Food is always in demand, and the market has a wide range of food products to explore and create. If you have a flair for cooking or baking, you can be a home-based foodpreneur.
When you are beginning at home, there are essentials worth exploring, such as food laws, to ensure that you are operating your business right. You will also need to identify the tools and equipment to start your business. Kitchenware is crucial for cooks.
Here is a list of items you want to prepare for your home food business.
The Essentials Before You Begin Cooking
You are preparing food for mass consumption. In any food business, health and safety concerns are the primary issues. Since you will be starting your business at home, you must familiarize yourself with the Cottage Food Law, which governs the rules and regulations for selling food from a private residence.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—an American agency that governs the laws and regulations to ensure that consumers' food offered for sale is safe to eat—a private residence is not a "facility," so it is not required to be registered with the FDA. (Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, section 1.227).
The Cottage Food Law regulates what kind of food products to sell, where you can sell them, the labeling, and how much you can make from your products. You will need to call your local county or municipality to get more details about food safety and the laws on home-based food businesses to ensure you comply.
Once you understand the local laws, you can prepare your kitchen with the tools and equipment needed to cook.
Top Home Tools And Equipment List
Depending on the kind of food you want to sell, you will need specific types of tools in your kitchen to create your product. Here are 6 of the top staples:
1. Wire Mesh Strainer
A strainer is made of either silicone or metal-based wire mesh, also known as a kitchen sieve. It is an indispensable kitchen tool that both home cooks and professional chefs use to separate solids from liquids. They use it to filter fruit seeds, tea leaves, and other sediments. It is also used for sifting flour and powdered sugar.
2. Deep-Frying Baskets
If you are planning to offer fried foods on your menu, you will need deep-frying baskets that can accommodate large batches of food contained in one place. These baskets could be made with sintered wire mesh that is made from 904L stainless steel and corrosion-resistant. Deep-frying food becomes more convenient with this tool because you don't need to fetch the food from the oil one by one. You can prevent the food from going soggy after staying submerged in hot oil.
3. Pans And Pots
Pans are generally used for frying, and you will need both shallow and deep pans. A wok is also a pan used for Asian cuisine. Pans are where you can exercise your frying technique while preparing meat and vegetable dishes. There are other pans like saucepans for making soups and sauces and skillet or sauté pans for sautéing, searing, and browning food.
Dishes like soups and stews in big batches are prepared in pots. You can also use pots to broil, roast, and boil. Both pots and pans can be made of aluminum, cast iron, or stainless steel.
4. Oven
A staple in the kitchen that includes many options such as standard, convection, steam, conveyor, or combination. Consider the kinds of food products you want to offer; there is bound to be one type of oven for them.
Ovens are versatile because they can make both meals and baked goods. There are also specialty ovens, like rotisserie ovens, that are specifically designed to cook spit-roasted meats like chicken and pork to perfection.
5. Stove
Another kitchen must-have, a stove is also where you will be frying, stewing, and creating meals. You can use either a gas or an electric-operated stove. Gas stoves are getting a bad reputation these days so you may want to stick with electric if possible.
You can find stoves with an oven for baking dishes and pastries. New stoves have more burners and are more energy efficient as well. Have a kitchen appliance handyman at the ready in case you have any issues with your stove, since it will most likely be crucial to your home-based food business.
6. Knives
Cooking preparation is when you need to slice, dice, peel, and process your meat, vegetables, and more. Knives are used about 90% of the time in the kitchen. Taking care of them is essential, as they turn your favorite foods into convenient portions.
You can start with paring and serrated knives since they are versatile. Serrated knives can slice through soft vegetables and bread. Paring knives are for smaller and more delicate cuts. Just be careful cutting or it could cut into your profits or even sideline you from the kitchen!
Cooking Company Conclusion
You can begin a home-based food business by gathering all the tools you need, such as a stove, oven, mesh strainer, pots, pans, knives, and more. Knowing the kinds of food you want to cook and serve will also give you more information on what you need in your kitchen. You can have a stove or oven, but the utensils are required tools you need to gather for food prepping.
