JonobieRE: https://ablerism.micro.blog/2026/06/15/regular-random-reminder-that-bangforbuck.html
I’ve found this to be true as well.
This makes me wonder beyond salad dressing and granola:
What else is low effort to make and vastly better or cheaper than store-bought?
ohir@jonobie
> low effort to make and vastly better or cheaper than store-bought?
It depends on which country you are in.
@tantramar
> Bread.
Especially bread is neither low effort nor cheap. It's not that easy to prepare and store real bread starter and the bake process itself needs a practice too.
Chris Mackay 🇨🇦@ohir @jonobie I use a no-knead (therefore low-skill) loaf that has 4 ingredients (water, bread flour, salt, and rapid yeast); comes out to around CA$1/loaf, maybe? No starter (not sourdough), no fancy storage needs; doesn’t last that long. ;) I’ve not had a single failure with this loaf, and I’m no expert baker. It does require some gear — bowls, oven, mixing tools, parchment paper — but no specialty tools, and nothing remotely exotic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ukMbpMuof3g
Never Buy Bread Again: The Easiest 4-Ingredient Daily Bread (No Kneading)
@tantramar
Thank you. Bookmarked. I will try the recipe.
My traditional bread is coming once per three weeks from the nearby countryside mom'n'pop store and they have it straight from the small traditional bakery. Not effortless, just some 7km by bike ;)) CA$6 per 1.4kg loaf though.
@ohir @tantramar Thanks for the link - I literally just wandered into my kitchen and made this. I love the NYT recipe for no knead bread, but it’s too slow for me sometimes — I often forget to start it early enough for the long proofing time.
@jonobie @ohir This loaf is 3 hours from I-should-make-bread to slicing-and-buttering. The key is the quick-rise yeast, though; I find many American recipes use various names for it. This is the one I use — and one of the stores I frequent that carries Fleischmann’s yeast doesn’t carry it — so read the label carefully.
@tantramar @ohir Lol, well, it’s possible I just made it without the right yeast, not sure. Though the first rise looked good, so we’ll see when it comes out of the oven? 🤷🏻♀️
@tantramar I’m rarely too upset to eat my errors 🤣
@jonobie @ohir I’ve seen others talk about how much they like the NYT recipe — but the overnight proofing can’t compete with the quick-rise yeast for me.
People are also unhelpfully vague about water temperature (to activate the yeast): 105–120°F works for me, and if you don’t have a thermometer, 1 ¼ cups of room-temperature water + ¾ cups of boiling water tends to work out fine.
Adding 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts to the dough — and maybe some sesame seeds and/or poppyseed sprinkled on top (wet the dough first so it sticks better) — makes it extra flavourful.
Photo is one of my loaves out of a 9-inch Dutch oven. Comes out about 4 or 5 inches tall.
