Running a bakery is as enjoyable as it is a labor-intensive business. You can serve warm loaves, various flavorful pastries, muffins, and pies in your bakery shop and become customers’ favorite with your specialty recipes. Using the right bakery shop equipment, you can easily start your business or take it to the next level by upgrading it.
These seven must-have bakery equipment items are the essentials that handle most of the job. We have prepared a list of bakery materials you should have when starting your business or give priority when beginning to renew.
1. Commercial Mixer
Commercial mixers are one of the most commonly used bakery shop equipment, preparing large quantities of dough, batter, icing, or sauces. They consist of a mixing bowl, a mixing arm, and a rotating engine, or the bowl rotates depending on the type. There are two types of commercial mixers: commercial dough mixers and planetary mixers.
- Commercial dough mixers have a rotating bowl and stationary hooks to provide consistent dough. The dough hooks in the arm knead and aerate the dough. Commercial dough mixers are available in various sizes and capacities, with larger models capable of mixing dough for hundreds of loaves of bread at once.
The mixer’s speed and the type of hook used can be adjusted to produce various kinds of dough. Compared to manual mixing methods, a commercial dough mixer provides consistent mixing results, reduced mixing time, and improved dough quality.
- Planetary mixers consist of a stationary mixing bowl and a rotating agitator. The agitator rotates on its axis while also moving around the bowl, creating a “planetary” motion, which provides evenly mixed results. The mixer mostly comes with various interchangeable attachments for mixing different products, demonstrating the mixer’s versatility.
2. Food Prep Table
Another essential piece of bakery equipment is a commercial food prep table, used for food preparation activities in commercial kitchens. In a bakery, you can prepare the dough and decorate your cakes or muffins using sections with spaces to add garnishes. It typically has a stainless steel flat top surface with lower shelves or drawers for storing ingredients and kitchen supplies. The surface is frequently refrigerated to keep ingredients fresh and cool, and the table is built to be easy to clean and durable enough to withstand heavy use.
3. Holding And Proofing Cabinet
For perfectly puffed bread loaves or pastries, the proofing process is essential. Thus, a commercial proofing cabinet is a must-have piece of bakery equipment used in commercial kitchens to allow dough to rise. It’s essentially a large, temperature- and humidity-controlled cabinet that provides a warm, moist environment for the dough to rise. This cabinet ensures the dough rises evenly and consistently, maintaining the optimal temperature and moisture levels required for proofing.
4. Dough Divider and Sheeter
A dough divider is a must-have bakery equipment because it divides dough into equal portions to make individual loaves of bread, rolls, buns, and other baked goods. It usually consists of a hopper for the bulk dough and a set of blades or disks for cutting it into equal pieces. Changing the blades or disks can adjust the size of the portions. The dough divider compresses and cuts the dough into pieces of the desired size and shape. It saves your time and provides perfectly round and equal amounts of dough.
In contrast, a dough sheeter is a machine that flattens and shapes dough. It works by putting the dough through rollers that compress and stretch it to a uniform thickness. The rollers can be adjusted to control the thickness of the dough, and the dough sheeter can shape the dough into various shapes such as rounds, squares, or rectangles. In commercial kitchens, dough sheeters are commonly used to produce consistent, uniform dough pieces for baking.
The dough divider and dough sheeter are both essential bakery equipment designed to enhance the efficiency and consistency of dough preparation in commercial kitchens, enabling faster and more precise baking.
5. Convection Oven
An oven is an essential piece of bakery equipment for baking goods to perfection. Commercial ovens are large-scale appliances specifically designed for commercial use in food service establishments.
They are usually larger and more powerful than home ovens and are designed to withstand the high volume and frequent use of a commercial bakery.
Utilize various types, such as convection ovens, deck ovens, and rotating rack ovens, to bake a range of baked goods, including loaves of bread, cakes, and pastries. However, we have included convection ovens in our list since they are versatile and more commonly used in bakeries.
Convection ovens are another type of oven for a bakery shop that provides accurate baking results. A commercial convection oven bakes by using both a heating element and a fan simultaneously. The fan circulates hot air throughout the baking chamber to provide more evenly distributed heat. The circulating hot air cooks the food evenly and helps maintain a consistent temperature throughout the cooking process. This reduces cold spots and uneven cooking, resulting in a more uniform product.
6. Reach-in Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a crucial step in any food service business. We know that bakery businesses require various types of refrigeration equipment, but reach-ins are among our top must-have bakery equipment.
A reach-in refrigerator will keep the products at safe temperatures in a commercial bakery kitchen. These refrigerations are called “reach-in” refrigerators because their interior is accessible by reaching in through an open door.
7. Display Case
A display case is a must-have bakery equipment used to showcase food products for customer selection and purchase. It is commonly used to showcase baked goods, pastries, sandwiches, and other food items in bakeries, cafes, and other food service establishments. Display cases are intended to keep food safe while also providing an appealing and eye-catching display to entice customers. Depending on the products you plan to sell, refrigerated and non-refrigerated styles are available.
A Short Summary of Must-Have Bakery Equipment
A bakery can be the most enjoyable food service business type, in which you can serve colorful cupcakes and artisanal bread, and be a stopover in all neighborhoods. There are many pieces of equipment and tools to make it run. However, in the preparation phase, commercial mixers, dough dividers & sheeters, dough proofers, and prep tables, as well as storage reach-ins, are essential bakery equipment.
In the cooking phase, convection ovens are necessary. For presentation, display cases are a must-have. These are the key components that make a bakery a bakery. You can easily start setting up your bakery after acquiring this essential bakery shop equipment, and let your baked goods waft delicious smells all over the streets.
