Using catering kitchen for sweet and savory

[Varun Sheth]

Hey guys,

I have a central kitchen (pics attached) which we use to cater for small parties (from 20 - 100 people). Final warming/ plating is done at the clients place. It has been about 7 months since I have started this business and I do about 8-10 orders a month and hence there is a lot of downtime. There are only two of us who do all the work as there is no need for additional staff at the moment. I understand that it will take awhile for our name to get out there but in the meantime I would like to perhaps do more in my kitchen and utilize the space I have to its maximum.

I have been wondering if it is possible to make cakes/pastries/tarts and other sweet treats in the same kitchen where regular cooking is done. I can change my setup a bit and install a convection oven and get a few other pieces of equipment to do confectionery stuff. Does anyone have the experience of running both activities in the same space? Will the heat be a factor? We do have air - conditioning. My aim is to utilize my space in the best possible way. I feel confectionery would work as there is a good demand for cakes around our area.

Do you have any other suggestions as to what I can do to expand my business?

Hoping to get some good advice from experienced members.

[JeanneCake]

You might first want to see if there's a niche market you can fill - something like muffins, cupcakes, marshmallows and use that to fill your off hours. Or, and I say this somewhat haltingly, see if someone who wants to start a business like that wants to rent your space in your off hours. Depending on what that business is, you may need additional refrigeration or table space, in addition to a convection oven (which may not really be necessary, depending on how the ovens you currently have now work). You would need to be very specific about hours of use, who cleans what, where storage is, who is in the space (people who know how to use the professional equipment in place) and whether or not a separate business can be licensed to share the same kitchen (when I was exploring sharing a kitchen, one town I was looking in would not allow two businesses to share the same kitchen. First time I'd ever heard of such a thing.)

[IndyRob]

I'm not experienced, but maybe that's my point here. Here is an article about Ohio Valley Food Venture which is a kitchen designed to be shared. Their website (foodventure.org) appears to be down, but this article was written just earlier this month.

As someone who has wanted to dabble in starting a food business, the lack of a commercial kitchen is a huge barrier. Even if you just want to sell prepared products at the neighborhood farmer's market, you need a commercial kitchen. Back when I was looking into it OVFV had everything set out for hourly fees, storage space, etc.

The legal issues might be daunting, but I bet you could get a lot of help from local small business entities if you were to bill it as a business incubator.

[Varun Sheth]

Thanks for the replies guys. I don't think the concept of renting a commercial kitchen exists in this part of the world and since I am already running a catering business out of the above space it would most likely clash with renting out to someone else. I sometimes just get a days notice for a small party order so its impossible to plan.

Jeanne there is always a demand for cakes in and around my area though the egg-less kind are more popular. I was wondering if in the above setup I can do both (baking cakes and cooking for my catering as well). I can get my ovens removed and/or invest in a new convection which I don't have at the moment.

[TheTInCook]

Sure you can do pastry in the same kitchen as savory. Heat and humidity can be an issue for some things, which is why you'll never be doing a run of intricate chocolate work while your hotline is going full blast.

A few things that came to mind looking at your pics:

1) Oven space. It might not be the most efficient setup. Not saying that you should go out and buy a steam injected rotating oven or whatever, at least until you get a better feel for demand and your intentions. Just be aware the it could result in more work and time then you expect.

2) Why u no buy hobart? /trollface

3) I would die without speed racks.

[Varun Sheth]

TInCook I have 2 4 range burners (one with hot plate) with ovens underneath each of them. I could probably do without one of those and get my convection oven setup there; also this way it would be under the hood and I need not worry about exhaust.

Will look into the Hobart ovens, definitely need one as I am not happy with these.

Speed racks will definitely find a place once and if we start doing pastry.

[TheTInCook]

TInCook I have 2 4 range burners (one with hot plate) with ovens underneath each of them. I could probably do without one of those and get my convection oven setup there; also this way it would be under the hood and I need not worry about exhaust.

Will look into the Hobart ovens, definitely need one as I am not happy with these.

Speed racks will definitely find a place once and if we start doing pastry.

Hobart is my shorthand for a big mixer. Like 10 to 20qt, (I've even used a big 50is quart, that had to be floor mounted). I've used them a lot for both savory and pastry. Pretty sure you can get good deals on used and refurbished ones. They are like tanks.

Speed racks are way useful for more then just pastry. They are shelves where ever you need them. To give you one example, I needed to grill off a ton of chix breast and veggies for a party. I got my handy speed rack, put my two cambros of marinated airlines and veggies on the bottom. I put the rack next to me and the grill. As I seared off the breasts and veg, I'd load them on a sheet pan and into the speed rack. It saved me a ton of time, space, and movement. Think if I had to make all those trips to the fridge and/or find table space for all my pans of chicken. The cheapest ones on the website I saw were around $200. Even if they save you just 1/2 man hour per event, that is still a great ROI.