Those of you who have a cake business, what kind of equipment do you prefer to use or are they all about the same. I am thinking of starting an out of home cake business and was wondering about start up costs and equipment.

First make sure you live in a state, county that allows home based bakeries. If so make sure you do what is necessary to get licensed.

As far as equipment search ebay & craigslist for restaurant equip. that is on sale. Or if your able to use stuff in your own kitchen, then the only equipment you will need is your cake dec. supplies and tools. There are lots of places online and usually locally that you can purchase these things, but I am sure you already know that...LOL!

Depending on what cake tools you need would be the best place to start. You can get really great priced bench equipment from Decopac dot com. If you are interested in doing the same cakes the grocery stores offer they sell the kits. Bakery Crafts is also a great source.

Having good pans is a must...I prefer Magic Line myself. I used Wilton's for a while, but I like these much better.

Let's see...a turntable, stainless steel table to work on (got mine at Costco), baker's rolling rack (Hubert or GalaSource) since I do a lot of cookies and like to put them out of the way when they come out of the oven...I used to have the sheets laying all over the house, lol! A good mixer is nice, like Kitchenaid Pro 600. Love it! There's a whole list of misc things that I would add too, like a large desk calendar, business phone, and database to keep track of your expenses and earnings.

Ummm...that's all I can think of for now. Chances are, if you are able to do a bakery from home, they will let you use your non-commercial appliances so I wouldn't worry 'bout that right now. Although, some places that require you to have a separate kitchen have higher standards for your equipment. Your city/town will let you know, and also the Dept of Health or Agriculture depending on where you live.