+1 for the bread maker. We scored one for 10 bucks off the local craigslist equivalent and probably use it 3 or 4 times a week now. It took a couple weeks of fine tuning the proofing and baking time, but now we're churning out loaves for about 60 cents a pop that would cost 3 or 4 dollars at the local bakery.
this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2023
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My favourite place to buy small kitchen appliances is the thrift store. People love to buy kitchen gadgets but they don't love to use them, so you can get nearly-new appliances for very little.
Do thrift stores still have good deals. I heard you could buy a bread maker there for like 8 bucks. But that was years ago. From what I heard they are all almost as expensive as Walmart or just out of stock for things like kitchen gadgets.
I guess it depends where you live. Mine are still good in my part of Canada.
Also check other thrift stores. Our smaller one supports a non-profit, we're all volunteers so expenses are low. We get lots of donations so we have to keep our prices low to move items out the door.
Pro Tip: volunteer at a thrift store to get first dibs on incoming items. It's a great perk.
Chain thrift stores aren't anywhere near what they used to be. Goodwill's been crap for awhile, but now I'm even noticing Salvation Army's being pretty expensive. The best places to go are always the hole-in-the-wall local thrift stores that aren't part of some larger chain - that's where you can find great deals. Unfortunately, those also tend to be small places with low selection, so I rarely go thrift shopping for a specific thing, since I'm not likely to find exactly what I'm looking for on any given trip. The the kinds of people who are able to find a bread maker for $8 are the ones who frequent a bunch of local thrift stores just for fun, buying stuff they want as they happen to find it.
I've been curious about those machines. I see them all the time in my local thrift stores. I normally just make bread in my Dutch oven but I don't always have the time or energy to dedicate to it. Are any brands better than others?
So, I've got a high-end Hamilton Beach 2LB machine (was like CDN$99 on Amazon, and even that was an inflated price!) and a $250 "no name" machine with a few more features. They make pretty much identical bread. I'd have no problem recommending the Hamilton Beach model if you wanted to get one new (Model #29882).
I bought a random one at the thrift store a few months ago, it's some no name brand. My only requirement was finding one that didn't have any scratches on the Teflon nonstick coating on the pan.
It has been amazing, it takes literally 5mins to measure and throw the ingredients in there and push start. Took a little while to fine tune the recipe. It's nothing like baking bread but I completely stopped buying bread after getting the machine. Now I can still bake when ever i want, but its an easy way to make sure I always have bread around.
I read on r/BreadMachines that the brand really doesn't matter, just buy one for 20usd or less and get started. So far it seems to be true for me.
I picked one up maybe a month or two, then I was gifted a second one. I've got one or both running at least 3-4x a week! Typically two or three times a week for bread, and another time for pizza dough. Having both going at the same time speeds things up quite a bit, but it was doable with the one machine.
I'm 100% seeing the cost savings, and the bread/dough is so much better than store bought!
Started to really save when I switched from those glass jars of yeast to Red Star in large bags (instant to active dry yeast) and ditching bread machine flour for just Canadian all-purpose flour at a fraction of the cost.
could you just make it with an oven or toaster oven, and/or while baking other food?