Does anyone know if one can bake and sell cakes out of their home in WA State? If not, where could one "rent" a kitchen? I'm in Olympia, WA.

Thanks in advance for all your advice. I truly love this site!!

According to the sticky at the top of this forum, Washington does not license home bakeries. That certainly isn't very clear from the research I've done on state websites, but my Wilton instructor confirmed it. That doesn't mean that people don't sell from their homes, but they are doing so illegally and are exposing themselves to fines and liability. An option that I am just starting to explore is renting time from licensed kitchens in places like churches and lodges. There are also small business incubators out there and some of them have kitchen co-ops. Up here, community colleges do a lot to help small businesses so you might check into that as well.
What I would love to do is find a little commercial kitchen of my own and sub-let time to other bakers. I found one a couple months ago but it wasn't quite close enough to my home to make it feasible.
Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions! I love the idea of a co-op kitchen.

From what I've researched, we can't bake/sell out of our homes unless there is another kitchen strickly for this purpose (away from family, pets, family meals, etc.). What I'm wondering now is, could another (obviously smaller) home be purchased as investment propert and the cakes be made and sold out of there if that is the only thing being "cooked" in that kitchen? Just a thought.

Actually, on page 11 of the 'States that License Home Bakeries' thread, LaSombra said that in Lewis county she was approved to work out of her home.

In all my research I've found that it's sometimes easier for people in rural areas to get their home kitchens licensed. I don't know why. Maybe the officials in the larger metro areas just don't want to deal with it.

I have looked into King, Kitsap, and Pierce counties (I am from WA originally, ,lol) and they are all 'No' counties. Best thing to do is call your local health department and ask what the regulations are and if they know of any rental kitchens.

srski, if you're still out there, I just found this great resource:

http://agr.wa.gov/foodanimal/foodprocessors/licensehandbook.htm

Hi srski! I'm in oly too! Do you take the Wilton classes? Anyways, if you are looking to share a rental kitchen with someone, I might be willing to look into that with you. If you are interested, pm me and I'll give you my number.

Thanks everyone! I love this site!! I've been out of town over the weekend so this is the first I've been able to respond.

Thank you thegirly! That is a great website I'll have to read up on!

Thank you kelleym! I'll be calling them when I get the chance.

Hey sugarbakerqueen! I'll email you soon!!

I'll post more later when I have more time.

srski

There is a place in Seattle, right across from the Aquarium downtown that does just that, renting the kitchen to people who need it. If you want they can even bake your cakes and you just decorate them. The only thing you need to do is have a health food certificate but you don't need to be licenced because they are.

I can't remember how much it is per hour but when I get home I'll go see if I can find the name of the place.

Good to hear about some decorators in WA.

Inma