The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Professional home baking

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Professional home baking

Many friends and family have been bombarding me with the idea and quite frankly I feel very positive about it but I still have some questions that needs answering.

How much should I prepare? Can I make it like upon reservations?

I am planning on making only 4 kinds, is that enough?

I think I can handle 6 loaves a day with my Kitchenaid artisan and my house oven and once orders roll and the name is spread I can get a Hobart and a professional bread oven to improve my production to 50 loaves a day.

I hope to get any feedback from someone who has gone through such decision.

MichaelLily's picture
MichaelLily

You are going to want to check out the cottage food laws in your state.  I live in Minnesota and it is illegal to sell outside of farmer's markets or community events and it is illegal to sell more than $5000 in revenue in a calendar year from my home.

That being said, if you are really good at 4 kinds of bread that's all that really matters.  I've been selling for about 4 months now on a small scale and I've sold some croissants, 50 baguettes, 5 whole wheat, 2 rye, and 761 mild sourdough country loaves.  So you can see that my emphasis is definitely not on variety.  My emphasis is convincing people to buy my old standby, which I claim is the best bread in the city.

Also keep in mind that baking bread is not a very good way of making money.  It's an awesome skill, but bread just doesn't bring in a whole lot of revenue.  250 loaves a week is not going to be enough to make a primary household income, so keep that in mind.  I don't want to dissuade you from doing it, but keep some of these things in mind.

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Thank you Michael for your insight. I actually live in a country where you can sell as much as you like from home with no mentionable tax. The only thing that concerns me is how can I guess the number of loaves to make in case I do not follow a reservation method a day before. I can still pull it without preferments but the taste would change a bit.

I will try with a small target of 6 loaves a day but does that reach to make a name?

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Alain,

Just a thought.  Ingredients for basic bread are the least expensive part of the pricing equation.  If you can't estimate precisely (and from what you say that is clearly a grey area), then perhaps do this - 

Overestimate by 'x' percent what you may end up baking.  Make the overestimated amount of poolish, biga or levain so that you aren't caught short of potential sale.  If you have to discard or retard the remainder, consider that to be not just a learning experience and learning your clientele expectations, but also a part of the cost of getting your business started.  Also consider that you will have no other overhead as far as costs go and you will be able to retain the quality of your product.

Some may view this as wasteful, and others, perhaps even you, may consider it to be the cost of getting a start-up business off the ground.

(for some reason I like the name Alain),

Alan 

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

You are right about the low cost of flour for preparing more poolish as a startup cost and also maybe baking a few extra loaves in case someone orders more than expected and in the end being a home business gives me an aliby for not keeping up and a sort of good publicity that my product is well asked for and scarce.

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

Assuming that the plan works (which it probably will), you will soon overwhelm and possibly kill a KA Artisan mixer.  Your home oven will last longer (that too can be brought to its knees) but the limited capacity will have you attending to it for endless hours.  Then when you see that larger mixing and baking capacity is absolutely essential, you are faced with the high cost of mixer and oven. 

Look around and see what an oven will cost.  Calculate how long you will spend at that oven, based on its capacity, every time you bake.  How many potential customers are there?  Will that pay for the mixer, the oven and your time?  Where will you put the mixer and the oven?  What will that cost?

At the onset it all looks fairly straightforward and relatively simple.  In a sense this is true but it fails to reflect the seemingly endless hours of work met with an income that is "okay" at best.  It is very difficult for a one person operation to make a good living baking in the USA.  Your country may be different.  A large potential customer base will help a lot.  A culture where most people eat bread will help a lot.  You need to have the cards stacked in your favor to make this really work and it can work.  Like most other endeavors, more will fail than succeed. 

My advice is that you think the entire process through very carefully before you begin.

Best of luck to you,

Jeff

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Your points make a lot of sense. Checking the price of oven and mixer ahead will give me an idea of how to prepare space and cost.

My final destination is not a full time bakery actually, I am heading towards an artisanal all natural food shop with limited quantity of artisanal bread of art. So maintaining a limited quantity of bread production and maybe continue with pre orders gives the business a sense of high class.

Thank you again for your support

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Another thought.  If you are successful to the point of not being able to handle product at home, there are commercial sites where one can rent time in their workspace with all of the hardware (i.e. ovens mixers retarders, etc).  I used to live in a state where a lot of Farmer's Market and food truck types did exactly that.  As much to comply with the state's ergonomic and health and cleanliness laws as anything else.

alan

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

I live in Lebanon, we don't have such options, although it is pretty easy to rent a shop but I want to explore as much as I can from home without adding a rent cost on my back and build a selected and reliable clientele database then I can open my artisanal shop and spend a few bucks on marketing.

I feel excited about this and I don't care how much money I make out of it but I do want to build a name and identity that lasts and grows with time.

I will share the steps maybe I could be of help with my success or my failure to others as you all are giving me much help and support

Thanks.

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

Hi Alain,

You might post a message to Varda.  SHe started up as a home baker several years ago and is now selling lots of her breads on a regular basis in farmer's markets as well as in restaurants.  She would be a good one to talk to about equipment as she has had to purchase larger mixers and a larger oven to keep up with demand.

I do not do what Varda does but I do bake daily and have about 25-30 regulars that I bake for during the week.  Since I am not a business I do not offer specific breads.  I bake breads that I like to bake and people take what I have to offer.  I have a weekly calendar with people listed on the day of the week that I bake for them.  When I have their bread baked, I give them a call and they stop by and pick up their bread.  I do not sell.  I barter with one person I bake for but others give me gift cards to use in a store where I buy my 'supplies'.  I bake because I love to bake. ( I am retired and this is how I have chosen to spend my time.)

I buy grain in bulk.  Grind my own flour and use a commercial countertop oven, a Cadco,  along with my home oven to bake by loaves.  Currently I use a Haussler spiral mixer to mix my doughs though in the past I purchased and used a KA, a Bosch Universal and a DLX (Assistant).  My doughs are proved in a proofing box that I built using a reptile terrarium.

From what I have learned I would strongly suggest getting the largest mixer and oven you can now.  Will cost more upfront but will save you $$$ in the long run since you will only have to buy once.  I had to buy many before landing where I am now :( but I learned a lot along the way :)

Good Luck and Have Fun

Take Care,

Janet

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Thanks Janet. First I was panning on grinding my own flower but after doing lots of research I found that the best machine that makes finer flour was the Komo and we don't have it in my country and will cost a lot if I want it shipped. I am interested in knowing what kind of grinder you are using and if it produces fine or coarse flour from one run.

I will definitely try contacting Varda but my start will be more like yours, limited quantity upon reservations and 5 kinds of bread: Olive Ciabatta, Thyme Rustic, Multi Cereal Rustic, Sourdough and Brown with dried fruits.

Thank you for your help

Janetcook's picture
Janetcook

I have 2 Komo mills.  I know Phil (PiPs), who lives in Australia, ordered his straight for Germany since they do not sell them in Australia either.  Not sure what the shipping cost him so you might try asking him too.

Varda's start was like mine too.  I know she will be an excellent resource.

Have Fun,

Janet