In this episode of The Bread Winner Podcast, we tackle a common challenge faced by many sourdough microbakery owners: making the most of a small kitchen or baking space. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by clutter or frustrated with a lack of room, this episode is packed with creative, practical tips to help you reclaim your space and streamline your workflow. We discuss everything from decluttering strategies to smart storage solutions and multi-purpose tools that will make a huge difference in your daily baking routine.

Whether you're operating from a tiny apartment kitchen or a small corner of your home, these space-saving hacks will help you maximize every inch, allowing you to focus on what you love most — baking! Tune in to learn how to create a more efficient and enjoyable workspace that aligns with your lifestyle. Plus, you’ll hear about ways to prepare for future growth as your microbakery business thrives. Don’t miss out on these valuable tips that will help you bake more and stress less!

Links to things we talked about:

Links to the small space essentials for an efficient space: https://carolinebower.myflodesk.com/smallspace

The Bread Winner Inner Circle Waitlist: www.carolinebower.com/innercirclewaitlist

Download the FREE Guide and Checklist, Your First Steps to a Successful In-Home Bakery at https://www.carolinebower.com/checklist to begin building YOUR thriving microbakery! 

Caroline Bower Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinebower_sourdough

Episode 18 Small Space Hacks

If you're here, you are probably like me and you are building a sourdough micro bakery that fits with your lifestyle. Today we are talking about.

If you clicked on today's episode, you might relate to the challenge that many of us face as micro bakery owners, and that is running out of space. It can start to feel like a game of Tetris, trying to fit everything into your kitchen or your baking area.

In today's episode, we're going to dive into some creative, practical hacks to help you maximize every square inch of your space. Whether you're working from a tiny apartment kitchen, or a small corner of your home, we're going to give you ideas to help maximize the space. And make your workflow more efficient.

Moving stuff from one surface to the next.

We'll cover everything from decluttering to smart storage multi-purpose tools. And planning for future growth.

Before we get started just a quick reminder that the. Waitlist for the breadwinner inner circle is open. We officially have a date. The breadwinner inner circle is going to launch on October 1st. That is coming soon. And I am so excited. This is going to be a community that sees you. That understands. Your life and the work that you're doing. And we will build each other up together.

If you feel like you're doing the work of five people, because your systems aren't optimized, you're overwhelmed.

You're scrambling for one thing to the next. You're not alone. You're not the only one experiencing that, but there are alternatives.

Program.

We're getting started in the beginning of October, because that is the beginning of our busy season. The time commitment of it, won't be huge, but it will be enough to help you optimize your holiday season. So you can come away feeling energized and not completely burnt out.

We're going to make sure that you're able to get in front of the people who want to buy from you.

And ultimately make more money while creating more space for the things that really matter in your life.

If that sounds. Like something that would serve you well,

We'll start with basics. And begin by decluttering. De-cluttering the space that you're working with.

If it's a holiday item and you only use it. A few weeks out of the year, but it's taking up prime storage space in your kitchen. Consider moving it to secondary closet. So you can clear up that space in your kitchen.

Once you've cleared out the clutter in your kitchen, started thinking about the layout. So a well organized workspace starts with grouping similar things together. For example, keep all your dry ingredients in one area, your mixing tools and another in your baking sheets and your cooling racks in another.

This makes everything flow easier. It also makes it easier to find, and it puts less strain on your workflow. So if you don't have to move from one side of the kitchen to the next.

Your workflow will be smoother and you'll be wasting less time in between tasks.

I love 3M sticky hooks you can use for measuring spoons, spatulas towels, aprons. Every inch of your small space counts.

So going up using that vertical space can make it a big difference if you're just working out of a tiny room.

It's sturdy enough to be loaded up with your bulk ingredients, your flour, your equipment. Your supplies, your baking trays. Bennetons so you roll it away when you're not using it and you roll it. To your workspace when you need it.

Quick mobility like that can help keep your workspace clear and flexible. And make it more usable. all roll in and compact on itself for the days that are not bake days.

Now let's talk about multipurpose tools and furniture. When you're working with limited space, every piece of equipment needs to earn its keep. So if you have something that you're only using periodically, but it's taking up a lot of space. Consider, whether you might replace that with something more efficient or eliminate it entirely.

Down in the show notes. I have a link to a few of the items that we're talking about today. Just a quick resource. It includes these collapsible cooling racks. And if you other favorite things that can help optimize your small space. So the collapsible cooling racks are great for a smaller operation.

It saves a ton of counter space because you're just going up. So a lot of bakers use this for cooling racks, even for storage. It can be used for proofing rack. So if you're trying to bake in volume in a small space, a speed rack Can make you so much more efficient.

Another piece of equipment would be a collapsible rolling cart. There's a link to this in the research that I just mentioned, but basically it's a cart that you can push around. It has a couple of tears and then it folds flat when you're not using it. You can use it to hold your bins while your dough is proofing.

If you're short on counter space. A great option that's budget friendly is just to use folding tables. If the surface of the folding table, isn't great for working with your dough, you could go ahead and top it with a wooden butcher block. But your blocks are sturdy. They're solid. They're perfect for working with your dough for shaping.

And then when you're done fold down the tables and store the butcher block vertically in a narrow space to get it all out of your way and just pull it out when you need it on bake day and prep day.

Moving on to smart storage solutions.

We can optimize this part of our workflow by adding some drawer, organizers and grouping like items together.

To save a lot of time and reduce some frustration. So for ingredients clear, stackable containers are really helpful for bulk ingredients like flour, sugar, salt. They keep everything fresh air tight, and they allow you to see what you have at a quick glance. When you're looking for clear containers, look for this square or the rectangular containers rather than the round ones.

They will be more efficient in your space because they'll fit together more closely and take up a lot less space than the round ones.

There's a link to some four quart square food grade containers in the resource, down in the show notes.

This can help you find your ingredients at a glance rather than taking through a whole spice cabinet when you need them.

Another way to organize your cabinets could be using baskets or bins to group similar items together. Like your extracts, your flavorings. Your inclusions, your toppings.

If you have deep drawers. Using organizers to keep your tools, your utensils, you're measuring spoons, measuring cups neatly arranged can help a lot. If your drawers are really deep, consider layered inserts, something that can stack on top of each other to double your drawer capacity by adding an extra layer.

By getting really creative and looking for overlooked space like this, you can add extra storage in a tiny space.

So a couple of the things that take up a lot of space in a bakery are cooling and proofing. These are essential parts of your baking process. But they tend to spread out.

So to maximize cooling space, those collapsible cooling racks that I mentioned earlier can save you a lot of hassle. You'll likely see a lot of bakers use bamboo shoe racks as cooling racks. That's what I use. I have enough stacked on top of each other to allow me to cool about 40 loaves at a time.

For proofing again, we can go back to that collapsible rolling cart that I mentioned loaded up with your proofing bins. Move it around when you need to. And then when you're done, you folded up and tuck it away.

I use stacking dough bins for my, for proofing my dough. They don't nest. So they're not perfect for a small space, but they do stack nicely. So that's another option that you could consider.

And you could put them on the rolling cart while you're proofing to get it off. Your counter space.

Under shelf baskets can also be used in your pantry space or on shelving. They clip onto your existing shelves, giving you an extra level of storage without taking it more room. So it just becomes a little shelf below your shelf. If you need more small space ideas, Pinterest could be your friend for this too.

So let's get real for just a moment. Running a bakery, even a small one requires space. You can get really creative with your organization and storage to make your space work better for you. But as your business grows, you're inevitably going to need more room. It's just part of the journey. So start thinking now about how you'll adapt as your needs evolve. That might look like converting your dining room into your baking space. Or using your garage for some extra storage. If you have an outdoor space, maybe move some of your garage stuff into a storage shed to free up some space in your garage. If you plan to grow to do higher volume in your baking business, just know that you might have to get really creative and scrappy to make it happen, if you're limited by your space.

Hopefully, this has been helpful to get your wheels turning.

Consider some options that you hadn't maybe been aware of. And know that you have the potential to grow a beautiful business. Even if you are limited by your space.

It's all about using what you have creatively investing in the right. Versatile tools and planning ahead for your growth. Small steps can make a big difference in how you feel about your workspace.

All right. If you found this episode helpful, please share it with a friend or a fellow baker. Don't forget to tag me on Instagram. It makes my day when you screenshot the episode and tag me, I'm Caroline Bauer underscore sourdough. I would love to see what hacks you're using.

Just a reminder to join the breadwinner inner circle waitlist down in the show notes. I'll be back soon with a new episode and until then, happy baking.