So you want to open up your very own bakery, eh? A place where you can make bread and other delicious goods to display in storefront windows to catch the eye of those passing by, enticing them to stop in for a snack or two.
Yes, opening your own bakery might seem like part of living the American dream, Norman Rockwell style, but a commercial business of this nature is a far cry from making bread or baking cinnamon rolls in your home oven for just your family to enjoy. No, opening a bakery is a commercial venture, so you’re going to have to be certain to have enough – and the right – equipment on hand to produce large amounts of the baked goods that you’ll be selling to your customers.
Just what equipment do you need to open and run a successful bakery? We’ve outlined five important pieces of equipment and equipment categories below:
Ovens
If you’re going to be opening a bakery, this is hands-down the most critical piece of equipment that you’ll need in order to do so. But the oven that you have in your home’s kitchen isn’t quite going to do the trick. No, while effective for producing goods for your family, that type of a home oven doesn’t quite cut it when you’re trying to produce commercial quantities of bread and other baked goods – at least if you want to have a decent amount of inventory for your customers and want to turn a profit in the process.
So just what type of oven should you be buying? A commercial oven is fine for a startup bakery, but chances are you’ll soon need to upgrade to a convection oven. Convection ovens are essential in that they cook quickly and efficiently – some even rotate racks to make baking a breeze. It’s worth noting though that convection ovens aren’t suitable for all types of baked goods, because they don’t work well with all types of batters.
Other ovens that you may want to look into include proofing ovens and deck ovens. The former is particularly ideal for bread, while the latter is good for cakes. Don’t skimp on your ovens – like we said in the opening of this section, it’s likely to be the single-handed most important piece of equipment you’ll need.
Mixers
Another thing that you’ll definitely need to include in your bakery are mixers. If you’re just starting up, you’ll likely only need one commercial mixer, but after you get going and gain some business momentum, you’ll likely be adding more commercial mixer units. There are various types of mixers, from floor mixers to cake mixers to dough mixers – be sure to choose the one that is best utilized for your business and what you’re intending to do. For example, if you’re going to be producing a high volume of baked goods, perhaps as part of a relationship supplying restaurants in your area, a floor mixer is the way to go. Like with the oven, you won’t want to skimp on quality, as you need a reliable mixers able to work effectively every day.
Refrigerators
Key to preserving food and ingredients is some sort of refrigeration for your bakery. If you have a bigger bakery, you’ll obviously need a bigger refrigerator than you would with a small bakery, but it goes without saying that there is more than one kind of refrigerator to consider when it comes to your operations. The most convenient – and best option for large bakeries – is probably either the walk-in refrigerator/freezer or reach-in unit, which enables easy access for both products and ingredients to better streamline operations. For smaller bakeries, however, a worktoprefrigerator unit might be the better option. Not only can these units do the job of keeping items properly cooled to avoid food and ingredient spoilage, but worktop refrigerators can also help a bakery maximize efficient use of its work space.
Smallwares/Miscellaneous
In addition to the big three mentioned above (refrigerators, ovens and mixers), there are various other miscellaneous items and smaller pieces of equipment that you’ll need to have on hand to effectively operate a bakery. The good news is that these items are generally far less expensive than the larger items that we’ve listed above. The bad news is that there’s quite a lot of these items that you’ll need – and not having any of them on hand can really hurt your bakery from a productivity standpoint. That’s why it’s crucial to have items on hand such as pans for muffins, cakes and breads, cooling racks, dough cutters, baking sheets, rollers, spatulas, piping bags, decorating tubes and measuring cups. In addition to these smallwares, you should also be sure to invest in some utility carts for your operations. Carts come in handy when it comes to moving product from one area of the bakery to another, whether it’s a lot of small baked goods like doughnuts or one large baked good, like a wedding cake, for instance.
Storage
Finally, last but not least, you’re going to need some sort of storage for your bakery. The primary purpose of such storage units is more about keeping ingredients safe and free from spoilage than anything else, as all goods and ingredients have a shelf life, after all. So what makes for good storage units? Try an ingredient bin, for starters. Such bins can usually handle around 200 pounds of ingredients and are ideal for storing the likes of flour, grains, sugar and more. Food boxes are another solid alternative and dunnage racks are good for keeping ingredients, smaller equipment and more off of the floor.
As you can see, you need quite a bit to open up a bakery. And all of this equipment tends to have one thing in common – it’s not cheap, and a high upfront cost isn’t exactly ideal for a new business, let alone a bakery where so much is needed. That’s why it makes sense to explore all your options, which may potentially lead you down the path of acquiring such equipment from a credible used equipment site such as Bid on Equipment, where you can get pre-owned machinery that works like new. For new businesses, especially bakeries, the cost savings associated with buying used can permit the business to spend on other things – like advertising to get the word out about your new bakery.
For more information on what you’ll need to outfit your bakery, and to browse Bid on Equipment’s selection of ovens, mixers and more, contact the company today.