Skip navigation

 Login or Register | Member Centre

Crisco's too costly - pass me the Fluffo

HAYLEY MICK

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:00 AM EST 22/09/08

Avid bakers across the country forced to switch to second-tier ingredients in order to save money ...Read the full article

This conversation is semi-moderated What is moderation? | How do I report a comment?

  1. Jane Doe from Canada writes: Ladies. Please. Take a deep breath and don't give up over nickles and dimes. Why not make a few extra loaves or pies? I am sure it wouldn't be too hard to find grateful friends or neighbours more than willing to pay for the real deal. Win win situation.
  2. Justin Payne from Richmond BC, Canada writes: Jane, I agree. I have a friend that bakes and she tells me that the price of everything has gone up. I told her that she could sell her baking to subsidize the cost. Well she has done just that and continues to bake to her hearts content and making a few bucks as well. There is a demand. Besides; there’s a real move by a lot of people to buy local and I think “homemade” will really come into its own in the near future.
    A side note: I would suggest to any home baker that wishes to sell there products (even on a small scale) take a food safety course at the local college, you will find it interesting and you will learn how to handle food in a safe and proper manner.
    Bake on my friends. ; )
  3. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: Jane Doe - It is not a matter of nickels and dimes but dollars. As stated in the article the price of flour has gone up dramatically and is double or triple what it was this time last year. Fortunately we have a countertop flour mill and access to wheat and rye straight from the farm.

    It IS a good idea to scout out customers to buy home baking though. There are a lot of people with no time/inclination to bake themselves. The difference between home-baked and commercial is like night and day.

    Speaking of night and day, that is the difference between pie crusts made with shortening or lard. Lard wins hands down! Ditch Crisco and Fluffo - lard is also MUCH less expensive!
  4. Lowen Wrainger from Canada writes: Marie, Marie ... le people have no cake or pies to eat. They are rioting dans la rue. What shall we do?
    Marie Aunt on the net, 'Oh mon Dieu! Let them eat healthy balanced meals of meat, potatoes & vegetables! Did I mention Corn, aussi?'
    After all this, somebody's going to be high in fiber!
  5. Oakville Curmudgeon from Canada writes: Give up baking bread??? Not me. Compare the cost of home baked bread to the cost of a comparable artisan loaf in the stores and you still further ahead baking your own. $1.50 at home $5.00 or more in the stores.

    And Sask is absolutely right. Bake with lard - it is now trans fat free - and not only will your costs come down, the quality will improve.
  6. E Morris from Canada writes: As Scenic from Sask said, it isn't just a matter of nickels and dimes. It's also a matter of availability. We have been having difficulty even finding rye flour on the shelves. And here's the kicker, the flour brand I was buying has been sold to a large US conglomerate and they have decided to discontinue production of rye flour. But having said that, I'm sorry that Ms. Mick didn't mention that as far as I'm concerned, buying the ingredients and baking one's own bread (and anyone can do it - it's not rocket science and it doesn't actually take all that much time) is far less expensive than buying it. It tastes better too than the run-of-the-mill stuff at the stores. Sure, there is good bread to be found but it costs. One of my friends just called to say that she had splurged and bought a HALF-loaf of an artisanal bread from a local bakery. She said it tasted fabulous but cost a whopping $4 - that's half a loaf of bread! For about $13, one can buy 10kg of flour to make several loaves of arguably equally good if not better bread.

    And I whole-heartedly agree that lard is WAY better than shortening for pastry.
  7. TD Laing from Canada writes: Lowen Wrainger, it's not always a matter of the people not having their cakes and pies to eat. As a mom of a celiac child, my choices are to spend $7-11/kg for gluten-free flours, or $7 for half a loaf of commercially-made gluten-free bread. My bread maker is used a lot these days. So I fully sympathize with all bakers facing higher ingredient prices.
  8. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: Good grief. For people baking for home needs, does this really change significantly the percentage of income spend on food, which has been at an all-time low in history these days? How much bread does a family eat? The real issue seems to be lost availability, which is frustrating. For those selling baked goods, all businesses face fluctuating supply cost issues--it is a business risk.
  9. Jacques Shellac from Montreal, QC, Canada writes: I don't make much bread over the summer months, a couple of pizzas is about it, but I did notice that a big bag of flour has almost doubled in price since the last time I stocked up.

    What really shocked me yesterday evening was the price of chips, which I don't often indulge in, but you know, treat myself once in a while. Last night I noticed a 235g bag of chips was on sale for 3 bucks a bag. How can that be? That means it is cheaper to eat pennies! I ended up buying a baguette instead and a nice piece of blue cheese.
  10. stand up mimi from Canada writes: I want to know how to make artisanal sourdough breads. My husband and I have tried to make them at home and they're just not the same as the loaves you get from the bakery. They're good, but the texture is fluffier and less chewy. I've tried asking bread people about it, but they are always cagey. What gives? Are there courses out there somewhere that I just haven't found? Books? We don't eat a lot of bread, but it would be nice to be able to make something as delicious as the artisan loaves from the bakery.
  11. Roger L from Vancouver, Canada writes: I make a German style light rye as our regular bread. For kicks, I figured out how much it was costing me and it worked out to about $1.00 for all the ingredients and a generous amount for electricity to bake it.

    In the past two years, flour prices have indeed risen, but even with higher flour prices and switching to a premium whole wheat flour (made from Red Fife wheat), it's now $1.60.

    That's for two loaves.

    Comparable bread at the store or artisanal bakery? $5-7 each.

    So prices for flour will have to begin exceeding what I pay at the store before I stop making my own.
  12. stand up mimi from Canada writes: One other thing - since we have started buying most of our food locally, we haven't noticed much of an increase in food prices (except for those things we can't get here, like flour, which is also affected by commodity wheat prices). It's not that much more expensive to buy locally, either, and if you buy in bulk it's often cheaper. It's the processed foods that are now costing so much more, and since we don't buy much of those, we're not really affected.

    And as Murray noted, food prices ARE at an all-time low anyway. Reality seems to be playing a bit of catch-up there.
  13. Kay A from Canada writes: So we're back to lard, huh? I have some of my grandmother's recipes that call for lard & I have been hesitant to use it. Now just might be the time.

    I won't stop baking at home because I do it to ensure the kids treats/snacks are healthy...whole wheat banana loaf with oat bran healthy. And yes they like it and eat it because they've never had anything else.

    Of course my little town has the best natural food & bulk store you could hope for because the price of my soft whole wheat flour has only risen from .69/100g to .98/100g since last year.
  14. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: Kay A writes: "the price of my soft whole wheat flour has only risen from .69/100g to .98/100g since last year."

    WOW! I pay $11.15 for a 10kg bag of unbleached flour ($9.95 on sale) and complain because last year it was always on sale for $3.99 and often for $2.99. You are "happy" that you are paying $98.00 for 10kg??

    I'm not really complaining as it is good that the farmers are getting in excess of $10/bu for their wheat. They had to make do with under $3 for way too long! Though now they are facing escalating fuel and fertilizer costs.....can't win!
  15. E Morris from Toronto, Canada writes: Stand up mimi; google "the fresh loaf" - there are lots of friendly experienced bakers there who will be happy to answer your questions about how to make artisanal style loaves.

    Roger L, this is exactly what I was trying to say when I was interviewed. It's markedly cheaper to buy the ingredients, even taking into account the cost of energy to bake the bread. There's no way we'll stop baking our own bread. I'm curious though, what is the cost of light rye flour in Vancouver and where do you buy it? Is dark rye flour readily available too?
  16. Kay A from Canada writes: I don't bake bread so the price increase is worth it for me... I do buy all my other flour on sale when possible.
  17. Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: 10 kg (22.5 pound) bag of Robin Hood baker's (all-purpose) flour at Costco: 12 dollars (and yes, fortified white flour is as good for you as whole-grain flour. Better, some nutritionists argue as the nutrients are more accessible to the body. http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/wholewheatflour .)

    As for the fat in the bread, my grandmother's bread recipe from the depression which I converted for bread machine use only needs 1 teaspoon of fat: shortening, lard, butter, margarine, suet or oil. 1 teaspoon is not a lot. And if they want to save on their fat costs, use bacon fat for frying some stuff in. Bacon fat is lower in saturated fat than butter: 38% saturated fat for bacon fat or lard vs 66% for butterfat. (Sue Snider, Ph.D., Food and Nutrition Specialist, Food and Nutrition Facts, FNF-18 .University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, March 1997.)
  18. City Wok from Toronto, Canada writes: North Americans eat far too many carbs anyways, throw the "sugar crash" bread in the bin and forget about it.

    The truth is, this stuff is not scarce...come on Crisco? Since when is fat hard to come by? It's our wonderful market that works well when it works, but like a P.C. compared to a mac, is just dreadful when things go wrong.

    Besides, it'll be good we can all start loosing the horrid weight we all carry around.
  19. Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: p.s. there are many Italian-style bread machine recipes which use no fat at all (which means you really need to use them up the same day.)

    And if you really want to save, you can look for Tuscan inspired recipes, which don't even need salt: the Tuscans were too cheap to use salt (it had a tax on it which they didn't like to pay.)

    That being said, as I think about it, I'm surprised the writer focussed on the cost of fat. I just don't see that as the most expensive ingredient in a loaf of bread. I would point instead to store-bought yeast, especially the sachets of Instant Rise. You can bring the yeast cost way down by buying dried yeast in bulk at bulk stores, and storing it at home in the freezer. If you want no yeast cost at all, find room for a sourdough starter in your fridge.

    And it's very surprising the article focusses on the cost of Rye flour, given that most Europeans have spent all of history trying to get away from Rye (German tastes being an exception.)
  20. City Wok from Toronto, Canada writes: Yeah the farmers totally deserve it.

    Given that they were getting the royal screw in the past, getting pennies while cereal was 5$ a box, with virtually all that money going into marketing and paying someone on a keyboard coming up with zippy characters and moronic jingles for what is essentially compressed paper towels.

    Remember that "some" food companies aren't really food companies, they farm out everything. They just are idea boxes, that farm out the production and marketing, and just sit back and enjoy the income...which is fine, but I would MUCH rather prefer someone who actually cared about their product, rather then just their next mansion. The mansion is fine, but your work and passion for it are first. If you don't have that, I don't care how rich or successful you are.
  21. Greg Cleveland from Cleveland, United States writes: At least most of us aren't going hungry as a result of rising food prices. A lot of people in other parts of the world are.

    And, I love home baked bread. I might make some tonight!
  22. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: Randal Oulton - We buy our yeast at The Real Canadian Wholesale (a Loblaws Co) for $3.49/lb You have to buy 3 x 454g @ $10.47 but it keeps.
  23. Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: >> Greg Cleveland from Cleveland, United States writes: At least most of us aren't going hungry as a result of rising food prices. A lot of people in other parts of the world are.

    Well yes, exactly. We do bread at home for a cost of around 40 cents a loaf now. Compared to 2 to 3 bucks average for a shelf loaf of sliced bread at the supermarket, I won't be rioting in the streets just yet.

    >> stand up mimi from Canada writes: I want to know how to make artisanal sourdough breads. I've tried asking bread people about it, but they are always cagey. What gives? Are there courses out there somewhere that I just haven't found?

    Try googling on "sourdough bread", "pre-ferments", "biga", "poolish", "Levain de première", "Levain de seconde", and "Levain de tout point." It's all the same principle.
  24. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: That is Fleischman's Instant Dry Yeast and it works perfectly for our bread maker (we start it there, then do the final raise and baking in the oven.)
  25. Mary Dolan from Canada writes: Stand up Mimi: Read The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten. Hilarious, obsessive food writing and research. He makes dozens of loaves of artisanal bread and also makes all the mistakes so you can avoid them. He has another book called It Must've Been Something I Ate but I think the bread article is in the first one.

    Now, what kind of bread will I make this weekend...
  26. stand up mimi from Canada writes: Thanks, Elizabeth, Randal, and Mary for the info. I knew there had to be a whole artisanal bread world out there.

    Also, apparently Rogers makes dark rye, but I have not been able to find it in the Vancouver area, even though it is made in BC (or at least, it used to be - not sure if it still is). If anyone knows where I can find it, let me know. Or light rye, for that matter. I have found very small packages of dark rye (Nunweiler's) but it's often hit and miss, and I'd rather buy larger bags.
  27. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: stand up mimi - No rye flour available at all in the Regina area (that we could find) thank goodness we have a flour mill! We have enough rye (grain) that we grind "as we need it" (definitely whole grain) to last us about ten years (cost: $10) when we make a loaf a week, along with a couple loaves of whole grain wheat bread/week.

    We haven't purchased commercial bread for eleven years now. Couldn't stomach the gooey inferior stuff actually!
  28. stand up mimi from Canada writes: Scenic Sask - You've definitely found the cheapest way to make rye bread. I've actually considered getting a small mill myself.
  29. E Morris from Toronto, Canada writes: >> Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: I'm surprised the writer focussed on the cost of fat. I just don't see that as the most expensive ingredient in a loaf of bread.

    Randal, I too was surprised that Hayley didn't focus on the dramatically risen cost of flour rather than the high cost of fat. Rather than yeast, which is used in tiny amounts, I see flour as the most expensive ingredient in a loaf of bread. And as you mentioned, many loaves of bread have zero fat in them. Most of the bread I make is made with flour, yeast, water and salt only. (Personally, I would NEVER use crisco in bread. The only fat I use for bread baking - if I use fat at all - is butter, olive oil or safflower oil. For pastry, I'll only use butter, lard and/or olive oil.)
  30. Gudrun Dekker from Vernon, Canada writes: Stand up mimi: Rogers flour mill in Armstrong still produces rye flour. I still see it on the store shelves here in the Okanagan so on your next roadtrip up here you can stock up or get your local grocer to order some.
  31. Michael Hawkins from Rothesay, Canada writes: I bake all the bread products my family eats, primarily for quality reasons and never really considered cost since was fairly obvious it was much, much cheaper than any commercial bread. I did some calculating anyway though recently and came up with a figure of about 75 to 85 cents a loaf, even at today's prices. That's still half the cost of 100-per-cent, nutrition-free commercial white bread and just a fraction of an artisnal loaf that could be compared to what I make.

    Frankly, the prices of the raw ingredients could double from what they are now and I wouldn't blink.
  32. Keith Conley from Calgary, Canada writes: My husband bakes our bread in the Bread machine, and we have done so for a long time. I also like baking other things, and especially for Christmas, as things taste so much better when it is home made, and simply because I like to know what goes in it.
    The taste is better too.
    We have been at the Rogers Flour mill in Armstrong and they have a lot of good products for those of us who bake, and also hand out many recipes. I especially like their Rogers Porridge Oats, which I use for a lot of my baking and Apple Crisp, it makes for a good crisp of any kind . Great Store.

    Joyce Conley.
  33. Rusty Brown from Cobourg, Ontario, Canada writes:
    "One year, a local man paid $500 for her pie, all of it donated to local charities. But lately, Ms. Durling's five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren have had to settle for fewer treats, since her baking schedule has dropped from several days a week to one..."

    Can you say "non sequitur"?

    Eh?

    RB
  34. J. Anderson from Canada writes: Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: "... it's very surprising the article focusses on the cost of Rye flour, given that most Europeans have spent all of history trying to get away from Rye (German tastes being an exception.)"

    Randal, your atlas of Europe has some pages missing :) Rye bread continues to be a staple in pretty much all Slavic countries, and I believe also in the Scandinavian countries and Hungary.
  35. Yvonne Wackernagel from Woodville, Canada writes: I couldn't boil an egg when I got married and my husband just did not believe me, especially as his sisters had all been sent to the local university in Europe to take special courses. But, then, I found so many good colleagues and neighbours willing to, not only give me recipes, but even to stand over me whilst I baked shortbread. Now, some of my baking has a great reputation, most of it publicised by my children who just casually ordered from Mom every time they went to a contributory function. It got a bit tiresome but I was in a deep trap. However, even with just my husband and I living at home, I still bake my own pies, muffins and buscuits, at the very least and, because I have done it for so long, it is just like breathing. I wouldn't dare produce a 'bought' pie at our table for dessert, especially when any of the children are present. Baking can be quite enjoyable and I still often try new recipes. In any event, I find the store bought goods quite expensive and dry.
  36. L.B. MURRAY from !! from Canada writes: Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: p.s. there are many Italian-style bread machine recipes which use no fat at all (which means you really need to use them up the same day.)

    And if you really want to save, you can look for Tuscan inspired recipes, which don't even need salt: the Tuscans were too cheap to use salt (it had a tax on it which they didn't like to pay.)
    ______________________________

    French ''baguette'', fresh baked, and delicious. Some people make several small loaves, bake them about almost done, then freeze and pop in the oven for about a few minutes before serving, since ''baguette'' and ''Italian bread'' have to be eaten fresh... next day they're hard as rock but can still be used to make toast ...

    My favourite recipe is something called ''Maritimes bread'' which my mother-in-law used to make... I think she got the receipe during a trip to Nova Scotia.... there's oats, molasses, whole wheat flour, etc in that recipe and it's delicious... My dad had a similar recipe but he got it from his family somewhere in the Boston or Connecticut area... and I believe they called it ''Yankee Bread'' !!

    Quite true that homemade bread tastes so much better...

    Cheers.

    -
  37. j m from Canada writes: The prices that have gone up don't worry me - it is the ones that have held stready.

    Why? Because those are the ones that we have been paying too much for all along.
  38. Jim Brennan from Canada writes: We received our order from Speerville last Thursday. Included was ten kilograms of stone ground organic whole wheat for $19.72. I am baking with it right now. Our pastas, pizzas and pastries have all improved. The process is rewarding (no bread machine) as is the finished product. We never ate much bread before we started making it so while I am uncertain of the savings I trust we are eating less of more expensive products and are healthier for the experience. I think most small mills would be pleased to accept orders from small groups. It has been good for us in every way.

Join the Conversation, Leave a Comment

This conversation is semi-moderated What is moderation? | How do I report a comment?

You must be logged-in to submit a comment — login now!

Not registered with globeandmail.com? Register now. It is quick and free.

close

Alert us about this comment

Please let us know if this reader’s comment breaks the editor's rules and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.

Do not use this to complain about comments that don’t break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.

Back to top