Energy prices have hit a three-year high, and Britain’s households are responding with the kind of creative desperation usually reserved for people trapped on reality TV shows. The latest solution sweeping through WhatsApp groups and kitchen tables? Baking your own bread as a heating strategy.
The logic is flawless if you do not think about it: turn on the oven for two hours, produce one loaf, and congratulate yourself on having simultaneously solved the energy crisis and the carbohydrate shortage. Never mind that running a domestic oven costs roughly the same as running a small heater. The psychological win of eating warm bread while your house stays at 14 degrees Celsius is apparently priceless.
What started as a pandemic hobby has evolved into an unspoken financial survival mechanism. Sourdough starters are now being passed between neighbours like underground currency. Facebook groups dedicated to “economical baking” have exploded. One woman reported timing her bread-making sessions to coincide with her shower to “maximise heat efficiency,” which is either genius or a sign that energy bills have finally broken us.
The real kicker? Ofgem’s energy price cap is climbing again. So households are now genuinely asking whether it makes financial sense to heat their homes via carbohydrates. This is where we are. Not “should I upgrade my boiler” or “can I afford better insulation.” No. We are asking if yeast and flour can replace central heating.
Winter is coming. And apparently, so is a lot of bread.