Bake Your Own Bread for Under 30 Pence

POV: I recently purchased some wholemeal bread rolls for my weekly hike in the moorlands, only to discover they were a highly processed product.

I decided to look for something simple and healthy to make as an alternative and came across a recipe for sourdough bread. It contains only flour, water, and salt, and the flavor is just wonderful. So here's my simple process, which some records show dates back to Egyptian times.

The Starter

For the starter, add 100 grams of flour with 100 grams of water and place it in a container with a loose lid. Each day, empty some of the contents and add the same amounts of water and flour. Keep in a warm place, feed every day, and stir too. After 7 days, you should see bubbles in the mixture and a doubling in size.

Making Your Bread

Then, in a large bowl, mix 1.5 cups of lukewarm water with 1 cup of the starter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 4 cups of flour. Knead the dough for 15 minutes on a floured board, then place it in a covered bowl and stretch and fold every hour, four times. Leave it in a floured bowl for 4 hours to rise, or overnight. Then carefully transfer it into a covered dish without losing the risen shape and cook it in the oven for 20 minutes at 230°C. Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes to give a lovely golden crust.

Cool, and eat.

Please note: Because this bread doesn't have any preservatives in it, it will last for just over a day, although there are many ways of using up stale bread, such as making breadcrumbs or a bread and butter pudding.

I've shared the bread I've made with friends and family and they've all enjoyed it. A couple have difficulty eating store brought bread and have enjoyed this recipe without any issues.

The cost is a bag of flour and a small amount of salt, mine works out at around 25 pence per loaf, making it good for your health and good for your wallet too.

The label from my recently purchased bread rolls

Bake Your Own Bread for Under 30 Pence - created 20.12.25