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How To Set Up A Bakery In The Philippines 2

 Part 2 Continuation

So let's just say you managed to attend a baking class, and i mean a baking class that is geared towards opening a bakery. Not just some cups and teaspoons kind of baking class where you end up not knowing how to even compute a baker's percent. Not that. That is not what you need. You need to take baking lessons where you learn how to do food costing, baker's math, what are the different methods and techniques in baking yeast dough breads, the purposes of ingredients in baking etc., Ang dami di ba?

Which is only what is right. If you open a bakery and you do not even know why you cannot mix salt with your yeast, or why shortening makes the bread more fluffy and tender, or why egg whites do not really have to be added in your bread and so on... You went to the wrong class. You just wasted your money. 

You need to take another lesson. IT is very important that YOU, THE BAKERY OWNER and MASTER BAKER know more than your hired help or baker. Dapat, alam ng baker na mas magaling ka sa kanya not the other way around. Period. I am sure, for those who have already opened their bakeries and read this, alam niyo what happened and why. 

So there they were, almost every month i will get students who either have already opened a bakery for about a year or 3 months and are struggling to make ends meet, confused and clueless as to how they will manage the bakery without breaking the bank. Sad story right? But they keep coming. Learn from them. In fact, i have learned a lot from them too. Doon ko nalaman how some bakeries here in the Philippines  operate. May kakilala si ganito, nagsara ang bakery, si baker humanap ng amo, inalok kay ganito, pumayag naman si Sir kahit walang alam sa pag titinapay, ang resulta. Palpak at lugi in 3 months. 

I don't want to gloat, i have so many stories to tell but i will spare you the heart ache because what i really just want to tell you is, LEARN the TRADE First. 

SO, you finished your baking lessons. You will now practice what you have learned. Buy your ingredients, your digital scale, your oven, your mixer and start from there. If you have no mixer yet, you can do manual mixing or kneading, which is hard if you are a female but it teaches you a whole lot so it is not entirely a futile exercise. In fact, it teaches you a lot about water absorption and the much needed ingredient, PATIENCE.

Baking bread is all about timing, timing and timing. You cannot rush a yeast dough bread. Well, technically yes, load it up with extra yeast and it will rise fast but it will taste and smell horrible!!! 

TIME BUILDS FLAVOR.

I want to emphasize that, and when you take time to make something, you need PATIENCE, a whole lot of patience. You wait when the dough is ready to be shaped. You wait when the dough is ready to be baked. No buts, no ifs. You maybe the boss of the bakery, but the dough is your boss. You don't get to negotiate.

If you bake the bread without fermentation, the bread gets baked but it lacks flavor. IF you bake the dough without proper proofing, the volume is small, texture is dense and again, flavorless. What a waste of time and money. 

So my advice to my students after finishing my class, i am sure they remember this. Do not let 2 weeks pass without starting your trials. Go on start baking as soon as possible while you still remember what you did in class. Do no let a 3 weeks or a month go by without trying at least a pizza dough or Siopao. Get your elbows deep into the dough. Bake something. Otherwise, sayang yung binayad ninyo sa lessons. 

And while doing this, keep in mind. Again, be PATIENT. You may not get it right the first time, or the 2nd time, or maybe the 3rd time. But at least you are baking, you are learning, you are trying. I did not learn how to bake breads in a month, or 3 months. I learned it all gradually in a year, experimenting, taking down notes, (i have 5 large MEAD notebooks). It is important that while doing this, you are enjoying the many nuances of the whole process. Baking breads is not a job, or a task. It is living. 

You need to make it a part of your routine just like brushing your teeth or eating lunch. If after a month of trials and you tell yourself you are not liking it at all, then ditch it. Maybe this whole exercise is not for you. Maybe you are one of those who would rather buy a loaf than make one. In my case, i enjoyed every burnt and failed loaf or bun. I ask myself why this loaf has tons of holes inside, or why it collapsed after an hour. It made me think, it made me ask and it made me bake MORE. So i can get the answers. 

SO that is my number one tip for you guys. Love the craft. Practice makes perfect right? So bake away until you end up with the Pandesal that you want to sell, the Pan de coco that your mother loves, the Spanish bread that your friend always asks for and so on.

Till next episode...I plan to talk about the preparations into opening the physical store, getting ready, who to hire etc.,,,,

I want to flex my baking school, by April i will be ready to accept a maximum of 3 students only in my new baking school and also open the online class LIVE po ito, and limited lang ang participants.

Please text me at 09495705091 for details. OR email me at sherqv17@gmail.com

Visit www.breadmakinglessons.com for details on what goes on inside my class and for more tips.

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Anonymous said…
looking forward to read the next article, thanks!
9:28 PM
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