I read a number of posts talking about the cost savings og using Bulk mixes in my bakery. I'm just not seeing it. I buy 18.25 oz box of Pillsbury White mix for $1.00. I'm not seeing any of the bulk wholesalers coming anywhere close to that. Am I missing something?
You might be forgetting the fact that grocery store cake mixes require eggs, oil and other ingredients. Most commercial bulk mixes only require water. It also takes way less time if you are making alot of cakes, I can't imagine opening all those little boxes! lol
You might be forgetting the fact that grocery store cake mixes require eggs, oil and other ingredients. Most commercial bulk mixes only require water. It also takes way less time if you are making alot of cakes, I can't imagine opening all those little boxes! lol
Definitely! What I see on this site is that TIME is never calculated as part of cost and that frustrates me to no end!
I began using cartons of eggs in the last year or two. To be able to pour out a certain number of cups of this carton'd-egg instead of cracking open 56 eggs? Priceless!!!!!!!! (And since I mixed in huge batches, I knew that with so many cake mixes, I could just pour in 2 cartons of these eggs .... even LESS measuring!)
my problem was always the recipe issue. I could probably use the 50lb pillsbury mix and come off doing better than using box mixes, but adding the yogurt, sour cream, buttermilk, etc to the formulas mystifies me. (if I had the time to take to experiment, that would probably solve that problem 
I would love to see some doctored recipes using the just add water and oil mixes. I have a 10qt mixer, and would love to hear some expert suggestions on how to "richen" the finished product so-to-speak.
You might be forgetting the fact that grocery store cake mixes require eggs, oil and other ingredients. Most commercial bulk mixes only require water. It also takes way less time if you are making alot of cakes, I can't imagine opening all those little boxes! lol
Definitely! What I see on this site is that TIME is never calculated as part of cost and that frustrates me to no end!
I began using cartons of eggs in the last year or two. To be able to pour out a certain number of cups of this carton'd-egg instead of cracking open 56 eggs? Priceless!!!!!!!! (And since I mixed in huge batches, I knew that with so many cake mixes, I could just pour in 2 cartons of these eggs .... even LESS measuring!)
This is why I am grateful for my experience as a pastry chef for a catering company, and all of my other professional cooking experience- prior to getting started in cake decorating. Thinking in terms of time and labor as money is 2nd nature to me. Labor always costs more than product. Especially in baking where the ingredients are realtively inexpensive (as compared to savory cooking)
I meant to add that I just talked to a bakery supply place and was told they have a mix that only requires water and is very moist, but sturdy enough for stacked cakes. The rep also said they have a fondant (which I've never heard of) that can be refrigerated without sweating when it comes out of the cooler! He is sending me samples, I will try them out and let you guys know my verdict. The "not sweating" thing might not be applicable everywhere- I'm in Colorado! It happens here too. People usually complain more about fondant drying out too quickly here. "Challenge" is filmed here and the competitors complain about the dry air reeking havoc. It's all I know! I did spend some time in Louisiana though and I know humidity has it's own set of problems. Anyway- soryy for going a little off topic. I may have had too much caffeine today!
.... but sturdy enough for stacked cakes.
Pretty much ANY cake is "sturdy enough" for stacked cakes since it's the support system supporting the cakes and not the cakes themselves. You can make a stacked cake of Jello with the right support system.
.... but sturdy enough for stacked cakes.
Pretty much ANY cake is "sturdy enough" for stacked cakes since it's the support system supporting the cakes and not the cakes themselves. You can make a stacked cake of Jello with the right support system.
These "sturdy enough for stacked cakes" always bother me. 
Like Indy said "you can stack a cake of Jello with the right support system" (I always love the Jello reference..btw)
Cake doesn't support cake and I think this is where people that are "new" to caking get confused when trying to stack a cake. They are told that they need to use a cake that is "sturdy" enough to stack so they assume that if the cake is sturdy it can be stacked never considering a support system. Just a thought. 
I know this isn't even CLOSE to your point, but how pretty would a 'cake' made of Jell-O be? If you did each flavor like a half inch, pretty striped round tiers of wiggly goodness!
i did one of those one year for a diabetic aunt. made it entirely with sugar free jello, complete rainbow from red to purple, was awesome. for each color layer it had an accompaning layer that had been mixed with whipped cream or something like that. and because i dont care for the after taste of sugar free jello from the box i used apple juice instead of water when i made all the jello. it was time consuming but i loved it.
so it was like red, pink, orange,light orange, yellow, light yellow, green, light green,blue, light blue, purple, lavender etc.
When using mixes-put the liquids in first then the dry mixes.
Liquids work better slightly heated.(Scratch Baking)
Misen Place-get everything together and measured out (scaled) before you turn the mixer on.
I hope this helps.
Happy Baking and Decorating,
Chef Angie
the first note i learned this the hard way the very first time i made a wasc cake from a wasc recipe i found on here, i did not notice till after i had measured everything out (premeasured see!! lol) and started mixing in a large bowl (love that huge silver bowl) and ended up with lumps lol. learned the 2nd time to mix all the liquids in the mixer first then add all the dry ingredients in (that had been premeasured and mixed in a seperate bowl) worked better. i too learned a long time ago to let eggs come to room temp before using them.
that IS very good info for anyone to keep in mind if they don't already hehe
I read a number of posts talking about the cost savings og using Bulk mixes in my bakery. I'm just not seeing it. I buy 18.25 oz box of Pillsbury White mix for $1.00. I'm not seeing any of the bulk wholesalers coming anywhere close to that. Am I missing something?
oops post #3 lol sorry folks.
pillsbury for a dollar? i'm envious. locally i'm lucky to find it here for less then 2.
I read a number of posts talking about the cost savings og using Bulk mixes in my bakery. I'm just not seeing it. I buy 18.25 oz box of Pillsbury White mix for $1.00. I'm not seeing any of the bulk wholesalers coming anywhere close to that. Am I missing something?
oops post #3 lol sorry folks.
pillsbury for a dollar? i'm envious. locally i'm lucky to find it here for less then 2.
Betty Crocker ..... Walmart ..... 98 cents...... everyday.
i try to stock up when i can get there but i'm lucking to get to walmart once a month let alone more then t hat. usualy its every two months. GenGen, I do a jello layered thing like that where you do one layer orange, then the next layer orange made with half water, half yogurt. Then you keep layering different flavors. I love it SO much, but I have never thought of making it into a sort of tiered thing like a cake. Sort of free-standing. That would be SO cool!
IndyDebi and Mamawrobin-
I actually don't know about the stacking issue and shouldn't have said anything. Most of the stacked cakes I've done were with commercial mixes or a scratch recipe. I did do my sister's wedding cake with grocery store mixes (I don't remember which brand) with no issue. Grocery store mixes just seem "tender" and have to be handled more gently during torting and such. I think I only split my sister's cake into two layers (instead of 3-4 like usual) because I was scared to do more. That was years ago, though and I got over it. I just hear people talking about it alot as a concern and the sales rep brought it up. He referred to it as a "cream cake" mix, and that many of Colorado's upscale wedding cake shops were using it. Although you could make a cake with Jello (holds it's shape!) I'm not sure about pudding- and that's what "cream cake mix" sounded like to me! You know, like it wouldn't even come out of the pan in one piece? Anyway, I can't wait to try out the sample he's sending.
Oh yeah and- the rep said $60 for a 50lb bag! Sounds good to me! I've been paying $60 for 6-5lb boxes of Baker's Source from Sysco. It's ok, but usually needs some help in the moistness department. So I'm looking for something better... I will let you guys know what I find out. ~Rachel
I read a number of posts talking about the cost savings og using Bulk mixes in my bakery. I'm just not seeing it. I buy 18.25 oz box of Pillsbury White mix for $1.00. I'm not seeing any of the bulk wholesalers coming anywhere close to that. Am I missing something?
oops post #3 lol sorry folks.
pillsbury for a dollar? i'm envious. locally i'm lucky to find it here for less then 2.
Pillsbury is .88 cents at my Wal-Mart, Betty Crocker is .98 cents and DH is now $1.12. I remember a post someone made the other day saying that they had to pay $3.29 for cake mix. I can't remember where they were located but they were in the U.S. It just surprises me how the price can be so much lower in some areas than others. I would definitely bake from scratch if I had to pay $3.29 for a cake mix.
Pillsbury is .88 cents at my Wal-Mart, Betty Crocker is .98 cents and DH is now $1.12. I remember a post someone made the other day saying that they had to pay $3.29 for cake mix. I can't remember where they were located but they were in the U.S. It just surprises me how the price can be so much lower in some areas than others. I would definitely bake from scratch if I had to pay $3.29 for a cake mix.
It's weird, the WalMart where I shop has Duncan Hines Brownies for 75 cents a box, at my mom's local one (40 miles away or so) they are twice that price. I can buy bulk cremini and baby bella mushrooms there for $1.49lb, she pays $2.98lb. It's not that far away, but there a few huge differences like that! Duncan Hines used to be cheap, usually around $1 normally, then would always go on sale for $.88 and I would stock up! Now they are $1.16 and haven't gone on sale in months since that price popped up. Same thing with OM Hotdogs... last year they were $1 and would go on sale for $.88 ALL the time, I'd buy a ton. Now, they are easily $2.50 or more a package, and go on 'sale' for $1.98. 
Pillsbury makes mix in 50 lb bags that virtually all of the bakeries around here uses.
We bake from scratch and our ingredient cost less than if we used cake mix.
Cake mixes save money in a bakery environment because you can hire a baker who doesn't need to be able to do anything other than use the scale. You don't need a skilled baker for $15.00. You can hire somebody who can both bake and do dishes for $8.00 an hour, and labor is where all of the real expense in a custom cake is.
Its cheaper? I bake only from scratch also but in analyzing my costs, I have found my scratch ingredients to be more expensive than boxed mixes. I am only a hobby baker right now but plan to go into business sometime in the next few years so I wanted to get an idea what my costs are. Am I missing something, snarky? Thanks!
They have a crazy price. After shipping, it's about 50 cents a pound.
http://www.classicfoodspecialties.com/baking_mixes.htm
Actually, looking at the website with shipping for me it comes to a total of $60.70, which breaks down to ~$2.02 per lb. Where did you get the 50 cents/lb from? Now I did price the white cake, maybe you priced something else?
They have a crazy price. After shipping, it's about 50 cents a pound.
http://www.classicfoodspecialties.com/baking_mixes.htm
Actually, looking at the website with shipping for me it comes to a total of $60.70, which breaks down to ~$2.02 per lb. Where did you get the 50 cents/lb from? Now I did price the white cake, maybe you priced something else?
Yah, for Devil's Food, a 30# case is almost $50 and that doesn't include shipping. But to be honest, I did get much father than the jello wrestling jello page. 
I know what I'm doing for Halloween this year!!! 
They have a crazy price. After shipping, it's about 50 cents a pound.
http://www.classicfoodspecialties.com/baking_mixes.htm
Actually, looking at the website with shipping for me it comes to a total of $60.70, which breaks down to ~$2.02 per lb. Where did you get the 50 cents/lb from? Now I did price the white cake, maybe you priced something else?
Yah, for Devil's Food, a 30# case is almost $50 and that doesn't include shipping. But to be honest, I did get much father than the jello wrestling jello page.
I know what I'm doing for Halloween this year!!!
I managed a bakery for 18 years and we used Pillsbury exclusively, the 50# bags. Cake mixes are cost effective and offer consistency especially when you have several different bakers. The quality is excellent and provides a moist delicious product. They are also very versatile as you can adapt to many other flavor options without sacrificing the quality. I found it to be a lot moister than a lot of the scratch cakes that I have tasted.
I'm a real nut about additives in my food, and cake mixes often have propylene glycol (anti-freeze) and all sorts of dyes, etc. And honestly, I paid $3 a slice a few years ago for my daughter's cake and later found out it was a box mix, and I would never go back. I wanted a cake with excellent, fresh ingredients from a skilled baker, not a box mix cake filled with chemicals.
http://www.organicauthority.com/health/whats-actually-in-boxed-cake-mixes-anyway.html
I think this is what separates me from the local, high volume bakery.
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