HI everyone,

I have a bit of an odd situation.  I live in a single wide mobile home with a small kitchen that has very few drawers and not a lot of cabinets.  How do you guys store all your tools?  At the moment I have some in a spare bedroom (aka..the junk room) and my utility room as well because I do have a bit of shelving in there.  When it comes time to use something it takes me forever to find what all I actually need.  What do y'all recommend for some organization.  There's got to be a better way, rather than what I'm doing now.  Any and all help is greatly appreciated.  By the way HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I remember this topic being discussed at least once before - many yr ago.  What I remember is one poster telling us the she kept I believe her cake mixes (at lest some ingredient or equipment) in her dryer!

Shelving, shelving, shelving &/or clear plastic bins stacked up.  Maybe stick a list of what is in that 'tub' on it so you can remember and eliminate some of the searching. 

I use a couple of those clear rubbermaid containers and also the ones that have 3 pull out drawers in them. I take a sharpie and write on the outside of each drawer. I keep tips and bags in one drawer, all color gels, markers, luster dust and paint brushes etc in another. Fondant tools, razors, pins in another drawer. Etc Etc... Store them in a kitchen cabinet or in the top of a closet/pantry. When you work on the cakes pull them out and have them out ready to go. 

Thank y'all sooo much!  I'm going to work on today.  Happy Baking

My best advice, shelves and drawers, small containers. The less time you have to spend re-arranging stacked bins, the happier you will be.

I have a cabinet with doors from Home Depot for my pans, and one for shoe box size tubs (flower cutters/tools, other tools, cookie cutters), tip boxes, and chocolate. I have 2 plastic storage things that have drawers for all the other stuff like silicone molds, dusts, . I tried stacked crates/tubs but I HATED having to unstack and re-stack when I needed things in different containers.

Approach to successful storage is important too.

Organization: shelves aren't much use if items are not well organized.  I organize by:

1. Frequency of use (less used items on higher shelves, back of drawers etc.,)

2. Type (preparation, baking, decorating, etc.)

3. Season (sort cutters, packaging, etc by holiday/occasion)

86: Routinely donate, recycle, or toss all those "what was I thinking when I bought this" items.  And fight, fight, fight the urge to purchase that cherry pitter, strawberry huller, biscotti pan, or emoji poop shaped cake pan.

Streamline technique: learning and adopting commercial baking techniques produces better quality goods, saves time, and eliminates a lot of equipment.  For instance, baking cakes in jelly roll pans, then cutting layers from the sheet cake.  Using this techique, I can have a cake mixed, baked, and on the cooling rack in just under 30 mins.  

More time saved since cake layers are level and the perfect height (no leveling, no torting.  I can't remember the last time I used a cake pan or torted a cake with my serrated, long as a sword fat daddio cake knife.  There's an avalanche of unnecessary equipment marketed to home bakers courtesy of Wilton, Sur La Table, and William Sonoma.  Another benefit is you have sample cakes or individual dessert cakes.  Use a cookie cutter to cut 2" -3" rounds or squares from the scrapes. Wrap, label, freeze. 

I'm intrigued by the jelly roll pan idea.  How exactly do you cut your round cakes from the shallow sheet?  How many round layers can you get out of a jelly roll pan for a six, eight, or nine inch cake?

Professional pastry chefs rarely use cake pans because they are only good for that one size.  Using traditional cake pans require purchase of multiples in every size; then you have to deal with the storage headaches.  

Traditional cake pans aren't efficient for production either--they cost you time.  Layers take longer to bake because of the volume of batter; layers bake unevenly, so layers require leveling; then layers require torting.

A sheet pan is 1" deep, which is really an ideal thickness for a layer.  Batter bakes evenly, so no time wasted leveling.  The layers are cut using cake rings (see examples on link below) and are the right thickness, so no torging.

I bake, then let cake sit overnight in sheet pan.  (Just an aside, commercial refrigerators don't have shelves: rather they have brackets that are spaced to hold sheet pans for this type of production.)  I use cake ring to cut out my layers next day.  Some of my rings have a cutting edge like a cookie cutter.  If the ring doesn't have a cutting edge, I place it on the cake and use a very sharp then blade knife and cut inside the ring.

To assemble cake, I wrap the inside of the cake ring with an 4" wide acetate strip. I place a cake board inside the ring; then place first layer inside. With a pastry bag fitted with a round tip, I pipe buttercream on the layer.  If filling is used, then pipe a dam first, then pipe in filling with a pastry bag fitted with the same size tip as the buttercream.

Smooth with an offset spatula.  Add another cake layer, but before piping buttercream/filling on the next cake layer, use a level to ensure the cake is level.  Repeat for three layers.  Buttercream/filling layers are very even using this method.  Plus the acetate keeps the cake sides even and everything neat.    The acetate strip also makes it easy to spread a smooth even crumb coat top layer. After piping top layer of buttercream, I run the side of a long metal ruler over the top coat.  The acetate strip acts as a guide.  You get a perfectly smooth and even top with a single swipe.  And no rounded edge.

Chill the cake very well.  Then remove the cake ring and acetate.  Since the top is already crumb coated. You only need to finish off the sides.

http://www.jbprince.com/professional-culinary-molds/ring-molds.asp?viewall=1

http://www.jbprince.com/ring-mold-liners/acetate-liners.asp

siftandwisk,

are there any tutorials on this method?  I'm a very VISUAL learner... lol.  But this sounds like a wonderful way of approaching it.  I don't have a commercial fridge but this would save a lot of room in my regular fridge.  And thanks for the above advice

Unfortunately I don't  know of any tutorials.  I've never seen it in a baking cookbook either.  I learned it at a culinary school operated by a noted pastry chef (JBF winner).  It was taught all hands on; no textbook or handout instructions on the method.

I found this blog with photos of the technique; unfortunately this work isn't very neat or professional looking. She also baked in a very deep pan, which is counterproductive to one of the main reasons for the method.  But the photos will give you a general idea of the process.  Her piecing technique is NOT one I'd use or recommend.  Piecing is pretty standard procedure.  She cut two half circles that did not form a full layer.  She then filled in the gap with crumbs.  So the integrity of that layer isn't great.  When piecing make sure the two halves form a complete layer.  When piecing, you want to keep it at two pieces.  

http://www.hummingbirdhigh.com/2012/06/funfetti-birthday-layer-cake-from.html

Thank you so much Siftandwisk2 for those detailed instructions and the links!  Storing nesting rings certainly seems a LOT easier than multiple cake pans of each size.  

Thank you siftandwisk!  I will be doing a lot of playing on my next day off.  Hopefully this will cut down on some of the clutter around here.  Im a firm believer in clear the clutter, clear the mind.