Читать книгу Start & Run a Home-Based Food Business - Mimi Shotland Fix - Страница 6

If you have a lot of storage space in your home, your biggest problem may be organization. Designate and label certain areas or shelves as “Business.” Everything should be dated and labeled with contents.

Let anyone using the kitchen know your rules — this includes guests who might wander in while you’re not around and help themselves to the rolls and salad you’ve just prepared for the next day’s delivery.

If you don’t have enough storage, look around your home for creative ways to turn unused space into business space. Your health inspector visits many other home-based food businesses, and might have suggestions for unusual storage ideas he or she has observed.

Nonfood items such as packaging materials can be stored anywhere. Perhaps the dining room can hold a cabinet or shelves; use the top shelf in a linen closet; or keep a few things on a shelf under your table. Food that’s been opened needs to stay in the kitchen, pantry, or dining room, but unopened bags and boxes of ingredients can be left in their original containers and stored elsewhere. Be careful that you don’t forget what you have and buy too much; an inventory list can be helpful but you must remember to keep it updated or it won’t be of any help.

It is also important that you do not store food near moisture or in unsanitary surroundings, even if the packages are sealed. I walked into a friend’s bathroom and saw five bags of sugar in her bathtub. She said there’d never been a problem but the potential is there. Note that a health inspector would not approve of this situation, so it’s not a good idea to store food products in the bathroom.

Never store food directly on the floor; it’s unsanitary and a health code violation in every locality I’m aware of. Check with your health inspector to see how many inches of clearance above the floor is needed and make or buy small pallets on which to stack your goods. Then you can easily clean under the pallets with a broom or vacuum without having to move everything. Garden centers and discount stores have plant trolleys that can be used as pallets. They roll, can hold a lot of weight, and work well for small spaces.

Preferably, keep all your small baking equipment (e.g., measuring cups, spoons, spatulas) in a central basket or tub. Do the same with the small cans, jars, and boxes of ingredients such as salt, baking powder, baking soda, and extracts. When you’re ready to work, all you do is take out the tub or basket of tools and the container for equipment.

Having lots of work and storage space is ideal but if you have only a small place, you must be creative. Think about the kinds of foods you can produce that take up less production space. If counter and table space is tight, get a folding table or two. If the refrigerator is small, stay away from recipes requiring refrigeration of ingredients, or substitute shelf-stable ingredients. Instead of whole milk, use the less expensive powdered milk; buttermilk also comes in powdered form; or use water, coffee, juices, or teas. Limit your product line to items that use the same basic ingredients to save space. See Chapter 11, section 4., for more information about multifunctional recipes.