8 Equipment & Ingredients

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

• understand how to prioritize equipment purchases
• identify what equipment as being dependent upon the product you are intending to make

Planning

When conceptualizing your business and creating the list of equipment necessary to make the products you are going to sell, it is essential, to begin with, the menu as the guide for your business’s equipment needs. Prioritizing equipment purchases based on projected sales and allocation of space is the wisest approach to planning. It is also important to consider the amount of space you will have to work with making sure to allocate space in a way that illustrates your business goals and can accommodate the equipment. An example of this would be, if you plan on producing decorated custom cakes in a cake studio, you will need the following spaces:

• Space to meet with customers and discuss cakes
  • Where, how much space, what should it look like?
• Space and equipment to produce the actual cakes,
  • What equipment, what are the equipment specifications and measurements?
• Space and equipment to produce the decor work
  • What equipment, what are the equipment specifications and measurements, how much space is needed?
• Space and equipment to assemble
  • What equipment, what are the equipment specifications and measurements, how much space is needed?
• Space and storage supplies to store all ingredients and equipment
  • What equipment, what are the equipment specifications and measurements, how much space is needed?
• Space to store the cake through the process

This would look very different if you are going to open a cafe and donut shop

• Seating space for customers
• Coffee station
• Storefront counter and display
• Sanitation and dish station
• Bathrooms
• Dough scaling & mixing station
• Dough fermentation and proofing space
• Makeup and cutting station
• Dough frying station
• Finishing and garnishing station
• Ingredient storage space
• Cooler, Freezer

When we begin to conceive of our bakery or food business needs we are often at a loss for just how much space we will need to produce the products we intend to produce. There are limits to how small you can make a production kitchen or bakery before it becomes ineffective. It is reasonable to assume you will need a minimum of 500 square feet of production space.  When thinking about bigger spaces one must consider the rent, the potential hurdles or limitations of the space, and what the advantages are to the size. For example, if I sell only decorated cookies I could logically fit into a very small space to begin. But if I sell several different product types including bread, morning items, laminated doughs, and sandwiches I will need more space to accommodate all the equipment, labor, and storage necessary.

Equipment domains 

Sanitation 

• Utility Closet
• 3 compartment sink
• Dish washing machine – account for the size needed based on the size of sheetpans.
• hand sinks
• prep sink

Ventilation

• Ventilation Hoods
• Air conditioning / Heating

Storage

• Metro racks
• Dunnage racks

Holding

Holding equipment

• Fridge reach-ins or walk-ins
• Freezer reach-ins or walk-ins
• Proofer reach-ins or walk-ins
• Retarder reach-ins or walk-ins

Mixing

• Water meters and chillers
• Commercial Digital Scales
• Tabletop planetary mixers
• Floor Planetary Mixers
• Spiral Mixers
• Diving Arm Mixers
• Oblique Mixers
• Food Processors
• Immersion Blenders

Processing 

• Bench
• Stainless tables
• Rolling carts
• Rolling racks
• Dough divider and rounder
• Sheeter

Cooling

• Queen Mary Carts
• Metro racks

StoreFront & Presentation

• Display Cases – refrigerated or room temperature
• Serving counter
• Register and or POS System
• Coffee self-service station

Storefront Equipment

• Coffee Machine
• Espresso Machine
• Ice Machine
• Dish Machine
• Coffee Grinder
• Display cases Refrigerated or not
• Garbage and recycling station

Baking 

There are many different types of ovens including deck ovens, rotating rack ovens, carousel ovens, and convection ovens. Bakeries typically purchase the oven that is optimal for their highlighted product.

Examples of different equipment need based on bakery type:

Prioritizing Purchases

A factor used by many in the baking industry is the square footage of production space x 80$ will give you a general estimate of what you will spend on equipment. When considering cost and purchasing equipment it is important to reflect on what pieces of equipment you can not afford to have malfunctioned or break on you. This is usually the equipment startup bakery owners buy new and with warranties. It is also very common to prioritize refrigeration as this can be very costly if and when it breaks down. Much of the equipment can be purchased used and or at auctions as long as you are knowledgeable about equipment repair and maintenance.  Alternatively, establish a relationship with a reputable, reliable, and accessible equipment repair company you partner with. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for equipment to break down at the most inconvenient time and if you are ill-prepared this could impact your ability to serve your customers.

Other areas of concern when considering the purchase of equipment are the building’s electrical and gas capacity and how that will accommodate the equipment. Most equipment for commercial bakeries relies upon 3 phase electricity and it is not a given that a commercial building will have 3 phase electrical capacity.