Hi all,

I will be working in a new Bakery soon to open in Nov. (hopefully). We are extremely limited on space in the kitchen. Can anyone give us tips on keeping things organized in the Bakery.
Any tips on how you keep your tools and supplies organized and stored would be wonderful.
Can you post Pics of your kitchens so I can get an idea of your layout? We are so very limited on space, so any ideas will be helpful. Any pics too!

Thanks so much!!!!!

Jessica

Okay I'm gonna bump this up because We could really use some tips for the Bakery!!! Pretty Please!

Jessica

I would love to see pics too--- I know there was a previous thread about storefronts, but I'd love to see more pics as we are getting to the design phase.

Thanks!!

I have a rolling tool chest to keep a lot of my spatulas, scoops, & knives in. You know the ones guys have in their garages. They work great. The other thing I use for tips, is the organizer for nails and screws. It has litte drawers to keep different size tips in.

HTH
Danielle

it's kind of rectangular, and the drawers are different sizes, so ALL the tips fit. Even the rose nails, and tip brushes.
DH used to use it when he worked in the hotels and only had a small portion of the kitchen for pastry. It's definitley worth the investment.

I never buy 'cake organization' items. They are always twice the price of 'man gear' stuff. I was just eyeing up a great set in the tool section of Walmart which was about $20 (Canadian, so would be cheaper for you). It had a bunch of tiny drawers which would be ideal for sorting tips, plus some slightly larger ones for other bits & pieces. I've already planned to mount a couple of these on my wall once my kitchen is done (hopefully in the next month!). That would be a good space-saver.

All my cookie cutters are sorted by type in plastic shoe storage boxes, which stack. I also have two of the plastic drawer rolling carts for things like cookie sticks, cardboards, tools etc. Everything else is spread around everywhere...

Good luck! I'd love to see some pictures when you're done. I need the inspiration!

Thanks Tubbscookies!! Any ideas are EXCELLENT ones!! I'm gonna go this weekend to walmart and home depot and see if I see anything. What does everyone do with their pans, boxes, cake boards, and big stuff like that?

Ohhh off the subject, what type of pastry bags does everyone use in their Bakery?

Thanks so much!

Jessica

You're welcome! Regarding the big, flat items, I was thinking about having a wide unit with lots of shelves. Since this is a separate basement kitchen, not a fancy commercial set-up, I'm planning on using cheap Ikea units (no doors on some for easy) as the basis of my kitchen.

Regarding bags, I am looking for larger disposable bags. I think Wilton have started making 16" disposables, so I need to find somewhere to buy them. I'm sure there must be other places too... I HATE washing bags! For reusables, check for a restaurant supply store locally - they have all that kind of thing.

i also use those little plastic multi drawer storage bins for premade fondant and gumpaste designs...works great for those last minute cakes cause the flowers and such are ready to go. i have two of these storage things, and need to buy another one for my tips. like stated before, there are usually different sizes of the slide out drawers...one of mine is large enough to have a full size gumpaste bow in it...6" long or so. i think the drawer was around $20

i also buy alot of rubbermaid storage drawer units at sams and costco. each drawer has it's own function...my bags in one, my stencils and presses in another, etc.

i also have a rolling tool box that i use for my most commonly used items...i roll it to the kitchen and everything i need the most is right there. it's similar to a craftsman, but it's an off brand that we got on sale at home depot...black and obnoxious yellow, but hidden in the cake room!!!!!!!!!

just remember to use NSF shelf, I purchase my from costco.

Here is a great thread I saved:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-49039.html

HTH

Judi

Jess---

We purchased the 5-tier metal shelving unit from Lowes (about $75). We sorted our cake pans by style from smallest to largest and then inverted them on the shelf upside down to keep them as close to dust-free as possible.

Right now, we only have one box of rectangles and one box of rounds (about 400 each) cake plates. So we store them on top of the refrigerator.

For the boxes, we opened them on one side and have lined them up side by side and pull out a box or two as we need them.

For the cookie cutters, we found stacking drawers at Wal-Mart. We sorted the cookie cutters by themes: animals, standard shapes, individual holidays.

For all of our chocolate molds, we purchased plastic filing drawers (roughly $20 each) and we have filed them by holiday or type. We labelled each mold with a 2 or 3 digit letter corresponding to the event (HW for Halloween and WD for Wedding) and numbered each individual type of mold in that category. We then filed in order and each box is for a different theme. What's neat about the boxes is that they interlock and can stack upon one another. The drawer pulls out easily for looking through them at your height.

HTH

Paul & Peter

Paul and Peter,

Thanks so much!!! You two are always so helpful! Those are great ideas! I def have to go to walmart and home depot tomorrow. I have a few cakes to get decorated this weekend so I have to make some time. Thanks so much!!!

Jessica

Oh, we forgot to tell you...The storage drawers for the chocolates we found at Staples.

Paul & Peter

I have a metal cabinet that a bunch of my items are in. I'm working on a secong one that has just my pans. Wish I had another one. Very limited on space here.

I JUST thought of using baskets in my cabinet and picked some up and put my food colors in it. Now I see Jenlg's pic and I'm so thrilled about my thought and am encouraged to finish this way!

I had my closet organized like that once, and my kids decided to "re-organize" for me. Gotta love 'em for trying to help (=

I always use disposable bags because I feel I can never get the other ones clean enough. But I have a problem with wilton's disposable. I started using kee seal bags. They are fantastic! I am never afraid of them bursting with some of the stiffer frostings. They are a little more expensive than wilton but to me well worth it. And the biggest thing for me they don't slip in your hands either. you can check them out at keeseal.com. Hope that gives you an idea.

Ohhh thanks so much ladies, These are great tips!!!!

I just checked out keeseal.com. Those bags look great! I will let my boss know about those!!

Thanks for the pic jenlg!!! Those baskets are a great idea!!

Thanks!!!!!! If anyone else has pics of thier kitchens, it really would help!! Thanks so much!!!

Jessica

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=49039&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
Check this one out by kakes by kitty

ha ha..I should have read the first page.

We have found that plastic tubs with lids are the best way for us to keep organized. We use the shoe box size and thensome that are one size larger. They are easy to label and keep clean. We use them for everything! We even keep pearls made at all times and keep them stored in the plastic boxes. For our tips we use a divided box that we got at wal mart in the fishing department. We labeled the sections by tip number and shape it makes. They are easily stacked and when you put things back into place it's quick! For cookie cutters we have found that for us its most space saving (We have space issues) to keep all of them in two large plastic tubs. We have them in ziploc bags divided by season/ hoiday/ animal/theme any way you like. When we have an order for a customer we let them choose the cutters and then put them into a ziploc bag with their order information on it. Then they are ready when it's time to make the order and we don't have to fish them back out. Easy to put back when the order is complete too. For our cake pans we don't use the character pans since most of our cakes are 3D we carve, so we just stack them on our shelves. We also use the plastic tubs with lids in the fridge and freezer. We store icing in ther bags if we can use them again within a few days. I would only recommend using boxes with lids because you can stack them any which way. The health department popped and inspection on us this week and they were extremely impressed with our organization and how clean everything looked. We purchased most of the boxes at the dollar store so it was very affordable! Good luck! Small space is a challenge but we manange. We throw out 30-40 cakes a week and about 50 dozen cookies in additon to custom desserts of all kinds and lunch & dinner 6 days a week! Small but organized, that's your key. I will make a point this week to take some photo's of the kitchen area if you are still interested you can email me at [email protected].

Tonia

Tonia, thank you so much for all these great tips!!! Thanks for offering pics as well!! I just emailed you!! That is a great idea about putting the cutters in a bag for the order. I might just have to use that one!! Thanks so much!!!

Jessica

As far as decorating bags, I always use the cloth ones.
They're the only ones I've used in bakeries and at culinary school, so I guess it's just a comfort thing.
To wash them, I soak them in dish soap and a LITTLE bleach. The health dept. told me that was the best way to sanitize them.

Good luck with the new adventure!
Danielle

-I often buy powdered sugar from Sams. It comes 6 bags in a big cardboard box with a lid. These boxes are AWESOME for storing things in. I get those heavy snap together plastic shelves from Lowes/HomeDepot. The boxes fit 2 per shelf and are great for columns, plates, pans, silk flowers, ribbon, etc.
-Rolling drawer units and plastic shoe boxes are good for sorting cookie cutters and plastic decorations.
-Store things under your tables on pallets.
-I haven't really solved the cake box issue. The best thing I have found is to go ahead and make them up leaving the front unfolded. You can nest them inside each other and make them more accessible.
-I keep airbrush and other colors in small lidless plastic shoebox containers. This way I can store them on a shelf out of the way when they aren't in use. And you can rinse them out from time to time. It also stops accidental spills.
-I also have extra rolling pan racks. I use them as extra storage because I have too many. Space out full sheet pans and fill with smaller pans or royal icing decorations.

Ok here is a couple of my pictures.
I like the "metal cube" type shleves you can get at target for my pans.

where is the bakery will be located? attached is a picture I found in CC.