The Many Benefits of Homemade Bread

Who else is ready for a delicious meal this weekend? I am embarrassed to admit that meals this week consisted of too many restaurant trips and my kids have went through too much cereal. I’ve simply been too busy to cook and I know I can’t be the only one. I am ready to spend some time preparing a full meal for my family this weekend. I also know that I’m not the only one that loves a good homemade bread side to my meal. While we as a culture have seemingly gotten away from homemade bread (I guess those $0.99 loaves are too easy to pass up), there are plenty of reasons why you should still be enjoying homemade bread in your home. Even Livestrong agrees with me on this one in this article where they discuss the health benefits of baking your own bread. I know that there are more than just health benefits, but if you ask me, health is reason enough to be baking your own bread!

I’m not talking about bread makers either, I’m talking about fresh out of the oven, made from scratch, stoneware baked, delicious homemade bread.

So, what are these benefits? Well they are plentiful, but I think we can touch on them here:

Health Benefits

• Healthier ingredients. If you have ever looked on the label of your store bought bread you have likely seen a list of ingredients that you can’t even pronounce. Isn’t there some kind of rule that says if you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t eat it? When you make your own bread, you only add in the ingredients you choose and you can avoid the preservatives and other ingredients that you don’t necessarily want.
• Less sodium. The average diet contains way too much sodium. That is because processed foods often have a larger than needed sodium content. This is not true for homemade bread.
• Whole grains. When you make bread at home, you can be certain to add the recommended daily allowance of whole grains into your breads. When you buy commercially prepared bread, you really can’t be sure of how much of these whole grains are actually in your slices.
• Avoid allergies. There are a lot of allergies out there and if you have the misfortune of suffering from them, you can tailor your bread to avoid those particular allergens. I, for example, have a gluten allergy. By baking my own bread at home, I am able to make it with gluten free flours and not have to be concerned about having a reaction, whereas I am always nervous to eat store bought breads, even those that are labeled gluten-free.

Other Benefits

• It smells amazing. Okay, this may seem silly to some, but I love it when my house smells like fresh baked bread. YUMMY!
• It tastes better. I have never met a person that thought that store bought bread tasted better than homemade. Homemade bread is delicious.
• It’s cheaper. Okay, so sometimes you may find store-bought bread on sale 2/$1.00, but that is not the norm and on average, you can make a loaf of whole grain bread from scratch for about $1 (this price can go down significantly if you buy your items in bulk). A good quality loaf of whole grain bread at the store always runs me $2.50 or more.
• It’s fun. Let’s be real here, I enjoy baking. I find it therapeutic to spend time in the kitchen creating and breads are one of my favorite things to bake. I do not, however, enjoy shopping. So when it comes down to it, I would much rather bake bread than head to the store and buy it.
• It’s beautiful. I absolutely love the look of freshly baked homemade bread. Especially fresh out of the oven in one of our bakers.

Are you ready to make the most delicious baked bread ever for your family? Here are some of my family’s favorite recipes:

• basic french bread
• Cracked wheat sourdough bread
• apricot oatmeal bread (a great breakfast bread!)
• Multi-Purpose Low Carb Bread

I know I have already linked to it a couple of times, but I am not kidding when I say that our stoneware is great for making homemade bread! Be sure to grab one or all of our great bread bakers and the necessary tools for your best bread making session yet!

• superstone® la cloche® - the late james beard wrote, "the bread i have been baking in it is nothing short of sensational." truly, this product is a bread-lovers dream as it duplicates a professional brick-lined oven, creating a light crumb and crusty exterior. no need to soak the la cloche™.
• Superstone bread dome - the "incredible" superstone® bread dome is an amazing product for baking breads and chicken, vegetable or meat dishes. the stoneware material replicates a professional brick-lined oven to create a dry, even heat and spectacular bread. the domed shape allows air to evenly-circulate around the baker for a uniformly browned crust on your bread while the unglazed lid helps create the perfect environment for baking crackly breads and juicy chickens and roasts.
• superstone® covered baker - the superstore covered baker produces a spectacular italian, or oblong, loaf of bread! it’s unglazed interior pulls moisture from the dough, replicating the effects of a brick-lined oven to give you a light crumb and crusty exterior loaf. try roasting potatoes in the baker for crispy skins and a fluffy interior. if you’re a bread baker and enjoy baking different types and shapes of bread, this baker is terrific!
• oblong proofing basket
• Bread whisk
• rectangular marble and mango wood board

Good luck on your next bread baking adventure my friends!