Hi everyone,

I'm just getting started doing cakes(for family/friends). I've been doing them for about 6 months now. Wondering what the laws are as far as home baking goes. I've heard both ways. And I'm so confused as to what the law actually is..


Thanks in advance.

I'm from WI and I'm pretty sure they're pretty strict about what you can do from home. A lady in New Berlin did our wedding cake out of her house, but in order to be licensed she had to build a commercial kitchen in her basement and there were lots of requirements for her to pass her health inspection. I'll be interested to hear what you find out- where in WI are you?

bump.

Check with your local city and county. I needed to have a separate commercial kitchen in my home in order to have a license. I started with the city to make sure I could even do a business out of my house then when that was a go I went to the county. From there they gave me the Health Departments info and everything else was handled through them (the HD).

I do not think that in WI you can legally bake from your one and only kitchen. When I asked about this from my HD back in 2007 he told me he has never known it to be okay to do so in WI.

I hope that helps a little???

A little. I'll have to look more into it. Maybe that's why I keep getting that it goes both ways. I'll have to do some investigating. Thanks!

Love2makecakes is correct. I don't believe there is any place in WI where you can take money for cakes baked in your own kitchen, it must be a separate kitchen that can be closed off from the rest of the house. Each county has its own inspectors and policies, for instance I did not need a grease trap, but there are other counties that require it. If you have well water, you need to get your well tested too.

I'm in Brown County and I have an inspector, and put the commercial kitchen in my basement- but I had a brand new house, so that wasn't all that difficult.
There is a lady a few roads over who converted one of her bedrooms.

Licensing for me costs $400 or so and then there is insurance, which is for me about $580/yr. Also, the licensing is NOT retroactive, so try to position yourself to begin the business in May or June, so you can get your money's worth from the license. If you need any other advice, you can pm me.

Its definitely a commitment, but for us it was worth it.