James D. Carnes Blog: 5 Reasons to Make Homemade Bread

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

5 Reasons to Make Homemade Bread

5 Reasons to Make Homemade Bread | A Couple Cooks

Ever made your own bread at home? It may sound daunting, but guess what? Homemade bread is not as hard as you think. In fact, several people have told us it is actually easy. One of those people is Zoë Francois, author of the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day books (along with coauthor Jeff Hertzberg). She’s the star of our newest podcast episode, Homemade Bread in 5 Minutes, where she shares the story and secret behind her method.

Is it really that easy? Well, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. In the meantime, here are our 5 top reasons why you should give bread baking a shot:

This week’s podcast giveaway is a $100 gift card to Bob’s Red Mill! Check out the podcast page for details.

5 Reasons to Make Homemade Bread

It’s quick. OK, it actually takes a little longer than 5 minutes to mix up the ingredients and wait for the dough to rise. But after that, it’s 5 minutes of active time to shape a loaf and throw it in the oven. The dough makes enough for 4 loaves, so you can keep it in your refrigerator and pull it out when it’s go time. This is a recipe for busy people.
It’s cheap. Per Zoë, it costs 40 cents per loaf. That’s, like, unheard of at the grocery or bakery.
It makes your house smell amazing. Which in turn will make your mood skyrocket. There is something magical about the smell of fresh-baked bread that makes the world seem right. Can you really be mad at your spouse (roommate, child, etc) while that smell is wafting?
It has less preservatives. True story: we bought a loaf of standard store-bought sandwich bread a few years ago and after getting lost in our pantry, it was still good 2 months later with no mold. What? Homemade bread goes bad much quicker, but it’s a bit more natural without the funky preservatives. And it doesn’t stay around for long, so we have no issues with mold.
It’s fun. Baking bread is just gosh darn fun. Not only is it fun to shape it and slash it, it’s even more fun to take a loaf out of the oven and say “I made that.”