Baking for Profit!

The Cookswell Bakery Business Booklet

Cookswell Charcoal Jiko’s ideas of how to start baking great food as a business!

Congratulations on purchasing a high quality Cookswell Charcoal Oven and welcome to the world of Baking and Roasting for Profit!

In 1992, Dr. Maxwell Kinyanjui made the initial prototype of the Cookswell Energy Efficient Charcoal Oven, domestic and business sized convection ovens designed for baking and roasting on just a few handfuls of charcoal.

Using a Cookswell Charcoal Oven means zero dependence on electricity and oil or gas for all household cooking needs. This can translate into reducing energy bills by up to 70% through switching to charcoal.

The ovens are designed to provide an even heat flow throughout the cooking area so flipping and turning of the food is un-needed.  The heat can be controlled from between  150F-450F by using the air inlet. The ovens come with a factory standard alloy-zinc body, wooden handles, steel legs with non-slip feet and have an inbuilt no-mess ashtray and drippings tray.

Our ovens range in price from 11,000 Ksh for the smallest domestic sizes that can bake  3 loaves of bread (seen pictured here) to 50,000 Ksh for our largest heavy duty commercial ovens that bake over 50 loaves per load.

Baking is nutritionally a much better and easier form of cooking that preserves the nutrients in the food and allows for a wide array of food combinations that require less water, fat and oil to cook. With the reemergence of knowledge of the health benefits of traditional foods, Cookswell Ovens make preparing all of your best dishes easier and more pocket friendly for a range of healthy meals for your whole community.  Free range “kinyeji” chicken with an arrowroot/butternut squash rosemary melody, or sweet potato bread to go with tea in the morning - the options are limitless.

For oven users in the commercial sector, a Cookswell Oven will save money and improve quality and standards of service, from optional hot water heater tanks to huge savings on energy bills and even providing heated plates for that extra touch. Cookswell Jikos quality reflects your choice of high quality in your kitchen products.

            In order to help us make charcoal a sustainable energy source, all of our ovens come with a packet of acacia tree seeds so that you can plant and grow your own charcoal for future use.  

You can invest in growing your own home made renewable energy to power you bakery and the savings potential is vast! 

The Bakery Business Booklet

The purpose of this bakery business booklet is to help guide on your way to establishing a great sustainable profit making business.

The demand for high quality baked goods in Kenya has never been higher and as have the prices and un-reliability of electricity and LPG gas.

Using a Cookswell Charcoal Oven for all your baking needs is the perfect option for reducing your energy costs, increasing your output and keeping to the high standards of your customers!

Bakery Business Guide

Overheads	Cost	Expected Sales Returns
(size)___________Charcoal oven		n/a
Assorted mixing bowls and baking tins (sizes and price)		n/a
Initial Ingredients (amounts and prices etc.) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.		(What are you making? How many per day? Cost per piece?) (write each here) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Rent, licenses, electricity labour etc. (cost of each)		Total Sales Profits_______Ksh           -Total Costs____________Ksh Total Profits_________Ksh * print out and make notes on the back!

Some of Mom's best recipes - tried and tested for years!

Queen Cakes/Cupcakes – basic recipe

Ingredients for 12 cakes -

•                    125g (4oz) Blue Band
•                      125g (4oz) sugar
•                      125g (4oz) self-raising flour
•                      Pinch of salt
•                      2 medium eggs
•                      2 tablespoons milk
•                      Muffin tins (for 12 cakes) – lightly grease each tin with Blue Band or use paper cake holders

Method

     Light Cookswell oven in advance; let smoke and flames clear away; make sure oven is clean

    Put Blue Band into a bowl mix until soft. Add the sugar, flour, salt, eggs and milk and beat until the mixture is smooth

     Divide the mixture between all the paper cases or tin holes

     Place muffin tins in the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, then swap the position of the tins over and bake for a further 3-7 minutes, until cupcakes are a light golden colour  Watch carefully as cooking time will depend on oven heat!

Remove the tin from the oven. Leave the cupcakes to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate cupcakes?  Use 2 level tablespoons less flour and add 2 level tablespoons of cocoa!

How much should I sell each cake for?::

       Cost

250 g Blue Band                                    ___________?

250 g sugar                                          ___________?

                                     

250 g self-raising flour                           ___________?

4 eggs                                                 ___________?

4 tablespoons milk                                 ____________?

        TOTAL COST (12 CAKES):     ____________?

TOTAL COST/12 = COST PER CAKE:____________?

SELLING PRICE PER CAKE:            ____________?

 (COST PER CAKE X2)

Banana bread - an all time favorite!

Ingredients – 1 loaf (with experience, you can make small banana cakes too!)

Send us your tips>

                   75g (3oz) margarine

                   100g (4oz) soft brown sugar

                   1 egg, beaten

                   2 large ripe bananas – should be dark brown – very ripe

                   225g (8oz) self-raising flour

                   1/2tsp tea masala spice and a pinch of salt

                   Handful of chopped nuts (peanuts w/o skins are good!) (optional)

      

Method

1.           Preheat the Cookswell oven.

2.           Mix the Blue Band and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy then beat in the egg gradually.

3.           Mash the bananas then stir into the mixture. Fold in the flour, spice and salt.

4.           Spoon into a greased loaf tin and bake for 35-40 mins, or until a toothpick or clean twig inserted into the centre comes out clean. Watch the bread, turning around in the oven, changing the level occasionally – don’t let all the heat out though! The centre must not be wet.

5.           When cooked, leave the loaf in the tin for a few minutes before turning out to cool on a wire rack.

6.           Serve sliced, spread with butter, margarine or a little jam.

After a few successful tries with this recipe, substitute very ripe mango (same quantity) – or half mango/half banana – or half banana/half other soft, ripe fruit!

TOTAL COST OF INGREDIENTS:____________

COST PER CAKE:____________

  IF SELLING THE WHOLE CAKE, COST X2 – or x3 if possible

SELLING PRICE PER ½” SLICE:____________

 (COST OF CAKE/NUMBER OF SLICES – MAYBE 10/12 SLICES?)

 Easy Bread

Ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water

1package active dry yeast

1tsp salt (tsp = teaspoon – small spoon)

1-1/2 tbsp sugar (tbsp. = tablespoon – soup spoon)

     1 tbsp vegetable shortening (Kimbo)

     1/2 cup milk

     3 cups all-purpose flour, approximately

Preparation:

1.    Preheat the Cookswell oven.  Make sure it is clean; no smoke

2.    In large bowl, add the warm water. Slowly stir in dry yeast. Continue to stir until yeast is dissolved.

3.    Add salt, sugar, shortening, and milk to bowl. Stir.

4.    Mix in the first 2 cups of flour.

5.    If needed, begin adding more flour, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl (not sticky).

6.    You do not need to use up all the flour called for in this recipe, or you may need more flour than called for. The amounts vary depending on many factors, including weather, which is why most bread recipes only give an approximate amount of flour needed.

7.    Turn dough out onto floured board and knead, adding small spoonfuls of flour as needed, until the dough is soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.

8.    Put dough in buttered bowl, turn dough over so that the top of dough is greased. Cover and let rise in warm spot for 1 hour.

9.    Punch down dough. Turn out onto floured board and knead turning around and pressing forward with heels of hands until shiny and smooth.

10. Preheat Cookswell oven – not too hot!  No smoke or flames – nice heat.

11. Form dough into loaf and set in buttered bread pan. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.

12. Cut three slashes across the top of bread with a sharp knife.

13. Put in oven and bake for about 45 - 90 minutes or until golden brown.

14. Turn out bread and let cool on a rack or clean dishtowel.

COST OF INGREDIENTS:___________________

COST PER LOAF:__________________________

SELLING PRICE PER LOAF (costx2):___________

Do you want to make bread rolls?

Use the same recipe but after first rising, pinch dough into pieces for rolls; put out to rise again (like with chapatis) and cook on flat tin until top is brown and roll is cooked through.  This might happen quite quickly!

Sprinkle the top with sugar; or a little cocoa/sugar; simsim or a light touch of Blue Band to make the rolls shiny.

Baked Root Vegetables

You can bake root veggies in a number of ways;

Things like sweet and Irish potatoes and squash can be made into simple healthy chips!

-Wash and then cut into chip sized strips

-Toss in oil with garlic, pepper and salt

-Spread on a thin baking sheet and put in a hot oven for 30-40min according to taste.

You can also make potatoes wedges of different shapes just like above or just bake them whole for a super simple meal.

For each recipe: 

Try it out several times! 

Make a note about what you do or don’t like about the product – then try it again and change it! Maybe try mince meat pies, or sweet potatoe bread, there are 1000’s of excellent recipes online such as www.joyofbaking.com and http://quickbreads.blogspot.com/2014/02/baking-with-charcoal-oven-in-kenya-how.html and you can always find something that is easy and tasty for you to bake where ever you live in East Africa.

Watch the way the Cookswell oven cooks: depending on the kind of charcoal, the air vents, etc. it may cook very fast or slower than you wish. Adjust the charcoal load accordingly and always remember; theses are very efficient ovens so less is best!
http://quickbreads.blogspot.com/2014/03/3-tips-on-dealing-with-differences.html

Keep your oven clean and don’t let things fall into the fire as it will produce smoke.

Turn the tins around, and change the level of the tins, at least once or twice in the cooking so the items cook evenly.  Don’t open the doors too often or leave them open too long!  Work fast to keep the heat inside.

And here is a link to a instruction video of how to use your oven https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1M6rrhRU70&feature=youtu.be

Cookswell would love to have your feedback!

What have you cooked?

How has the cooking gone?

Any problems we can help you solve?

Have you been able to capture a market with your price range?

Any suggestions for us?

Any good recipe you would like to share?

If you send us a note, we will put your name in a lucky draw for a 50% discount on your next oven! (Please use this code OVENFEEDBACK1050)

Write to us:  cookswelljikos@gmail.com  or call 0700 380 009   or www.cookswell.co.ke