Hi All!
How do you guys figure out how long it takes you to do a cake? I have the Cakeboss software and it has been such a valueable tool for me, but when it ask me how many hours it takes to do the cake, i get stumped. I am very slow when I am doing cakes and often get pulled away for whatever reason, so I never really know how much time I spend on it.
Should I invest in a stop watch to figure out my time on a particular cake until I am comfortable with guestimating my time on future orders before giving them a quote?
If anyone can give me suggestions on how you figure out your time spent on a cake so you can charge for your time in the price of the cake. Thanks a bunch
Make a basic cake. It will give you an idea. You don't have to get a stop watch, just a clock, pen and paper. Chart how much time it takes you to prep, bake, clean up, make icing, and decorate.
You don't have to have exacts on every cake, you just need a basic idea to go off up. Also you will learn ways to speed things up. While the cakes are baking you can always make icing, while the cakes are cooling you can always start on decorations that can be made ahead, kills two birds with one stone kinda thing.
It's hard for any one person to tell someone else how long it takes to do something. You really just have to play with it and get a basic idea to work off up. It may take me 10 mins to crumb coat, fill and base ice a cake, while it make take another person 30 mins to do that. Someone in a comerical kitchen can bake faster, because they generally have large equipment, they can do more batches of icing at once, bake more cakes at one, probably have more cabinet space than at home bakers do.
thanks Texas Sugar. I know eventually will get faster. I'll try your suggestion on keeping track of time to kind of give me a estimate of how long it takes me to do a cake.
Make a basic cake. It will give you an idea. You don't have to get a stop watch, just a clock, pen and paper. Chart how much time it takes you to prep, bake, clean up, make icing, and decorate.
You don't have to have exacts on every cake, you just need a basic idea to go off up. Also you will learn ways to speed things up. While the cakes are baking you can always make icing, while the cakes are cooling you can always start on decorations that can be made ahead, kills two birds with one stone kinda thing.
It's hard for any one person to tell someone else how long it takes to do something. You really just have to play with it and get a basic idea to work off up. It may take me 10 mins to crumb coat, fill and base ice a cake, while it make take another person 30 mins to do that. Someone in a comerical kitchen can bake faster, because they generally have large equipment, they can do more batches of icing at once, bake more cakes at one, probably have more cabinet space than at home bakers do.
I feel like you always say what I am thinking TexasSugar - and I'm jealous of your name too!
OP - I have started keeping notes on everything I do to help me speed up. How many batches of this recipe will fit in my KA bowl? 3. And I have jotted the measurements times 3 on the side, etc... I have also converted most of my recipes to weight instead of measuring as it saves me time both mixing and with clean up. I have a kitchen timer that I have used that allows me to start and stop it to track my time as well. You may have one or the one on your microwave might do it...
I'm sure there's a thread on here somewhere with time-saving tips. If not, we should start one!
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