Have you calculated the costs of 'home-made'?
With the economy not looking so great these days, have any of you done some numbers-crunching on home-made versions of certain foods?
Frozen chicken thighs+backs have been heavily discounted at a local supermarket (about $2.50/kilo), so I bought half a dozen bags, and began making chicken broth.
Afterwards, I decided to pick the meat from the bones, for later use. My boyfriend wondered how much waste came out of the original 2 kilos (about 4 pounds) of chicken thigh and backs, so we weighed it: about 40% of the original weight gets binned.
This got me wondering about the cost of making broth at home: Figuring in the hour of electricity involved (electric stove), it cost about $8.50 (possibly less; we went for the outside figure for the electricity) for 2 litres of broth, plus a bit over 600g of meat for use in pasta filling or something.
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27 Comments:
It will cheaper to buy a couple of pumpkin rolls from Wegmans this year than to make them (like I usually do), so that's what I'm doing. They're actually better than mine ... lol.
caramel at 1:33PM on 11/18/08
Some things are more economical to buy, especially if you calculate any value for your time. Stock is something I make from scraps for this very reason. I seldom buy ingredients for the express purpose of making stock (once in a while, but not often).
On the other hand, I thought your query was interesting because I just had one of those special teaching moments with my middle-school-age daughter. I took the kids to In-N-Out for a quick dinner (a reward for their fantastic help on a full weekend of back-breaking yardwork). The total came to about $16 for three Double-Doubles, one cheeseburger and three orders of fries. My daughter said, "Wow, Mom. In-N-Out is pretty cheap. It probably costs that much to cook dinner at home."
I laughed. "Yes," I corrected her. "It's cheap compared to the cost of eating out at a lot of other places. But no way is it as cheap as eating at home." I did some quick mental math, and pointed out that a homemade hamburger dinner for the three of us would cost about $5. She was skeptical until I walked her through the math. Her eyes actually got big! She was so surprised. A very rewarding experience for mom!
Anyway. Yes. I've done the math. I do it all the time. Many, many, many things are far more economical to make at home, even allowing for the cost of utilities. And, of course, you get added bang for your buck nutritionally -- an invaluable benefit.
As far as waste goes, well, you have to do some math. For instance, one of my local supermarkets had split bone-in chicken breasts for $0.99/lb the other day. Now, even if the skin and bones represented 50% waste, which they don't, boneless skinless breasts for $2/lb are pretty much unheard of around here (typically $4-$6 in this area). So, naturally, I stocked up.
There are always going to be exceptions to the homemade-is-cheaper rule of thumb. And if buying some prepared convenience items will assure somebody of doing more homecooking, there is budgetary value in that (IMHO). Which is why I've never batted an eye at keeping several boxes of ready-made chicken stock on my pantry shelf. The good stuff (Imagine brand) costs $3-$4 per quart, but it's tasty, it's convenient, it's less likely to go to waste, and the cost isn't much different than homemade.
LoCo at 1:40PM on 11/18/08
I make stocks from leftovers, not the other way around, so the cost of ingredients is virtually nothing -- it's the stuff I would otherwise be throwing away after having made a roast chicken or whatever else. Even the vegetables that go in there tend to be the ends and bits. Okay, maybe there's an extra carrot or onion, but we're not talking about breaking the bank.
Or I'll buy a whole chicken for 99 cents a pound, cut it into its component parts, and save the odd bits and bones for stock. It doesn't take long before I have enough set aside for a pot of stock.
If I needed to buy chicken for stock and I couldn't wait for a better sale, I can get it for 45 cents a pound.
If energy is the issue, you could put your ingredients in a dutch oven and put that in the oven while you're cooking something else, so the cost of energy is less. But I have a hard time believing that cooking is actually costing much per hour.
This reminds me of the KFC commercial where the mom decides that it's cheaper to buy KFC than to cook at home. This is right after the kid is in the spice section looking for the 13 herbs and spices. Well, duh. Buy 13 bottles of spices, and it's going to be pricey. But if you add up the cost of the herbs and spices that you actually use, it's not so pricey. And you're not going to use a whole bag of flour or a whole dozen eggs to do the breading, either.
I bake pretty much all our bread. I buy flour in 25-lb bags and I buy yeast in 1-lb bags. Buy the time I've made two or three loaves of bread, I've covered those costs. I'm considering the cost of a decent loaf of bread, comparable to what I make, and not Wonder or some other mass-produced fluff.
A one-pound bag of dried beans costs about the same as a can of the same type of beans. Sometimes I'll buy the canned beans when I'm in a hurry, but I like the dried ones better, and it's not like it's a big chore to cook them.
I honestly can't think of much that would be cheaper to buy than to make at home. And the other thing is that when I cook from scratch, I know exactly what I'm eating.
And no, I don't make absolutely everything from scratch. I buy canned tomato products when there aren't any seasonal ones left, and I buy things like peanut butter and ketchup and dried pasta.
As far as my time? Not important. Cooking is like a hobby for me. I enjoy it, so the time spent isn't all that critical. And if I am in a hurry, I've always got something like spaghetti sauce in the freezer, so I can make a quick meal.
dbcurrie at 2:23PM on 11/18/08
I am positive that cooking at home is cheaper - I look at my monthly budget, divide it by 30 days, 2-3 meals per day per person, and I'm at less than $10. Good luck eating 2-3 healthful meals a day for $10, let alone using local, organic produce, whole grains, and healthful ingredients that taste delicious.
However, with things like stock, I look at it this way: it might cost me almost as much to make stock as it does to buy it (considering I do buy vegetables for stock, and I use organic vegetables from the farmer's market), but I'm not buying something that was trucked 1000 miles across the country and ultrapasteurized. Stock from a box/can has nowhere near the nutritional value of homemade stock, simply because the canning/sterilizing process kills most of the nutrients, while gentle home cooking temperatures do not.
Obviously stock is not something to be obsessed with, but it's an example: the "cost" of eating meals out/buying processed foods go far beyond monetary costs - there are costs to the environment (packaging, transportation) and your own health to consider as well.
producestories at 2:32PM on 11/18/08
Oops, above, budget ends up at about $10 per day per person, not $10 per meal. Not that it's totally relevant. Cooking at home is the best!
producestories at 2:41PM on 11/18/08
Even using high quality ingredients, my home-made pizzas cost less than half of what the local joint charges. Plus mine are way better!
grampart at 3:45PM on 11/18/08
I agree with you all. I've done the math too. I'm having to adjust to the price of chicken in St Louis and Maryland as opposed to TX. Do we just grow more chickens down there? $4-$6 a pound for chicken breasts is insane. I too stock up and freeze them when they're on sale. I also had an epiphany one day that I thought was pretty funny. When I was a kid, you could only buy whole chickens! My mother and grandmothers cut them up into the pieces they wanted. I do that now, too. With a big bag in the freezer for backs, necks and wings for stock.
That being said, one afternoon my husband called and asked what we were having for dinner. I answered carpaccio, softshell crabs, asparagus and wild mushroom risotto w/shaved truffles. Mmmm...
His comment: Isn't that why you had to get a job before?
sigh...
carolrsfMISSESTEXAS at 4:02PM on 11/18/08
I usually don't base my decisions on cost but on quality. Things I cannot find at a great quality (to my satisfaction) I make. I am willing to pay for a certain quality.
JerzeeTomato at 4:51PM on 11/18/08
I agree with the premise that homemade is cheaper (not to mention tastier and with more control over what's going into the post). For me, the more exotic items cost more to make at home. It's taken some time to buy into various ingredients (spices et al) and use them often enough to see a difference in pricing.
I once read that in France, a household budget for food is 25% of expendable income. Don't know if that's true or not, but I've never reached that percentage. I could only imagine what glorious meals would come from such a high budget.
TikiPundit at 8:04PM on 11/18/08
@carolrsf: yeah, things do seem to be cheaper here in TX. When vacationing, I often cook dinner for friends with whom we stay. Total sticker shock, especially on the east and west coasts. And Hawaii? OMG
Cheaper or not, I think it's always more satisfying to do homemade.
And Carol, next time you're down this way, you are more than welcome to cook that softshell crab and truffled risotto meal for us...it'll seem like a BARGAIN to you, I'm sure!
hungryinhouston at 8:57PM on 11/18/08
I've seen similar discussions where people (ie a lawyer) include their hourly rate in the costs of cooking at home. I'm not sure if giving legal advice is quite the same as food preparation though.
ag3208 at 10:35PM on 11/18/08
The cost of not home cooking is that if you aren't cooking the food, you don't have control over what you eat, and chances are that you're probably eating less heathy food.
As I've said more than a few times, eating good, healthy food is cheaper than vitamins, doctors, and medication. Yeah, good food isn't going to protect you from everything, but it gives you a better chance.
I gotta wonder if the lawyer who calculated his hourly wage for cooking also calculates his hourly wage for eating or playing catch with his kids.
dbcurrie at 11:31PM on 11/18/08
I often do that mental Maths, just because my head works this way and I am curious at times. And I am often amused by my OH's expression when I tell him how much our dinners cost per person (even when we have shellfish or steak dinners -- or rather, especially when we have shellfish or steak. Although he was also shocked to see what a huge batch of gnocchi I made out of $4 worth of butternut squash, a couple of eggs and some flour).
But it's not only about the cost; first and foremost, it's about the taste and the quality, it's about knowing exactly what's in your food, and last -- but certainly not least -- I enjoy the process tremendously. I love cooking, so I do not figure my time into "the total cost"; it's not work (even if it does get me tired), and it's not a punishment. I reckon that lawyer is probably better off buying processed, ready-made foods if that's her attitude, but I simply cannot look at it this way.
brooke29 at 12:17AM on 11/19/08
Generally I find that homemade is more cost effective and delicious. You won't find me tackling homemade phyllo dough, though. One other factor for me is that I find cooking relaxing. If it helps manage my stress levels it's therapeutic gold. Not to mention yummy.
dhorst at 2:12AM on 11/19/08
Homemade chicken stock is expensive if you go out and buy all of the ingredients fresh and only for the purpose of making chicken stock. If you make it from leftover bits of vegetables and chicken parts, though, it becomes essentially free. We keep a bag in the freezer with mushroom stems and other vegetable scraps and as I get toward a time when I'm going to make stock, I'll start saving the ends of onions and carrots and such (if I save them the whole time, there are just too many). Even if you use fresh vegetables for stock, the cost would be pretty low for an onion and a couple of carrots and a couple of ribs of celery. We save the backs of chickens (cut from the whole chickens we buy...I usually get out butcher to break the chicken down into 9 pieces including the back) and we save the carcass from whole cooked chicken (whether I poach it or roast it). We keep those all in a separate bag in the freezer. If the butcher is getting rid of chicken wings (and pricing them to move), sometimes I'll get those as a way to bulk up the stock making, but not normally.
The stock becomes a matter of managing how and when I get rid of things rather than ingredients I have to buy.
ccbweb at 11:14AM on 11/19/08
The only way you lose out, and I confess, I have been guilty of this, is by buying produce, meat, etc. and then NOT using it. It is a sinful waste but sometimes life intervenes and supper does not get made. I have thrown out soggie lettuce, stinky vegetables and even putrid meat that has sat forgotton on the back shelf of my fridge. I take great pride in assuring you that this wanton waste of resources and money is a thing of the past in my house. I have come to my senses over the years and have realized that having "good intentions" is not enough - one must actually cook the food!
bareneed at 11:16AM on 11/19/08
@producestories:
I agree that homemade broth is infinitely better than canned broth - I haven't found a single one that has the body of a good homemade chicken or veal stock (what do they do, suck all the gelatin out of the stock after its made?), but it's nutritional value doesn't have anything to do with pasteurization. Presumably, when you make stock at home, you're at least bringing the water up to just below a simmer, if not hotter. Pasteurization temperatures take place far below this temperature (around 165 degrees), so pasteurization should have no effect heat-wise on a stock, whether homemade or not. That's not to say that your homemade stock isn't better and more nutritious for other reasons...
But yes, cooking at home is an order of magnitude cheaper than eating out, especially if you're good with leftovers or breaking dishes into components that can be kept and used over the course of several meals over a period of weeks or months (tons of great sauces and stuff that you can make in bulk and use as needed to create cheap, tasty meals very rapidly).
kenjialtci at 11:55AM on 11/19/08
Recipes from the King Arthur Flour baking blog give costs for the same product made at home and from the store. For example, this homemade piecrust:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2008/11/11/frozen-supermarket-pie-crust-puh-leeze/#more-2644
costs about half the price of a Pillsbury pre-made piecrust. And you can avoid xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, sodium propionate, and colourings Yellow 5 and Red 40, whilst you're at it.
Channa at 12:00PM on 11/19/08
Pocketbook price vs. the price to your health and well-being is indisputable. Being the boss of what goes on your plate is priceless.
That being said, I work over 70 hours a week (by choice). Purchasing a good-quality ready-made item from a good proprietor is far more expensive -- yet in the end, the time it affords me to enjoy the other aspects of my life is well worth the extra money. I would rather pay my local restauranteur a few clams to simmer browned bones and mirepoix for 8 hours while I go to the gym and spend time with my family.
You're all right! :)
foodfighter at 9:51PM on 11/19/08
I feel left out because when I think homemade, I don't think of making my own chicken stock.
i like to think that as a young bachelor with little time to cook, that anything i put on my stove counts as homemade, as the alternative is delivery food or getting something out at a restaurant.
so seeing as I don't really have the time or desire to make my own stock, or some of the other more involved things you all are mentioning - anybody have home-made recipes friendly to the young bachelor with a love of cooking when he can?
natemcguire at 2:32PM on 11/20/08
Don't feel left out! If you're making it yourself it's homemade. While I do make stock, it's not all the time, so I always have a box or two on hand. One thing I like to do with leftover chicken is my version of "chicken stroganoff." The next time you grill some chicken, grill a little extra or roast a chicken, and use the leftovers for this. Dice half a small onion, slice up three or four mushrooms and sautee in a tbsp. of butter or olive oil. Add one tbsp. of flour and cook over medium, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in 3/4 cup of chicken stock, boxed or canned is fine! Bring to a simmer, add seasoning such as a couple pinches of herbs de provence, tarragon, or thyme and salt and pepper. Add your leftover chicken dice or torn into small pieces. Let them simmer for a few minutes to heat through. Turn heat to low and stir in 2 tbsp. or more (to taste) of sour cream. Bring up to almost a simmer but DO NOT BOIL. Serve over egg noodles or rice. My husband likes it over thick slice of toast sometimes too. These are all approximations--my husband loves mushrooms, so I often increase the amount for him. If I have leftover gravy I add that in place of the flour and chicken stock.
You might also check out a thread going around about 5 ingredient meals:
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2008/11/five-ingredient-meals.html
Hope this helps!
dhorst at 3:20PM on 11/20/08
@natemcguire: I'm not sure what level of complexity you're considering, but some pasta (dry or fresh, your choice), some crushed tomatoes (get a good brand!), and some fresh basil (pick up a small plant, and you'll have fresh basil for a long time), and you're set. Minor tweaks can lead to a wide variety of option, especially if you have odds and ends of things in your refrigerator or freezer, and don't mind experimenting.
But complexity isn't what makes things, good, anyway, and a lot of things that seem complex aren't (e.g. the chicken broth recipe I use involves very few ingredients, and only an hour's worth of time, but tastes unbelievably good; I'm sipping some, now, with croutons).
I have to admit that personally, I favour the ultra-simple (with minimal washing-up afterwards), OR the or really involved; I can't seem to work up much interest for what lies between these extremes.
What prompted me to start this thread was my joy at discovering that my nice big batch of broth managed to be cost-effective, too (although I'd make it even if this wasn't the case, to be perfectly honest).
mongoose at 4:31PM on 11/20/08
@dhorst, mongoose
thank you for the tips/recipes! I don't mind complexity - and I tend to fall into your category also, mongoose. I think it is a matter of time for me though, I either have a short amount of time to make something simple, or all day to do whatever I want!
dhorst, you have now made me hungry for mushrooms. mmmm.
natemcguire at 6:04PM on 11/20/08
So to me it's not the cost of creating items at home vs what I can get at the store. As I typically will buy raw ingredients anyway and produce from there. Example - homemade pizza - much cheaper and better tasting than frozen. Home made chicken nuggets - baked / not fried - much better tasting and healthier. Few exceptions. It's a matter of computing the cost of eating out vs eating at home. Much cheaper at home and no tip. And if you go for the wine - or a predinner dinner drink there's no comparison. A retail bottle of fine wine vs. the cost of a glass at a restaurant is amazing.
Bottom line -we enjoy eating out occasionally, but I enjoy cooking at home most of the time. Also will roam the aisles of the local grocery 2 or 3 times a week looking for hidden bargains.
Ribster at 8:19PM on 11/20/08
I did some of this for one of my food columns:
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/102008/10012008/409738
Time is a big factor, but if you enjoy time in the kitchen, then it's probably less of a "cost" than if cooking is not fun for you. I feel like taste is much better on homemade. There are a lot of things to balance, but on many items it's a personal choice.
efreehling at 11:45AM on 11/22/08
@nate, cooking at home doesn't have to be time consuming or complex, unless you like it that way. And you don't always have to make everything from scratch to say that it's home made. Of course time is a constraint.
A lot of things that I used to think were complicated are actually simple. I was actually very disappointed when I learned how simple chili and pasta sauce were. I was hoping there was more to them, but it was pretty simple, really.
A pot of pasta sauce takes very little time to assemble, then you can let it simmer unattended, just making sure it doesn't burn on the bottom. Or stick it in an oven-safe pot an let it cook in the oven. Or in a crockpot. If you make a lot, you can freeze some and when you want pasta, just thaw and heat the sauce and cook some noodles. No time at all for that.
If you never need stock for the types of food you cook, there's no sense in making it. But if you bring home a rotisserie chicken some night, it might be worth simmering the bones and bits in some water, and then using that water to cook some rice the next day. Or cook some noodles and veggies and make a little soup. The point isn't that you need to always make stock, but if you've got the stuff to make it, it really isn't much bother.
If you don't want to babysit a pot of simmering stock, you can put it in an oven-safe pot in the oven, or invest in a crockpot.
As far as quick meals, there are things that are quick from start to finish, and there are other things that take a long time to cook, but don't require a lot of time or attention. Things like roasts are simple. After you've seasoned the outside the way you want, you stick it in the oven and wait until it's done. Not a lot of work, but it does take some time to finish cooking. Maybe not the best thing to be making after work, but if you're just hanging out at home on a Sunday, you might have the time. Then, during the week you've got sandwiches, tacos, or whatever else you want to use the meat for.
dbcurrie at 2:10AM on 11/24/08
This same discussion came up during Thanksgiving, when I was using the Crock Pot for 2 days making stock from the turkey bones, and what the cost would actually be. I've wondered this since.
According to Chowhound (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/466752), it should cost $.10-.30 for 8 hours to run a crock pot, which brings the total for 2 days to no more than $1.80 for 2 very concentrated pints of stock (reduced from 4Q), which is roughly the price of 2 cans of College Inn Chicken stock which hasn't been concentrated (and mine lacks MSG, sugar, hydrolyzed/hydrogenated whatevers...). The bones are leftovers, and we had sea salt in the pantry. So the cost remained ~$1/ pint of super-concentrated stock/glace.
I do the same with chicken bones after a roast, sometimes with 1 carcass, other times 2. Deboning the bird after dinner and putting them into a Crock Pot is so much less effort than attempting to put the bone-in roast into the refrigerator (very few containers/bags/foil hold a whole bird, even partially consumed, and wrapping those in foil dries out the meat while ziplock bags don't look that appetizing). It takes me no more than 5 minutes to debone a cooled, cooked bird, and I leave the crock pot afterwards. Add in a few minutes to funnel the stock and clean the dishes, move the jars to a cooling spot before refrigerating them, take the bones to the trash can outside...and AT MOST, I've spent a total of 20-30 minutes actively preparing the stock and cleaning containers by hand.
If I were to add in the cost of the meat which is not in the stock, it would be $7/7lb bird, so the total would then come to $8.80 including time in the pot, but I'd likely have twice as much concentrated stock, at $2.20/pint. Organic might bring the cost to $5/pint (using whole birds, not just bones), but even that is cheaper than the environmental cost of transporting cans and boxes of liquids from plant to store in addition to the cost of driving (or even walking) to the store to pick up said stock, recycling the containers, etc.
Added bonus: the house smells nice and the pets are crazier.
caralien at 3:14PM on 12/15/08