Exactly what is the process of becoming legal? I will be baking from home and I already have my DBA and my tax ID. But I want to make sure I have everything else. Please Help! TIA
As i do not live in texas i can't say for sure, but from everything I have seen posted on the boards Texas does not allow home bakeries.
They may be a state however that allows a bakery in your home (seperate from living quarters and not your family kitchen) or on your property. I suggest starting with your Health Department to find out the exact requirements in Houston.
If you can't have a home bakery, you would need to rent space in a licensed commercial kitchen (or church kitchen), and you would need to be inspected by the health department in that kitchen.
It's not required, but I strongly recommend getting liability insurance and forming an LLC to protect your personal assets.
If i use my personal kitchen to bake the items and then deliver them from home is it still considered a home bakery?
If i use my personal kitchen to bake the items and then deliver them from home is it still considered a home bakery?
If you are selling them, then yes.
If i use my personal kitchen to bake the items and then deliver them from home is it still considered a home bakery?
Yep. You would need a separate commercial kitchen that can pass inspection to not be considered a home bakery.
To Jasonkraft: so I would have to 2 kitchens in my home and then get the "business kitchen" inspected? Is that what everyone else does? Or do most people on CC have storefront businesses?
You would need to talk to your local health department to determine the requirements for a "business kitchen". Depending on the local rules, you may need a completely separate building or a separate entrance for your business kitchen.
Our business uses a rented commercial kitchen, it's a great way to get started since you typically pay by the hour and there are few startup costs. Google "houston commercial kitchen rental" to see the rental options in your area, it look like Houston has quite a few.
Note that there is a big difference between a rented commercial kitchen and a rented storefront. We pay about $500/month for our rented kitchen, a retail storefront would be $2000-3000/month or more.
I just looked on the Texas Health Deparment Website and it doesn't permit home bakeries. So my question now is directed to Texas Residents: What do you do to become legally licensed? Build an extra kitchen or rent a storefront. Renting a storefront seems like alot of work and too much overhead. But building an extra kitchen seems expensive. All suggestions welcomed. 
I just looked on the Texas Health Deparment Website and it doesn't permit home bakeries. So my question now is directed to Texas Residents: What do you do to become legally licensed? Build an extra kitchen or rent a storefront. Renting a storefront seems like alot of work and too much overhead. But building an extra kitchen seems expensive. All suggestions welcomed.
It really is worth a call tp the local health dept, since your in houston they probably have more strict rules than the state
You would need to talk to your local health department to determine the requirements for a "business kitchen". Depending on the local rules, you may need a completely separate building or a separate entrance for your business kitchen.
Our business uses a rented commercial kitchen, it's a great way to get started since you typically pay by the hour and there are few startup costs. Google "houston commercial kitchen rental" to see the rental options in your area, it look like Houston has quite a few.
Note that there is a big difference between a rented commercial kitchen and a rented storefront. We pay about $500/month for our rented kitchen, a retail storefront would be $2000-3000/month or more.
Right now I'm just making cakes every now and $500 is alot especially when you're not doing it full time.
You would need to talk to your local health department to determine the requirements for a "business kitchen". Depending on the local rules, you may need a completely separate building or a separate entrance for your business kitchen.
Our business uses a rented commercial kitchen, it's a great way to get started since you typically pay by the hour and there are few startup costs. Google "houston commercial kitchen rental" to see the rental options in your area, it look like Houston has quite a few.
Note that there is a big difference between a rented commercial kitchen and a rented storefront. We pay about $500/month for our rented kitchen, a retail storefront would be $2000-3000/month or more.
Right now I'm just making cakes every now and $500 is alot especially when you're not doing it full time.
You also have to remember that Jason is in CA, my guess is that his rental per month is a lot more than what it would be in your area just because it's california. You may also be able to use a churche kitchen and have it inspected, typically these kitchens are free to members or have a much smaller fee.
Have you had a chance to call your health dept?
Right now I'm just making cakes every now and $500 is alot especially when you're not doing it full time.
To clarify - we get about 40 hours per month for our $500, some tenants of the kitchen only use a few hours per month. If you go hour by hour it's more expensive (~$25/hour), but depending on where you are even hourly kitchen rentals can be in the $10-15/hour range.
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