Equipment you need to start your own bakery business

Starting a bakery business is a big undertaking, but it can succeed with the right equipment. Kitchen appliances designed specifically for commercial use can help you produce large quantities of baked goods. Having the right equipment also ensures that your products come out perfectly every time.

When starting your bakery, you'll first need to invest in some good-quality kitchen equipment. This will help you speed up the production process, allowing you to get your products out to your customers faster.

In addition to the right appliances, having a well-equipped kitchen is also important for safety reasons. Having all the right tools and equipment ensures that your bakery runs smoothly and safely, protecting you, your employees and even your customers. With the right equipment, you can process delicious goods quickly and keep your customers returning for more.

Commercial planetary mixers

Commercial mixers are essential for bakeries. A heavy-duty planetary mixer is necessary to handle various foods, from shiny icings and light frostings to cake mixtures, cookie doughs and bread mixtures. Its powerful motor also allows it to handle difficult mixing tasks with ease.

Planetary mixers feature a rotating agitator attached to a shaft that moves around a fixed mixing bowl, like planets orbiting the sun, hence the name.

The versatility of planetary mixers lies in the assortment of attachments you can use. Typically, they include three fundamental attachments:

• Whisk: suitable for delicate mixtures like whipped creams, frostings, and meringue
• Flat beater: ideal for moderate mixtures such as cake mixtures and cookie dough
• Dough hook: designed for dense mixtures like bread and pizza dough

Commercial planetary mixers also come with multiple speed settings for different results. This allows bakers and chefs to experiment with which speed works best for their recipes and replicate their results accurately.

Professional dough kneaders

Commercial kitchens that specialise in dough-based products often need a high-quality dough mixer. The ingredients used in the dough can be challenging to mix, requiring specific techniques to achieve the desired consistency and texture.

A dough mixer is a specialised food mixer designed mainly to prepare thick, heavy mixtures like bread and pizza dough. Unlike planetary mixers, dough mixers feature a fixed agitator with a stationary shaft and a bowl that moves around it. This bowl movement ensures an even distribution of the dense dough. Dough mixers typically come with a single type of agitator: a spiral or S-shaped dough hook that gently incorporates the dough compared to whisks or flat beaters.

We recommend this 130L dough mixer, which can process up to 80kg of dough, for bakeries specialising in high-volume dough-based products and bread.

Dough rollers

Bakeries can benefit from using a professional dough and/or fondant roller. These machines ensure uniform thickness and consistency and allow staff to save time and labour. They can also evenly distribute ingredients and prevent tearing, maintaining the integrity of the dough and resulting in superior end products.

Additionally, a dough roller’s versatility enables it to handle various types of dough, from delicate pastries to robust breads. It can also roll out fondant to decorate cakes and is very useful in high-end cake shops that specialise in decorated cakes. Dough rollers are more suited to smaller bakeries and cake shops with lower demand.

Dough sheeters

Manual dough rolling requires significant muscle power and is labour-intensive. There is also a risk of uneven thicknesses and textures in the rolled dough. However, a dough sheeter quickly resolves these issues by producing uniformly rolled dough. A dough sheeter is a more heavy-duty machine than a dough roller and is commonly used in commercial bakeries and large-scale production settings.

Dough sheeters have rollers to flatten the dough to the desired thickness. Some models have a single roller for flattening, while others offer two rollers for a more comprehensive rolling process. Maxima’s dough sheeters are conveniently available in tabletop and foldable models and come in two sizes: 38cm and 52cm. The thickness of the dough can also be adjusted up to 35cm.

Bread slicers

Professional bread slicers offer a quick, simple and convenient method to slice loaves of bread quickly and easily.

Typically, commercial bread slicers feature sharp blades set at desired intervals. A lever on the side allows you to bring down the blades onto the loaf, creating uniform slices that can then be placed in a bread bag.

Some bread slicer models come with bread packaging features, allowing you to easily pack the sliced loaves for freshness. Additionally, bread slicers have crumb trays to collect crumbs, making cleaning effortless.

Bakery ovens

If you want to invest in quality professional baking equipment, consider investing in a specialised bakery oven.

Commercial bakery ovens are a staple in professional bakeries. These specialised ovens are designed specifically for the baking industry and have features that optimise the baking process. Bakery ovens come in various sizes and are typically suited according to Bakerynorm sizing.

Businesses like bakeries and coffeehouses usually opt for professional bakery ovens. These ovens are suitable for quickly baking large quantities of products. Most models have multiple fans to ensure heat is distributed efficiently throughout. As a result, food comes out of the oven light, crispy and consistently baked. They also include a steam control system to add moisture when needed.

Bakery ovens are used primarily to bake bread, pastries, cakes and other baked products. They provide precise temperature control to achieve an even baking result, which is crucial in baking.

Reach-in refrigerators

Most commercial kitchens have at least one reach-in fridge. This handy piece of equipment can store items needing low temperatures. Bakeries use it for eggs, fruits, milk, butter and dairy.

Reach-in fridges come in different sizes to match each kitchen's storage needs. The smallest ones are around 200L with a single door, while the largest can hold up to 1400L with multiple sections and doors. They all have similar depths for easy access.

Maxima’s refrigerators have a specialised refrigeration cycle to reduce ice formation and a user-friendly digital control display.

Blast chillers

A blast freezer is used to cool baked goods before storing them in the fridge or freezer. This essential bakery tool can rapidly lower food temperatures. Most blast chillers have various cooling programmes such as quick freezing, quick cooling and deep freezing. With Maxima’s blast chillers, food is cooled down very quickly. Within two hours, food can be cooled to 10° C and within 4,5 hours, it can be cooled to -18° C.

Many models are also suitable for various GN containers, making product storage easier. For bakeries or patisseries that need to cool large batches of products down quickly, we recommend this blast chiller suitable for 10 x 1/1 GN.

Professional freezers

Whilst fridges can maintain temperatures between -2° C and 8° C, freezers can reach much lower temperatures ranging from -10° C to -20° C. This feature makes them suitable for storing pre-prepared baked goods that require freezing.

Reach-in freezers come in various designs. The most popular type is the upright freezer, which resembles a reach-in fridge. Upright freezers have multiple shelves for easy access to frozen items.
For smaller bakeries looking to maximise space, undercounter freezers are a good option. They can conveniently fit under most counters or kitchen units. Some undercounter freezers have robust tops that can be used as additional work surfaces.

For bakeries looking to combine their prep space and refrigeration, our product specialists recommend this 417L worktop freezer.

Bakery refrigerated display case

Display cabinets allow you to entice customers with tempting presentations of your food items while maintaining them at optimal storage temperatures. Bakery display cabinets come in refrigerated, ambient or heated variants.

Refrigerated display fridges store food at chilled temperatures, ideal for showcasing frosted treats like cakes and cupcakes. These feature gentle cooling systems that prevent delicate cakes and pastries from drying. On the other hand, bread and bagels fare well in ambient cabinets. The clear glass or acrylic lids shield against dust, dirt or excess airborne moisture that could impact your products' quality.

Heated displays keep food at elevated temperatures until serving. Maxima’s heated food displays include features like LED lights, a wide temperature range and a built-in humidity reservoir that ensures moist and tasty products.

A bakery offers delicious baked treats, ranging from celebratory cakes to fresh bread, biscuits and cupcakes. Having the correct bakery supplies will aid you in smoothly managing every stage, from preparation to storage, baking and presentation. Whether starting a bakery from the beginning or expanding to meet growing needs, it is certainly easier with high-quality bakery equipment.

Visit our website's Bakery & Cafe page for more information about other kitchen appliances you might need when starting a bakery.

Upgrade your bakery business with Maxima's high-quality equipment today!