Starting a home bakery can seem expensive but you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started. Start with just the essential home bakery equipment and you can always add to it as you become more established and need to fulfil more orders. This guide includes everything you need to start out including tins, mixers, scales, decorating equipment and packaging.
This post contains affiliate links, marked Ad. If you buy something through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
TL;DR
A quick list of equipment –
- Stand mixer or hand mixer
- Weighing scales
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Silicone spatulas and scrapers
- Whisks
- Baking trays
- Cake and cupcake tins
- Cupcake cases and baking paper
- Cooling racks
- Piping bags and tips
- Cake scrapers
- Palette knives
- Thermometer (for oven, fridge and caramel)
- Cake boards and cards
- Food safe storage boxes
- Packaging including cake boxes and cupcake boxes
- Labels and stickers
Essential Home Bakery Equipment
1. Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
A stand mixer can take a lot of the hard work out of baking. Budget is a big consideration when choosing a stand mixer but other things to consider include bowl capacity (is it big enough to mix the volume you need?), availability/cost of replacement parts, the attachments you get with it or can buy separately and the speed settings. I have a KitchenAid Artisan (Ad) that I have had for 11 years. They can be an expensive option to start out with but in my opinion it has been worth it since it has lasted for 11 years. KitchenAid has a good repair service which I have had to use once where you can send it off for repair and the Artisan has a 5 year guarantee where repairs are free in this period. The 4.8L is plenty big enough for starting out but they do a bigger KitchenAid Artisan 5.6L (Ad) that you might want if you plan on doing big batches once you are more established.
A hand mixer is a cheaper alternative which does require a little more input from you but the end result is just as good.
2. Weighing Scales
Good weighing scales are important for baking as to get perfect bakes you need very accurate weighing of ingredients. I have used Accuweight scales (Ad) for many years because they are affordable and reliable. I have only had to replace them once over 10 years and I find that batteries last quite a long time even with daily use.
3. Mixing Bowls
I like nesting mixing bowls because it is good to have a few so that you can use more than one at a time without having to constantly wash them up but they take up less space when storing them. Personally I like to have metal bowls as they are easy to clean. I do also have a plastic bowl because some things cannot go in a metal bowl (for example if soaking cashew nuts I use a plastic bowl as the metal bowl turns them purple).
4. Measuring Spoons
These are really great for getting your tablespoon and teaspoon quantities very accurate. I’d recommend a set that have at least 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp and 1 tbsp.
5. Silicone Spatulas and Scrapers
I have been on a search for the best spatula as I kept buying them and they were breaking with the amount I used them. The best ones I have found are the ones with red handles that would be used in a commercial kitchen like this one (Ad). I have had the same one for 4 years and it is still as good as new and shows no sign of the spatula coming away from the handle which is what I found happens with many others after a while.
6. Whisks
A good balloon whisk is a handy tool to have that has many uses. I like the metal ones that aren’t coated in silicone as sometimes the silicone can start to come away from the whisk. If you have a stand mixer it is likely that you have a balloon whisk attachment in which case stick with that (it takes a lot of the hard work out of whisking!)
7. Baking Trays
A good baking tray or three is one of the best investments you can make. Some things to consider are whether it is dishwasher safe, how many do you need and what size. I would recommend getting the biggest size that will fit on a shelf in your oven.
8. Cupcake and Cake Tins
I like to have a 12 hole cupcake tin for each shelf in my oven and I definitely prefer the larger and deeper muffin tins as opposed to bun tins or fairy cake tins as the deeper cupcake tins make nice deep cupcakes which look really good.
For cake tins I would recommend only having one or two round sizes to start out with. Offering too many cake size options when you are starting out can make things difficult for you. When I started my business I offered 6 inch and 8 inch round cakes in either 2, 3 or 4 layers which gives customers plenty of options for serving sizes. This meant I needed four 6 inch tins and four 8 inch tins. I prefer the less deep tins but that is just personal preference.
For square cake tins I really like the ones that have adjustable sides and extra dividers like this one (Ad). It means that you can have one tin but you can make many different sizes of cake. I find these great for traybakes because you can make one or two batches in the same tray and you can also use the tray on its own as a large baking tray. I started out with one of these and now I have three.
Some other tins you might like to get depending on your business model are loaf tins, loose bottom deep cake tins or mini loaf tins.
9. Cupcake Cases and Baking Paper
I like to buy cupcake cases a few hundred at a time because I know I will use them. Culpitt is a trusted baking brand and they sell 250 Culpitt white cupcake cases (Ad) which are deep and good for nice looking cupcakes. I find that some cupcake cases you can buy in supermarkets are not as deep and therefore aren’t very good for making sellable cupcakes.
I usually buy baking paper from home bargains as I think it is the cheapest near me. It is something that you will use a lot of so pick a brand that you can get easily where you are.
10. Cooling Racks
I like cooling racks that can be stacked to save space on the counter and when in storage. I have something very similar to this 3 tier cooling rack (Ad) and it has lasted me a long time and is very handy for space saving.
11. Piping Bags and Tips
I like to use reusable piping bags because I want my business to be more eco friendly but you can get single use ones so that you don’t need to worry about washing them up. For piping tips, I would suggest getting a small set of piping tips to start with. My first set was this Wilton 1M, 2D and 2A (Ad) set which has a closed star tip, open star tip and round tip and this was all I really needed for decorating cupcakes and cakes. You can add piping tips as you go if you need a special one for an order.
12. Cake Scrapers
A tall cake scraper is really important for decorating buttercream cakes. I have had the same one for 8 years and it is the only one I have ever needed. It should be taller than the tallest cake you will make.
13. Palette Knives
In my opinion, the only palette knives you need is a large, straight palette knife, a small, straight palette knife and a small offset palette knife.
14. Thermometers
There are a few differrent types of thermometers you will need to consider. Firstly, a thermometer to measure your fridge temperature is essential for food safety and hygiene and you will need to record your fridge temp regularly (for more on that see my post about starting a home bakery business). Other thermometers you may need are one for meat if you use meat, a sugar thermometer if you are making caramel or tempering chocolate and an oven thermometer to get a more accurate oven temperature reading.
15. Cake Boards and Cards
Cake boards are important because a good quality cake board will give a cake a really sturdy base. You can get them in many colours and thicknesses. For a single tier cake you will probably want your cake board to be a couple of inches larger than your cake so it can be moved easily and is more easily transported in a box. I like to keep a stock of thick 8 inch cake boards for my 6 inch cakes and thick 10 inch cake boards for my 8 inch cakes. If you are making tiered cakes you will also want thinner cake cards that are the same size as the cake tier.
16. Food Safe Storage Boxes
I have a set of large clip lid food containers for storing cakes and cupcakes. The ones I have can fit an 8 inch cake in or 9 cupcakes. The size you need will depend on the size of the cake or number of cupcakes you want to store.
17. Packaging
Depending on what you are selling you may need a selection of different sized cupcake boxes, cake boxes and other packaging. Here is a list of the basics that I have –
- 1, 4, 6 and 12 hole cupcake boxes (Ad)
- Wedding cake boxes (Ad) (these are boxes with separate lids) in different sizes
- Sweetie Bags (Ad) for brownie slices, cookies etc. (These come in different sizes)
When buying cake boxes don’t forget to factor in the size of you cake board.
18. Labels and Stickers
Some labels are required for food hygiene standards such as Allergen Labels (Ad). Other labels you might want are branded labels so you can personalise your packaging.
Opening a Home Bakery Soon?
Check out my post on everything you need to know about opening a home bakery business.