Hot take: bakery prices vs homemade costs are a complete scam debate

I went to a fancy bakery in Portland last week and saw a single loaf of sourdough for $12. That got me thinking, is it really cheaper to bake at home or are people just fooling themselves? On one hand, flour and starter cost almost nothing per loaf, but my electric bill for a 4 hour oven bake at 450°F adds up fast. Am I the only one who can't decide if the convenience is worth the markup?

3 comments

3 Comments

rowan_thomas8423d ago

Gotta push back a little on @allen.kai there. Yeah the ingredients are dirt cheap but you're forgetting all the hidden costs. Time is a huge factor, kneading and waiting for dough to rise takes hours. Also your oven isn't the only energy burner, my kitchen gets so hot in the summer that I have to run the AC more. Plus good salt, olive oil, and proper gear add up over time. For me the bakery markup is totally worth it when I factor in my time and effort.

angela58723d agoTop Commenter

@allen.kai did you check if your oven uses less gas than electric? My neighbor swears hers bakes faster.

allen.kai23d ago

That $12 loaf better be life changing for that price. I actually ran the numbers on this for my own kitchen last winter. A 50 pound bag of bread flour from Costco runs about $15 and that makes around 30 loaves depending on your recipe. So the ingredients alone are maybe 50 cents per loaf. But yeah the electricity thing is real, I started baking multiple loaves at once just to get more out of the oven time.