I have found a kitchen to rent out to do my baking and the health inspector is coming to check it out on Friday. I have heard that he is extremely anal and does everything by the book. I know that he is going to ask me how I will keep my cakes refrigerated during deliveries, what is the best way for me to do that? I sure don't have access to a refrigerated vehicle and I don't think many cakes would fit into coolers. I appreciate any help. Thanks!
why would a cake need to be refrigerated? sensitive filling? My health dept doesn't ask about deliveries, they just license the premises. Sorry, that's not real helpful, but are you sure he'll ask that? Could you keep it on ice somehow? 
You may want to refer to the documentation from your food safety course that indicates how long your products can be kept at room temperature. I doubt the inspector will bring that up, but at least you will have an answer with supporting facts.
Don't know where you are, or how it varies from state to state, but our inspector didn't ask us that.
I'm in BC Canada and he already told me that I have to have a plan on how I will keep sensitive filling cool. Supposedly this guy is a real piece of work so I really want to be prepared. Doesn't anyone else have to refrigerate their cakes? Or are we just super careful in Canada?
i have never heard of an inspector asking about the transfer of cakes with sensitive fillings...but if i were you i would be prepared by stating you do not intend to deliver cakes with sensitive filings to a distance that would effect the filling any more than having it out to finish decorating it, i might even say i have no intentions of delivering cakes with a sensitive filling at all. if you have no choice AC, state you will have your air conditioning on in the vehicle as well as surrounded by dry ice? idk, tough one, i'de call the health department and ask for their exact expectations before he gets there! good luck!
I have a cooler bag I bought for about $15. It will hold up to a 12 inch cake. If I have several cakes to deliver, I use my big cooler that holds 4 if I stack them. I place the boxes in large clean trash bags and seal them to keep out water from melting ice. I only know all this because of tailgating at my daughter's college 2 hours away. 
Do you know the brand of the cooler bag or what the dimensions are? I may have to order on line as it is below freezing here and it might be hard to find one locally right now. What kind of cooler do you use for the multiple cakes? Thanks for your help!
I don't offer any fillings that need to be refridgerated. But most of my fillings are buttercream based anyway, maybe with a layer of jam occasionally. I just don't want to have to mess around with putting cakes in the fridge, especially because all my fridges are the undercounter type - they wouldn't fit through the doors for a start.
Deliveries in summer here when it's 40ºC just have the aircon in the vehicle at 21º, which is the same temperature as my bakery kitchen.
I bought the cooler bag at Sams Club, if that helps. The other cooler is one you would use for camping or tailgating. It's not the largest available. The largest one I've seen is white and cost over a hundred dollars. I'm sure the selection won't be great right now, but look in the camping section in stores.
I made a trip to the basement. Our cooler/ice chest is Coleman 5492A and similar to this one:
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/detail.asp?CategoryID=8581&product_id=6263A721
We also have an Igloo Ice Cube like this one:
http://www.igloo-store.com/detail/IGL+ICE+CUBE
A ten inch box fits in it, but lay it down to use it or it's difficult to get your fingers in there to remove the box.
The huge one I typed about is a Marine Cooler like this one:
http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?CatName=Coolers&SubcatId=MarineCoolers&Prod_ID=RP091227
Our cooler bag is similar to this one:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=173588&navAction=
I can fit 4 gallons of milk plus a couple of plastic bags with smaller cold stuff in it. This is the one that stays in the vehicle for grocery shopping.
Hopefully this helps and gives you options that you can at least tell your inspector about and perhaps ask for his suggestions about which ones is best so he knows your serious about food safety.
Good luck!
I have never, in 50 years of baking, used a filling that had to be refrigerated. And cake does NOT need to be refrigerated.
Cream cheese and fresh fruit filling does need to be refrigerated, most buttercreams are OK left out though.
From my catering days I have some Rubbermaid Proserve bags, they held temp very well and they have a large pizza bag that would fit up to a 16" cake, you could look into those. I rarely use perishable fillings in cakes, because i do wedding and centerpiece style cakes that tend to sit out for long periods of time.
When I catered in Illinois the standard for a foods total exposure to the temperature danger zone (40 degrees -140 degress) was 4 hours and that includes preperation & serving. So by that standard if you have a pershable filling that took 10 mins to make and the cake was out for 1 hr to decorate, then there is still 2 hrs and 50 mins of acceptable exposure left for delivery and the cake sitting out prior to consumption. I would look into your local food safety code and educate yourself on the rules so when he asks you can have an informed response.
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