For some obscure reason (most suspect price fixing) bread is unusually expensive compared to most other countries. That $2.29 might get you some low-end plain white sliced bread, but that's about it. You're looking at twice the price, as a minimum, to get something I'd actually consider worth eating. Yet flour and the other ingredients aren't really that expensive, and industrial bakeries are pretty much fully automated, so labor costs can't be the reason either.
I generally use 3-4 types of flour, usually chosen on a whim. About half is plain wheat, while the rest can be spelt, rye, graham, and so on. For one loaf that costs me about 5 DKK in flour (not bought in bulk), 0.5 DKK for yeast, 1.5 DKK for yogurt, and at the very most 2 DKK in power and various other ingredients (dried herbs are from the garden or given to me by relatives, so I don't have a cost for those). Final price is about $1.60 for a high quality bread.
As for time ... Well, I use a breadmaker, so that's about 10 minutes of work every 2-4 days. I haven't had a mouse in a bought loaf either, but I have once found an unidentifiable brown lump in the corner of one. |
