I still calculate/estimate the exchange rate at US$1 = TT$6.30 tho…I can’t recall what it is exactly. XE.com lists a mid-market rate of TT$6.22580
- Edit 6:30 am: Checked with mom, she’s not sure cost of yeast but thinks it’s around $5…so I don’t feel so bad!
- Went grocery today. Country Pride Baker’s Flour is $71.49 for 10kg and All-Purpose Flour is $67.99 for 10kg. Also, checked with mom…the powdered milk price is about right. I forget which is more (skim or full-cream) but the range is more like TT$48-$53 so I’ll leave it as is.
