Morning everyone out there in cake land!

I'm wondering how professional bakers bring their cold products up to room temperature in a reasonable amount of time. I'm aware of letting stuff sit at room temperature, lukewarm oven, warm water for eggs, microwave, but how do bakers do it on a large scale. Is there some sort of appliance that can be used for this process, on the same line as a bread proofer?

I've search the internet and have come up with no answers. If anyone can shed some light on this, i'd appreciate it!!!

ASpeaking for myself, I don't bother. 50 years of baking, nearly 1k wedding cakes. Never had time for that nonsense - IMO

AWhen I used to work in a production kitchen, no we don't let the butter or eggs come to room temp before we use it. Who got time for that? But then, we have big Hobart mixers for creaming and stuff. I only get to use a bread proofer during culinary school.

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@thecakewitch wow. This is so amazing to me, it's such an eye opener! It makes me wonder what else i'm doing in vain. Thanks for your feedback. 

AWe don't use anything special either. When working in a commercial kitchen, efficiency is important. So, when I make a trip to the walk-in, I'll grab all 40 pounds of butter that I might need. Some of it sits out, some of it gets used right away. Commercial mixers are made to handle big, heavy loads of work, so cold butter is not an issue. That being said, there are a few recipes where temperature is important, and I work with properly temped ingredients. That is a commercial job though, and is different than a cake at home. A cake at home really should be made per recipe directions.

When I was baking wedding cakes, I was mostly working with a 20qt Hobart mixer.  A couple extras minutes in that thing and everything's mixed just fine.  Even with the little 6 qt KAs, I just let the butter roll an extra minute and its fine.  And I ONLY bake from scratch.

When I was in full cake producton I never had time for nonsense.  three to seven wedding cakes a weekend.  Now that its not a full time job any more, I won't take the time for nonsense.

I did have to melt some butter to fold into Madeline batter last night.  But that only took 20 seconds in the microwave. . .
 

Yaknow, even when I make macarons, for every recipe that swears by room temp infredients, I'll show you one that says it doesn't make a difference.  I honestly think that technique it most important.

@IAmPamCakes Got it. That makes sense. I can't wait to be in a commercial kitchen with a walk in full of butter in the near future . I also believe that efficiency is important. Right now i'm operating under the Cottage Law. I've seen videos where small bakeries that close late and open early mention letting their butter and eggs sit out over night in a cool place. I guess this is the route I will have to take until i'm in a commercial kitchen with more powerful equipment. This explains why I wasn't able to find any resources online regarding this matter.

Thanks again ladies for your wisdom! So helpful. 

@leah_s  i feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get my things to come up to room temperature in a commercial kitchen that charges me by the hour. Now I know i can pretty much just rock and roll. "I never had time for nonsense." <<<Haha I love it!!

AYeah I bake from scratch and honestly the only thing I let come to room temp is butter and that's only cause I take it all out at one time for various purposes. The rest of if is cold. I'm not on a large scale just yet, but I worked at a bakery for 2 years and that's how we did it.

If you don't let the butter come up like Leah said just let it spin another minute. I don't sift either!! We did that in pastry school and I didn't think it was necessary so when I got on my own I stopped.

@morganchampagne Sifting is a pain. Usually I aerate by using a big whisk. The only time i have to sift is for my crusting buttercreams. I haven't found a way to get around that one yet. Wait....maybe I can put the confection sugar in the food processor to get rid of any lumps or bumps.  Hmmmm

Best thread EVER for sharing how real-world bakers simplify the job.

AI keep eggs in the fridge and take them out on trays of 30 at a time and leave at room temp. Butter stays out in 5kg blocks and if its too cold I "defrost" in the microwave when I go to use it if necessary. I sift 50lbs of flour into big plastic bins and never sift again (its for checking for bugs more than anything else). Icing sugar is never sifted, that stuff gets everywhere, and it takes forever. But mainly planning ahead what you might need the next day helps so you get stuff out the fridge before going home at night.

I only found them once in the bakery 50lb sacks, and it was enough for me, I can do without the added protein thanks! It did happen to me at home once too though, the grossest thing ever, tiny little bugs that then turned into moths, ewwwww. I think they are called weevils, not sure. 

I don't have a machine, no. Just a bucket of fondant to sit on and a strong arm to sift with...

@Dayti Wow...that would freak me out. I've seen videos of people biting into candy bars and worms coming out. Supposedly The Food Defect Action Levels regulation/FDA allows a certain amount of bug content. The candy is safe to eat within the expiration date but after that the bugs manifest.

I'll never look at a candy bar or flour the same again 

I will *never* forget a day in culinary school, when I looked over and saw a sweet young thing pushing veg shortening through a sifter.  I looked at her quizzically and ask what she was doing.  She responded with "The recipe says to sift ALL ingredients."  I said "You have to assume it means all DRY ingredients."  She said, "That's not what it says."

::sigh::

No one could convince her otherwise.

Bwhahaha, I wonder what she is doing now......