How Many Loaves of Bread Every Week in Your Household?

POLL question: How many loaves of grocery store bread do you go through each week in your household?

Just for fun, let us know your favorite bread too in the comments.

Why do I ask? It has to do with preparedness. You’ll see (later).

Participate in our anonymous poll below:

This does NOT include hamburger buns, hot dog buns, any kind of rolls and/or buns. Only loaves of bread.

If you make your own bread rather than buying grocery store bread, go ahead and count that too…

 
Poll closed. Here are the results:

loaves of bread per week

Bread loaves per week:

less than 1 (39%)
1 (25%)
1-2 (20%)
2 (8%)
2-3 (5%)
3 (1%)
more than 3 (2%)

 
What do you use the bread for mostly? Toast? Grilled Cheese Sandwiches? PB&J? Other?

(Today’s post topic is a bit ‘lighter’, but we’ll tie it in with preparedness later)

Update: Here’s the tie-in:
Pounds of Flour or Wheat for Preparedness

84 Comments

  1. There are only 2 of us right now. So mostly toast and sandwiches. When boys were here we’d go through about 2 loaves a week for breakfast, school lunches, etc.

  2. My household consists of one person. I seldom buy bread because I have to throw most of it away. Occasionally I buy hamburger buns and freeze half of them.

    If I do buy bread, I buy whole grain if possible and use it mostly for ham sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches, cinnamon toast, or French toast. We don’t get any real good bread here in my small town.

    I bake biscuits, muffins, corn bread, and applesauce “bread” or zucchini “bread.” Those are mostly sweet, except for the biscuits, which I almost always top with honey or jelly.

    I make a lot of 100% whole wheat pancakes. I have a ton of raspberry syrup made from my raspberries that I need to use up. The rest of my starch comes from rice, noodles, pasta, frozen pizza, potatoes, corn, carrots, etc.

  3. Toasted PB&Js, sandwiches (tuna, egg, cukes, tomato, etc…). Freeze 1/2 loaves (unsack, Press-N-Seal wrap then gallon freezer bag with air evacuation), then unfreeze as needed, stays fresh at least a year (just plain old organic white bread). Use 16 grain organic here and there, never freeze that stuff.
    Know how to make it, just no need right now.

  4. Francisco Extra Sourdough, I get a loaf once every two weeks or so.
    Mainly for Tomato Sandwiches this time of the year. Nada better than a Fresh Picked Ripe Tomato on a slice of Sourdough with a spread of Homemade Mayo…. YUMMMMM

    Like most here I would think, other Breads, Muffins, Biscuits, etc. I make at home, much better and a LOT less chemicals. Problem is I don’t bake enough Sourdough to keep a good ‘starter’ going.

  5. Havent bought bread in 3 years, even make my own burger and dog buns.

    1. I would love your recipe for hamburger buns. I have a great whole wheat soft bread recipe and I wonder if I could just use that, but I haven’t tried it yet.

      I make my own bread each week. Two loaves of fresh ground whole wheat. I use the combination of red hard wheat, white hard wheat, and soft wheat (same that I use those my brownies, sue bread, and do my baking). It is a nice loaf that works great for sandwiches, but only good for three days since no preservatives. Also use it for toast and French toast by the fourth/fifth day if it makes it that far.

  6. “How many loaves of grocery store bread do you go through each week in your household?”
    On topic? NONE

    Off topic? We consume approximately two loaves of bread a week but we haven’t eaten grocery store bread in over 23 years.

    My favorite bread is DW’s multi-grain, multi-seed homemade.

  7. We go thru about 2 loaves a week of white and whole grain. PBnJ on toast with banana slices and grilled cheese on white bread. Turkey and bacon on whole 12 grain bread which I also give my son slices of as a snack with some fruit or cheese ( he loves Munster!).

  8. Dh can not eat bread so I only purchase bread once a month. Purchase our bread at Costco and give the extra loaf to my sister or niece who ever can use it. Really like the buttermilk as it stays soft even being kept in the fridge, on an occasion purchase Jewish rye bread for grilled cheese sandwiches then invite the neighbor over. Her hubby does not like grilled cheese so she gets her fix here..rolwl.

  9. We go through 1-2 loaves of homemade bread per week, depending on what whether we are doing sandwiches for lunch that week or not. We have lots of homemade soups as our lunch, and in summer, lots of salads. We eat homemade quick breads, biscuits, and muffins (often times, that’s breakfast). I also make whole wheat sandwich rolls, sub rolls, but those aren’t loaves, either. If I make those, I don’t bake loaves — we don’t eat THAT much bread!

    I didn’t complete the poll because it was confusing. The “poll question” header mentioned commercial loaves, but the question right before the poll didn’t mention commercial loaves. We eat bread, we just don’t buy bread, we make it.

    1. Modern Throwback

      Good catch on that Question, thinking maybe Ken is testing us on our Situational Awareness? :-)

      1. I think it will come down to how much wheat to store and how time consuming to make bread but that’s just me

        1. Poorman: Bread doesn’t have to be time consuming. I do a no-knead bread. Basically, mix it, let it sit for 18 hours and pop it in the oven.

        2. 3 c flour
          1 5/8 c water
          1/2 t salt
          1/4 t yeast

          Mix everything together, dump in a greased bowl. When it has little bubbles on the surface (usually about 18 hours), gently pull or roll it from the bowl (the grease helps it come out more easily, without breaking the rise) into a baking pan. Let rise until doubled and bake.

          Forgot to put my name in.

        3. Thanks, Lauren

          I copied it to a Word file and printed it out.

          Interesting thing about Ken’s new site: When you try to copy to a Word file, you get something with a 4+ inch left margin and colored background. I fixed and printed, no problem.

        4. Very true on the no kneed bread but in a SHTF situation assuming grid down ect you would still need to grind the wheat then mix then let sit then bake. I have baked bread in a dutch oven but it is not like throwing it in an oven and setting a timer or putting ingredients into a bread maker. It takes more attention which again equals more time.

        5. Poorman. I am sure you are right about Ken’s intention to start talking about how much wheat to store in an upcoming article.

          I already have too much wheat/flour stored. After I took an inventory when my basement flooded and some of my #10 cans got wet, I decided to start eating it. Taking a long long time to get through even a little.

          I get most of my starch from rice and pasta and have a lot of that stored. A lot of it is instant rice and instant pasta so I don’t need so much cooking fuel. I also keep a lot of crackers, cookies, and instant potatoes (and grow potatoes every summer) so I won’t miss bread. Good thing because if there is no electricity, I won’t have a way to bake. I can make biscuits, pancakes and corn muffins in an iron skillet over a campfire or charcoal grill.

        6. Daisy, try sprouting some of your wheat berries. Personally, I find them delicious and they make a great substitute for leafy green lettuce on a sandwich in Winter.

        7. Modern Throwback,

          Unfortunately, those #10 cans are mostly white flour, no wheat berries.

          Sprouting wheat is a good idea, though. All winter I spout seeds for fresh vitamins; haven’t tried wheat yet. You are right, sprouts are a good substitute for lettuce. If Ken had asked how many heads of lettuce per week, I would have voted zero

  10. Family of 4 – I use bread for packed lunches, breakfast sandwiches, barely ever use it for supper. We do buy it, because we get it for 50 cents per loaf, day old bread and store it in freezer. Any given time I have 6-8 loafs on hand. I do make bread and know how.

  11. My favorite store bought bread is Eureka! organic Seeds the Day. DH’s favorite is Orowheat Oatnut. We eat breakfast sandwiches – my favorite is fried egg, sharp cheddar, bacon, tomato, and spinach. My favorite lunch sandwich is either turkey, provolone, bacon, and avocado or peanut butter, onion, and banana peppers.

    I know I should bake more sandwich bread than I do. I should also make our own mayo, mustard and all kinds of other things. Last week I did bake some rye dinner rolls and some banana bread. There’s nothing quite like French toasted banana bread (2 slices, sandwiched with cream cheese) with real maple syrup.

  12. Store bread is either Dave’s killer bread or Eureka. Most of the year I bake my own- to hot in the summer time to even think of turning on the oven.

    1. @aka, Dave’s killer bread, agree on that one, I really like that stuff, toasted with just butter.

  13. I do buy a multi grain bread from a store but I also know how to make it from scratch. It usually depend on who is here to help eat at to what is baked from scratch.

  14. DH is on a reduced carb diet as part of controlling blood sugar, so I sold our bread maker in a garage sale, and buy very little bread at the store. Since bread is a treat at my house, it will usually be a really good grilled cheese on sourdough (or sourdough cracked wheat), or maybe a baguette or loaf of french bread (something unsliced) that I make into garlic-cheese bread. I do have a case of canned B&M bread in our preps, but bread is low on my priority list right now.

  15. As a side note, since we don’t eat a lot of sandwiches or toast, if I do end up with left-over bread I usually make it into croutons – cut up and baked with olive oil, Italian seasonings and maybe some shredded parmesan. You can also do it in a skillet on top of the stove when it’s too hot to turn on the oven. A small handful really dresses up a green salad.

  16. Zero loafs of Store white bread except for an occasional loaf of pumpernickel or dark Rye for Reuben’s or Raw Beef.
    I have baked my own white bread for more years than I can count. Presently 1 loaf about every two weeks.

  17. Ken, you should have the option of zero on the list. The only bread we buy occasionally is English muffins or bagels, and maybe a baguette once in a blue moon. Otherwise we bake all of our own bread. I can’t see spending as good money on chemically laden bread.

    1. What’s your favorite recipe? I have one I use all the time, but it doesn’t freeze well.

        1. Herb Green Onion Bread
          1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
          1/2 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
          1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
          1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
          2 tablespoons butter
          1 cup milk
          1 egg
          3 cups bread flour
          2 tablespoons sugar
          3/4 teaspoon salt
          1 teaspoon yeast

          Put into the bread machine run on regular cycle. It can be adapted to using without the bread machine, I did it once when my old bread machine died. Kids swear it taste like stuffing. It is requested at Thanksgiving every year. This makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf.

        2. Thanks so much! I have a bread machine but never use it. I’ll pull it from the shelves and give this a try.

  18. I go through about 3/4 of a small loaf (600 grams) of multi-grain bread for myself. It’s just for toast in the morning. DH eats gluten free english muffins during the weekends only, So far, I can’t find a recipe for gluten free bread that is tasty, nutritious and keeps longer than a day without becoming a brick. I’ve been on that quest for over 4 years and haven’t come close to a remotely decent loaf.

    Before he developed celiac disease I made all of our different types of bread. Our favourite for daily consumption was a 12 grain whole wheat loaf and we probably consumed about a loaf a week. I also made spelt loaves occasionally. Those were the days……now, not so much. :-(

  19. I would have voted for “zero” loaves of store-bought bread, but settled for the “less than 1” choice. Occasionally make a baguette with our own ground flour. Rarely eat breads at all anymore. Should we have a shtf event, I have learned to make tortillas and flatbreads. Those would be my go-to recipes for our wheat storage. Also, I keep a good bread starter going in the fridge (three years now) and want to tell everyone that you can also dehydrate starter. It must be done at very, very low temps – not over 90 degrees. Then I break it up into tiny pieces and vac-seal in jars. Reconstitute at low temps also with barely lukewarm water and feed. Works great.

        1. NRP
          Yup! Amazed how many people don’t get that. Preferably one that has had a lot of bacon in it. Dang it!!! Now I want some cornbread with black eye peas and salt pork 🤤.

        2. yes cornbread in cast iron pan and no sugar. My husband threw away my first attempt at making cornbread because I used sugar. He made his own for the next 5 years!

        3. old lady

          Sugar in cornbread? WHAT!!!??? were you from the City or something????? HAHAHAHA sorry could not resist

          Although your Hubby was not very smooth about that, and had to make it himself for 5 years… I LOVE that LOL

          tis hard to teach some Men the art of finesses :-) :-)

        4. It’s always cast iron here. Just wonder how to cook bread on a grill—-when there is no power/

        5. Bread can be cooked in a dutch oven or a fireplace. Takes practice, but it can be done.

        6. Sandismom

          do you mean a bar b que type grill with propane tank?

          yrs back I did cook bread on such, and it turned out well. I put tinfoil (or a cookie sheet, cant recall now) down, then set the bread pan on top of that and cooked it on as low as possible. It seemed to work well.

  20. There is a bread recipe that I like it is made with vanilla yogurt & honey. Tried it for cinnamon rolls, it is still a work in progress. You can find the recipe @ The Bread Kitchen. It has a wonderful taste and easy to make if you are limited on what you can have in your bread.

  21. Late summer & early fall we eat cucumber or tomato sandwiches once every day. Rest of the year we may or may not have bread on a given day.

  22. Ezekiel bread is really good- had forgotten about it. Have to go to the specialty store for it.

  23. @Scentophile

    I have a wheat sensitivity too. If I eat too much wheat, I get severe itching on my back and break out in hives.

    I can eat spelt bread with no problems since it isn’t the same thing as our modern wheat. It’s never been modified/hybridized and contains less gluten than wheat. You can make a decent loaf of bread with it but it tends to be more dense than wheat. The only spelt bread/flour that I’ve found is organic which turns out to be a plus for me. It is more expensive than wheat flour but what the heck, the spelt loaf tastes and looks like real bread.

    May be worth a try before going to gluten free breads.

    KK

  24. My wife makes ALL of our bread,(sourdough, wheat,white and rye, she also makes all of our rolls, pizza dough and French bread. No store-bought crapola for us! It’s delicious and I am fast turning into a “monument” of her baking expertise. ( I love her bread!)

  25. For myself one loaf of a Kroger 9 grain in store bakery bread. Every other morning I make myself poached eggs with our own chicken eggs on toast. My wife on the other hand hates 9 grain bread and gets herself sourdough shepherd’s loaf. I told the wife if we throw a little bread out at the end of the week, big deal. It’s the little things in life like tea and toast with jelly on the bread you like that makes a difference.

  26. I bake 1 4x4x9 loaf per week for sandwiches and weekend toast primarily using flour I’ve milled myself.

  27. – Couldn’t get the poll button to work. Put my household down for two, with two grade-schoolers and irregular schedules for three adults, we eat a lot of sandwiches. Can’t grow those in the garden. Did use to bake one-two loaves of sourdough/week, but cannot keep starter alive at present with irregular schedule.
    – – Papa S

  28. About 1 to 1 and a half loaves per week. We love white, wheat, whole grain, sourdough, home made, any bread will be just fine. We use is for PBJ, BLT, tuna, any lunchmeat, French Toast, yum yum.

    1. I love french toast, heavy laden after a full soak, then cooked just right. A pad of butter on top followed by a generous pour of local New Hampshire Maple Syrup… Oh man that made me hungry… maybe for tomorrow mornings breakfast.

      1. Ken,
        I too love French toast…

        Sometimes if I have garlic bread/toast left over from supper, I will soak those pieces and it makes a nice change on the usual…

  29. Two of us here,
    1 wheat
    1 cinnamon raisin
    Except the day we bake, on its on!
    We bake every other month and freeze it.
    Glad I don’t have to go out to the stores right now.
    Crazy here in Florida!

  30. Our weakness (especially DW) is the Ciabatta bread with kalamata olives. JG it once a week. We love bread and have been wanting to make some. I need to, cuz I have lots of wheat stored.

  31. I make my own bread also. Mostly I use the Lion House roll recipe and put in some wheat to stiffen it up a bit or an onion bread made with onion soup mix, or a potato bread. We use bread for my husbands Peanut butter sandwich in the morning and now, Blt’s.

  32. We keep at least 2 loafs in the pantry and 5 loaves in the freezer. The kids use much of it for PB and J. We sometimes eat toast for breakfast, but not often. With 6 of us, we go through bread quickly.

  33. Thanks to this poll we had to have French toast tonight for supper, LOL Texas toast, yummy

  34. Gene and I usully used one loaf a week for sandwiches.
    I lost 14 lbs., so not eating white bread….and he stopped eating sandwiches too.
    Lost 4 in one week for a total of 18 lbs, but the last 4 wasn’t intentional…and not a good way to lose.
    I love buttered bread with garlic powder toasted.

  35. Our bread consumption is seasonally dependent. Quite high right now because of BLT’s. the last pail of wheat berries for 26lbs was mistakenly priced at $15 but now doubled. We make our own, grind our own flour. She also makes English muffins. She uses a bread – maker.

  36. “How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?”
    Julia Child

    1. GREAT one T in TX

      OK, I just blew my morning Tea out my nose… HAHAHAHA

      Ahhhh GOD it hurts to laugh that hard :-) :-) :-)

  37. Usually just 1 loaf of Natures Own white wheat bread when it’s on sale.
    Used for toast with breakfast or tomato sandwiches or cheese sandwiches.

  38. One loaf. Maybe. I usually try to make some beer bread. It is cheaper and tastes better.

  39. My son is gluten free so we don’t eat much bread. For peanut butter, I use rice cakes. For egg or tuna salad, I use lettuce wraps. Wegmans does have a red, white and blue bread (cranberries and blueberries) that I love, and I make toast from that but just for me.

    1. I have been through the gluten issue with someone before. The Gluten Free Pantry has a mix that I modified for that person and the bread was good!!! I had to buy a Kitchen Aid mixer though as the bread is a bit stiff. If you are interested I still have the modified recipe.

  40. Mr. watches his carbs due to pre diabetes. I put a lot oats and oat bran in what I make to lower my cholesterol. Working, just slower than a statin which I refuse to take. We go through a loaf or so a week. Make two at a time and put the one in the frig wrapped real well.

    1. Mrs.USMCBG
      Check out adding ground barley to your bread mix, barley has wonder properties that are good for cholesterol, blood sugar problems. I did some research on this matter, as I am like you I can not take a statins it. Pitched the drugs & told the doctor…….NOPE no more.
      Found this information recently so I am looking for our bucket of barley amongst all the beans I put up a couple of years ago.

      1. AC, Thanks I have some Barley and have heard about it. Going to add some next time. My Mammaw used to drink Barley water. I have the recipe somewhere.

  41. We’ve been married 51 years…we don’t buy bread, we bake 2 loaves a week fot toast, sandwiches, etc.

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