Now with a deeper understanding of each key ingredient and how it can alter the final product, we have a better idea on choosing the right ingredients for your business. But how about equipment, how does a home baker know what equipment to buy?

In order to answer this, we again go back to fundamentals, this time looking at the processes and steps involved for breads, pastries and cakes separately.

We find that understanding the process is a much more effective way to decide what tools and equipment you may want to start your business with, to save time, to improve your products and even to diversify your product range.

Firstly, let’s look at a bread making kitchen. In simple terms, the process in bread making can be split into 10 main steps: weigh, mix; knead, ferment; punching; divide, round, mould; rest; proof, bake and cool.

The first step in bread making is scaling the ingredients.

Measuring the ingredients accurately will provide a good quality product that is consistent.

The second step is the Mixing of ingredients to form a dough.

A stand mixer with a dough hook attachment is used in the mixing and kneading process of the dough. This helps to develop the gluten and distribute the ingredients uniformly.

For larger bread production, a spiral mixer is ideal as it is able to maintain a lower dough temperature, as both the mixer bowl and spiral hook spins to knead the dough.

The next step is fermentation. The temperature of the room is best when maintained around 20°C to 24°C.

This is to control the yeast activity for optimal fermentation. To prevent the dough from being overheated.

After that we divide, round & mould the dough into shapes and sizes.

This is my favourite part, because you can mould and shape the dough to your desired shapes.

This step is vital in producing a good grain and crumb texture of the bread. Using a rolling pin to stretch the gluten and remove large air bubbles.

Bread tins or loaf pans are used as the vessel, as it uniformly forms the shape of the bread.

Allow to Proof. With a proofer, dough is uniformly proofed, which streamlines the production process.

By creating an ideal environment for yeast to generate gas and allow the dough to rise properly after it has been worked into its final shape.

Therefore, proofers make the dough-rising process simple by optimizing heat and humidity. Temperature is set from 32°C to 37°C and relative humidity from 85% to 90%.

Alternatively if you have a small production, you can use a trolley rack with a cover to proof the bread, spraying with water to prevent the skin from drying out.

Then it is ready for Baking.

There are different types of ovens needed for different bread products.

For small production of buns or croissants, you can use a smaller deck oven or convection oven.

For lean dough products such as baguette or artisan breads, a deck oven with steam injection function is best.

Baking time and temperature is dependent on sugar content, size, shape & density of the dough.

In the baking process, heat transforms the dough into a light, porous, and flavourful product with a brown crust.

The last process is Cooling.

Once the freshly baked bread comes out of the oven, it needs to be removed from the pans and placed on cooling racks or wire racks to cool.

Adequate air circulation is necessary to allow excess steam to evaporate. The entire loaf must be cooled to approximately 35°C.

In addition, oven racks are useful for holding large quantities of full-size and half-size sheet pans. Whether you need to put these in the chiller for cooling, in the proofing cabinet for proofing, or in the oven for baking, oven racks let you move high volumes of food items at once.

To create the best bread products, you will need some of these basic equipment and tools, to outfit your kitchen with the ideal environment and conditions for bread making.

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