I am thinking about starting a VERY part-time cake decorating business in Oklahoma but I can't find where the regulations are for my area. I know of two ladies in the same county I live in who have been decorating cakes out of their homes for years and they use their own kitchen, not a commercial kitchen. Can anyone tell me what the regulations are or where I can find out? Thanks for your help.

I live in Creek County, just west of Tulsa. It's my understanding that it's not legal to bake out of your own kitchen. You have to have a completely separate kitchen equipped with commercial equipment. I am in the process of building one at my house (a separate 10 x 20 building on our property). If you live in city limits, then you have to check on zoning laws with the city government. I hope this helps!

yeah i'm south of tulsa...

you have to have a separate kitchen...lots and lots of hoops to jump thru to be legal...

but i think around here it seems like they tend to turn thier head when it comes to home decorators.

there are a bunch of em in my town....no one thinks anything of it....

you can't advertise or anything like that tho.....i think you could get by with word of mouth.

I posted the below information just this past Tuesday, as I made the call inquiring for myself.

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Just an FYI for fellow Oklahomans...

Just spoke with David Myers at the Health Department (was directed there after calling the Ag department). He says the Oklahoma law is you must have a separate kitchen to have a cake decorating BUSINESS. HOWEVER, he volunteered the following information: HE said "If you are decorating for friends of friends or family, etc., (such as by word of mouth) and NOT advertising as a cake decorating business, we don't have time to come after people like you and you will probably never be caught. However, if you are decorating and advertising as a cake decorating business and another cake decorating business calls them to report you, then you will be checked on." He also said you will need to call the City/County Health Department for them to approve the kitchen you do prepare for full-time decorating. The phone number I called to get this info is 405-271-5600.

I hope this is as helpful to others as it was me.

Thanks for all your help. I definitely won't be advertising and most of the stuff I do is for friends and family so I don't think it will be a problem. I only do cakes every now and then but I wanted to know what was required in case I started doing cakes more often.

Bakedanddiced:
Thank you for the comment on the wedding cake. It was the first one I had done and I really enjoyed it. I hope to do some more soon.