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The Beginner Baker’s Guide to Zero Waste Baking

The Beginner Baker’s Guide to Zero Waste Baking

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During my first months of baking, I was amazed by how much waste I seemed to generate.

From single-use packages to ingredients that often went bad before I could use them, it felt like I was contributing to an already-existing problem.

Truth is, the baking industry produces a surprising amount of trash—excess flour, food scraps, one-use packaging, etc.

If you’re too busy perfecting your recipes, you likely won’t notice the waste impact that keeps adding up over time.

Now that you noticed it, it’s time to adopt zero-waste baking like I did.

It’s all about simple yet effective acts that will keep your environmental footprint in check—whether you’re a professional or at-home baker.

1 – Maintain Proper Measurements

A slight change in your measurements may not affect the taste of your baked goods, but over time, all slight changes add up and become unnecessary waste. That’s why it’s essential to keep the measurements consistent day after day.

This won’t only minimize ingredient waste, but it’ll also maintain customer satisfaction. When your products taste the same every day, your customers won’t return or throw anything because of taste alterations. In all cases, your waste will be considerably less.

Make sure to use the same measuring tools and practices, and you shouldn’t have much trouble.

2 – Track Product Handling

If you deal with couriers or employees, make sure to track product handling to reduce wastage. A dropped cake is a waste of both ingredients and money. The same goes for products that get ruined during delivery or packaging.

Make sure your employees are trained on the proper way to handle the baked goods. This way, you’ll minimize waste and keep accidents to a minimum.

3 – Plan Your Schedule Well

After some time of baking or managing a bakery, you probably have a good idea of what products are big sellers on which days.

Is bread mostly sold during weekdays? Are your brownies the best sellers on weekends?

If you have answers to these questions, you should be able to plan your baking schedule well to minimize waste and leftovers. If you know a product isn’t getting much attention on weekdays, avoid making it, and so on.

You can also plan your schedules so that you have something to do while your dough rises or during downtime—this will take your time efficiency to a whole new level.

4 – Donate Leftovers

Any bakery is prone to having some leftovers at the end of each day. Some days will have more leftovers than others, but luckily, there’s an easy fix for that. You can always donate any leftovers your bakery has.

That way, you don’t waste the perfectly good pastries, and you make sure that families with low income will have some high-quality baked goods for dinner.

You can search for local organizations near you that’ll take the baked goods at the end of each day. Alternatively, you can give the leftovers to your employees or their families.

5 – Use Leftovers Wisely

You don’t always have to throw away or donate leftovers. If you get creative with your recipes, you can use them to make new baked goods.

For example, you can turn leftover bread into breadcrumbs or croutons. If the toast goes stale, you can use it to make French toast. And for cake scraps, you can always use them to make cake pops.

There are many more ideas that you can use. Cookies that go stale can be crumbled and used to make a cheesecake crust. On top of that, leftover brownies can be layered with whipped cream and made into parfaits.

Here’s one last tip: if you have leftover oats and nuts, use them to make granola. That way, you minimize waste and make a healthy homemade snack.

6 – Shop in Refillable Containers

If you’re well aware of your usage, you can buy your ingredients in bulk and use refillable containers to get them.

Some bulk stores offer ingredients like baking powder and salt in bulk. To buy them, you can take your own reusable containers. If the store you buy from doesn’t offer this, you can ask for recyclable containers to reduce your environmental footprint.

I’d also go for local farmers to get fruits instead of major chains. You can bring your own packaging to limit waste. And if you have any leftover fruits, you can always compost them.

7 – Store Your Products Properly

Proper product storage is key to reducing food waste in your bakery. If you manage to extend the shelf life of your baked goods, you’ll be able to sell them for longer, reducing leftovers.

Make sure the refrigeration at your bakery is engineered to preserve the food. In addition to that, maintain proper temperature control to prevent the products from going stale.

You can also opt for storage options like freezing and canning to reduce waste.

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