AOk, so as of now I have a separate area at home that I do baking in and for the volume that I produce, it has been fine. Next summer we have a major concert event that runs 18 shows moving to our area and I've been asked to be a vendor there. I jumped at the chance BUT I would like to find a commercial space to rent out to do the baking in. They have a crowd of 5-6,000 come through on an average night so I'm wanting a space that had more than a double oven to cut down on my baking time. I know I had read before that some people rent out spaces for an hourly fee or by the day but I'm not sure where to start to find a kitchen, who to contact or what kind of pricing to expect? Any advice from people who have used a 3rd party kitchen in the past would be helpful!

i think buying a freezer or several is a better idea and a generator -- and you can sell them afterwards -- what are you going to sell?

AI already have a chest freezer and an additional freezer/fridge for cakes. I would be selling cupcakes and cakepops there.

does 18 shows mean 18 days? spread out over the summer or all together?  i guess that's a dumb question -- of course they'd be spread out -- i don't know -- can you just rent it for the times you need and not have to rent it continuously? i don't know all the particulars it just seems pricey --

if it was me and it was not an all year thing i'd bake my buns off in advance and freeze it -- then do the finishing touches as needed before service --

 i hope you do great and it pays very very well --

AThanks! I'm worried about freezing cupcakes because of the wrappers. My main focus is cakes but I can't pass up this chance, I'm hoping I can make enough to make my little start up business grow grow grow! :).

A18 shows = 18 separate Fridays/Saturdays :)

AI'm with you on the wrapper thing! six of one half a dozen of another --

best to you

AI found the commercial kitchen I will be renting from commercialkitchenforrent.com. The commercial kitchen I'm renting from has 4 commercial size convection ovens, jackpot!! It's actually a catering company that leases out time in their kitchen which is just additional money in their pocket. Other places included restaurants and other bakeries. All rates I have found have been $15-$20/hour. Culinaryincubator.com is another helpful source. However, not sure if it's just a Jersey thing, but I was dumbfounded at how many places advertised as commerical kitchens that I never got a call back from! Literally 7 places at least did not return my call. So keep pushing, keep calling and you will find the right one.

You could also try churches or places like the VFW, American Legion, Elks Lodge etc. a lot of those pales have commercial kitchens since they rent out their banquet halls for big events like weddings. They all should have inspected kitchens, it's more of a matter of size and if they are interested in the extra $$ from renting to you! I did call a few and they were totally fine renting to me, but unfortunately their ovens were too small for the amount I was interested in baking.

Good luck!!

A

Maybe you can bake a couple of batches and freeze/defrost them using different methods? From all that I've read on freezing cupcakes, it sounds like defrosting them completely in an airtight container causes the peeling. I have frozen a few cupcakes and opened the bag after an hour or so and have not had peeling liners.