Bake Two Loaves for $1.86 a Week

There’s this idea that sourdough baking has to be fussy, wasteful, or expensive. The overwhelm of internet noise really gets in our heads about sourdough baking. But it really doesn’t have to be so complicated!

In the last video I posted, I wanted to show you just how simple and accessible it can be. No discard. No daily feedings. No expensive flour. Just yummy bread that you can make for your family.

Here’s how it works:
I keep my SMALL (25g or so) starter in the fridge all week. The night before I want to mix up dough, I take it all out and put it into a new jar. I feed it with 70g flour and 70g water, and let it sit overnight on the counter. By morning, it’s bubbly, active, and ready to bake with. That’s it.

I use that entire amount of starter (no waste!) to mix up two loaves:
908g flour
630g warm water
18g salt
and what ends up being about 160g of active starter.

That’s enough dough for one sandwich loaf and one country-style loaf — and if you do the math, it comes out to about $1.86 a week. I found unbleached bread flour at my local Lucky’s grocery store for $3.99 for 5lbs. Prices will vary based on where you live but I live in Northern California where cost of living is substantial, so I think you’ll be able to find comparable flour. I can even get Organic all purpose flour at Costco for $4.12 er 5lbs. Also affordable!

One loaf gets baked the same day. The other rests in the fridge overnight and gets baked the next day. You can choose to bake both on the same day, both the next day, whatever works for you.

In a time where groceries are climbing and everything feels like it costs more, baking your own bread can be grounding, and a form of therapy. You’re not just saving money; you’re creating something nourishing from the simplest ingredients… and there is nothing like the scent of freshly baked bread. I love making soup on baking day, even though my kids eat more bread than soup!

So if you’ve been feeling like sourdough is out too hard, too stressful, or too wasteful, this one’s for you. You can absolutely make beautiful bread that fits into your real life and your real budget.

If you found this helpful, consider subscribing to The Early Risers so you don’t miss future tips and recipes. I do put most recipes behind a $6 a month paywall, but I have to make money some way! I promise you’ll get a lot out of my Substack even if you don’t opt for the paid subscription. If you need more information on how to make these no fuss loaves, my beginner’s country loaf recipe is almost the same (just has a bit less flour because I wanted to calculate cost per pound, so I used a pound in each of the above loaves) but you can reference the timing, method, and baking here.

Thank you all for being here!

Laila