Saving Money On Bread

Tips for saving money on bread as posted by the ThriftyFun community.

Bread Outlets

Many people do not realize you can freeze loaves of bread for up to 3 months and they will be fine. I go to the bread outlets and will stock up on it, especially the markdown rack of loaves that are about to expire. Even cakes and cookies. Just place inside several plastic shopping bags and close tight and freeze. Let thaw to room temperature and you will never know it was frozen. And at bread outlets you can usually get 3 loaves for the price of one at a normal grocery store.

By Kat

Paper Towels to Protect Frozen Bread

You can wrap your cakes, rolls and bread in white paper towels before putting in freezer bags and when thawed they will not be hard around edges. Especially bread, I have had some bread taken from freezer when thawed the crust is quite hard.

By Joyce

Use Less and Buy Better Bread

You can save money on bread by putting more on say one slice of toast instead of two. There is no law that a single slice of bread can't have more jelly on it. Or the lunch meat and cheese you put on a whole sandwich can't be put on a half of one. Either way you save, the calories of that one slice of bread and also save money.

One other thing, never buy just white bread. It has no glamour, looks or taste and it is way overpriced. When you go to buy day old bread, buy the ryes, the wheats, the potato and even pumpernickel if you have the nerve. Any of those breads without anything on them is more filling then white.

By Michael Ruger

Use Bread To Soften Stale Cookies

I just learned that a couple of slices of bread will help "de-harden" over baked (or slightly stale) pastries ~cookies, brownies. Put a slice or two on top and bottom and seal in a reusable container or tin overnight. The moisture from the bread revives the goodies and poof! Good cookies again!

By Bridget

Make Bread at Home

Make your own bread. Buy yeast by the 1 pound package at Sam's Club, Costco, or a food service supply. It runs about $1.50 per pound. According to Red Star, once opened the yeast will live 6 days at room temp., 6 weeks in the ref., or 6 months in the freezer. I usually put it in a zip lock bag and date the bag. You may use the yeast right from the freezer. I make my own pizza dough and bread.

Left over bread can be torn in pieces and slowly baked on low until light golden brown. Put in food processor or blender to make bread crumbs for dishes such as meat balls or any breading needed.

By Sue

Outlets or Store Brands

The bread outlet stores are cheaper than buying at regular grocery stores. The store brand breads are generally cheaper also.

By Becky

Uses for Stale Bread

Don't throw out your stale bread! Use it up in bread puddings and even as French toast! Experiment if you have extra of a loaf or mix it up. Raisin bread, French and sourdough bread make great pudding, yummy!

Make bread crumbs or croutons from slices that are going stale. Dry in the oven or leave out for a couple of days then crush and store for use in recipes later! For croutons, spritz with a bit of olive oil and any herb combo, then bake. Great recipes are found all over the web!

By Christine Biernat

Marked Down Bread

Most store have a day they mark down meats, and baked goods. Where I live, it falls on a Monday. You have to be the early bird to catch this worm though, because they disappear fast. Everything is marked half price. I have always frozen my bread. If it goes hard around the crusts, it usually means air has gotten in somewhere, so double bagging may be a good idea if this is a problem.

I always save my excess pieces that don't seem to get eaten, such as the end pieces, If you have a lot at once, you can dry them in your oven on a low setting, Then use a food processor to crumble them up. If you don't have one, you can always use a rolling pin, much slower, but it works if your bread is uncut. Be sure the pieces are fairly thin before drying.

If you only have a few at a time, just set them out to the air and allow to dry normally. A covered dish with lots of ventilation is best, or store in your refrigerator open to the air. If you happen to have a dehydrator all the better, If bread goes past it's point and green appears, the bread is still good. Just remove the bad sections. Dry the rest.

By Martha

Homemade Bread

I have not bought bread in a year. It got too expensive. Our one and only grocery store wants around $4 a loaf. Instead, I bake our bread in one of two ways:

The first is to make it from scratch. This not only includes loaf bread, but also pizza crusts, pie crusts, tortilla shells and rolls. I also make our own croutons.

The second is to buy frozen bread dough. I can buy 6 frozen loaves of Always Save dough for $3.24. (That is cheaper than buying 1 loaf of bread). Depending on yeast and flour prices, sometimes that is the cheaper route to go.

I do all our baking. I try to do a week's worth at once, so I am only heating the oven up one time. However, if we are running low on a baked good, I will sometimes put it in the oven with supper.

By mom-from-missouri

Buy Bread and Baking Supplies In Bulk

I am lucky to live in Northern Indiana close to Amish Bulk stores and bread outlets. I buy flour and baking supplies in bulk and do major baking of bread and other baked goods. I try to do the baking on a cool day so the oven is our main heat source (we mostly heat with a large fireplace). All stale bread can be used for many recipes. I have 6 boys, so we waste very little. If it really gets moldy, we feed it to the birds and geese in our back yard. Don't be afraid to try new recipes using honey, molasses, fruit, jam, nuts, and exotic flours. I have a bread machine which makes it really easy, but sometimes it's great therapy to hand knead it, kids can help too.

By Vickie Kibellus

Recipe for Cracker Bread

If you have access to a Cuisinart or equivalent, sprout wheat 12-24 hours (I do it and sesame seeds in kefir for the sourdough tang), then grind with the steel blade until reasonably fine. (Or use a Champion or other strong juicer to mash them nicely with the lower part blocked.) Then cut cracker-size pieces and dry in oven (gas usually close to 80 degrees F with heat from the pilot) maybe 12-24 hours, turning upside down once. Freeze and use as you like. A powerful cracker-bread!

By P

Buy On Sale and Freeze

Buy reduced price bread when you can find it, and then immediately store it in the freezer, thawing out only what you need at a serving. If you store it at room temperature or in the fridge, it will just get more and more stale.

By ChloeA

Use Your Bread Machine

I love my bread machine, which I got for $5 at Goodwill a couple of years ago. A 2-pound loaf of whole-wheat/oatmeal bread costs me about $1 to make, and it's so easy. The machine does all the work. The bread is very filling and really nutritious.

You can also add all kinds of delicious stuff to the dough - nuts, fruits, vegetables, cheese, spices, peppers, mushrooms, whatever. A can of pumpkin makes wonderful pumpkin bread. I also want to try making pizza bread, with all the ingredients baked in.

Dakota brand pure whole-wheat flour from North Dakota has gone up from $1/5 pounds to almost $3 in the past couple of months. King Arthur brand from Vermont is $2.69. A 5-pound bag makes 4 2-pound loaves. Or you can buy bread flour if you want. I'm sure the flours packaged especially for bread machines are good; I just haven't paid the extra money for them.

I also buy dry yeast in bulk. Keep it cool and tightly wrapped, and it lasts a long time. You can always put in a little extra if you've had it for a while and think it's lost some of its strength.

If you have a bread machine, you know it takes 3 to almost 4 hours to make a loaf, depending on ingredients. And when it's done, it keeps the loaf warm for another 30 minutes.

It's a really good deal. And I think once you've eaten home-made bread, you won't want to go back to store-bought.

By Janice C.