MarieinLA

thanks everyone - i do have a grease trap (they would never have given me my permits without one) but i didn't know i had to clean it (some of you out there are probably cringing right now). I remember specifically asking the plumber what i had to do to maintain it and he said nothing, besides pour water down the floor drain where it is so the odor doesn't seep up, which we do. Could there be a kind that doesn't need cleaning? probably not...i'll check into it first thing tomorrow... thanks again.

My shop has been open for over a year now and every 2 to 3 months, my pipes need to get snaked because all the flour/grease/cocoa/chocolate that makes it's way into them blocks them, even when we make concerted efforts to sweep/dump it in the trash instead of down the drain. I've tried using the bio enzymatic stuff to keep them clean but it doesn't seem to help much. Besides buying my own snake, anyone else out there have to deal with this and figured out a better solution to keeping your pipes clear? I'd love to hear it... Thanks.

I've found the paper separates when they aren't filled enough and overbaked a bit. If the cupcake, once baked, gets to the top of the paper they don't tend to pull away. You might want to make a batch where you fill to different levels and see what happens (but bake the lesser filled ones in a different pan than the more filled ones, otherwise you'll overbake the lesser filled ones waiting for the more filled ones to be done...).

Hi Cheryl - Working in a new small business is fun, but it's ALOT of work. Like the others, I'm not trying to discourage you at all, just throwing in a dose of reality. My question is, does your boss bake and will she be helping out as well or is it just you? I opened my small shop last March, like yours, it's small volume, high quality, limited product line (mostly cupcakes, custom order cakes, cookies and scones). I also changed career in my thirties. For the first 6 months it was only me and my cousin (an experienced baker) and we both put in loooooooooooong days. Because she's family :-) she worked much more than a 40 hr week. I was also able to control the amount of orders we took, I was in the kitchen, so I knew how much we could handle and keep the quality high. Will your boss be willing to do this in the beginning? Or if not, and you are successful and really busy from the get go, will she be willing to hire more help? I guess what I'm saying, is find out exactly what volume/variety she is expecting and what her expectations are of your job. What if everything doesn't get done in the 40 hrs, just because it's not humanly possible? I now also have a few part - time helpers, and slowly starting to feel like I know what I'm doing. Just know, that 4 am to 10 pm days are not uncommon. I know, It's my shop, so my hours are longer, but I also know that in the beginning, one full time and one part time person would not have been nearly enough... I'm lucky and we're doing well so far, steady growth and just finished a crazy December. I realize this post is a bit all over the place, because that's where I am right now :-) opening a new place is fun and exciting and traumatic and maddening and pretty much every other emotion you can think of, and lots of work, and in a sick way, I wouldn't trade it for anything... Good luck with your decision!

Hmmm...not sure, haven't played with no convection at all on any of the cupcakes besides the devil's food. The only thing I could suggest is test baking them at different temperatures and see what happens... let us know if you do...

I own a cupcake shop and can tell you that each cupcake we bake gets a different "oven treatment". Some, like the more liquidy devils food batter are baked without the convection fan (it just blows the batter over and creates what we call "a tongue"). Others, mostly the butter cake batters, we bake with the convection on for a few minutes until the batter has set and then turn the convection off to avoid the volcano dome and achieve the nice dome. Others, mostly the heavier oil based batters (carrot, pumpkin) can handle most everything and get the fan on the whole time. You can also experiment with filling levels. Make some test cupcakes where you fill cups either half way, three quarters, and somewhere in between and then you'll figure out the best filling. Hope this was more helpful than confusing :-) Happy New Year.

Thanks for all the responses. I am calling the inspector today (once I'm sure I can keep my cool and be nice) and I'll let you know how it goes. I did a little research last night and she is right in that the code states that every appliance must be NSF approved, but as beanie said, I really can't find a discernible difference between the KA commercial and professional models besides $$$... I'll let you know how it goes. And if I ever hear city officals say they are small business friendly again I think I'll scream.

The health inspector came today (4th visit since I opened) all is fine, except she decided this time around that I can't use my three 5 and 6 quart kitchenaid mixers and has given me 3 weeks to replace them, which I really can't afford. I know they aren't NSF certified but so far every kitchen or school I have been in uses them. Any ideas on if and how I can fight this? Arrgh!!!

I bought a used 30 QT hobart 6 months ago (from a used kitchen equipment shop in LA). I love it. My only word of caution when buying used is make sure the attachments are also hobart. My paddle wasn't and turns out it was a smidge too big and started scraping the bowl - had to buy a hobart paddle to replace it...

I add passionfruit curd to a plain swiss buttercream (no vanilla). I don't know the proportions because I add the curd to taste once the buttercream is done. Next time I make it I'll pay more attention and post the proportions...

I know coconut was not on her list, but I've been combining passionfruit curd as a filling in coconut cake and passionfruit buttercream and it's quite yummy if I may say so myself....so many options...

Are these what you are looking for? http://qualitapaper.com/html/Box_Qbox.htm

I need some custom mini cutters (nothing too complicated, just not available) - has anyone found a source they recommend? I found several online, but thought I would check with you first. Thanks!