Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To home bake with dogs?

105 replies

MrsJunglelow · 29/10/2020 19:00

I mean not literally with the dogs Hmm, but bake cakes to sell from my kitchen when I have a dog (and cat) in the house?

I make lovely cakes and a friend of mine is currently making a very good living from it and frankly, I want a bit of her success too!
I’m in a diddly terrace so not massive kitchen but if I feed the animals in the hallway and pop their water bowl out there too they have no need to ever enter the kitchen.

Is it possible or will environmental health immediately refuse it on hygiene grounds?

Anyone know please? 🙏

OP posts:
Cabinfever10 · 29/10/2020 19:19

You need an food standards certificate to that and I doubt that you will get 1 with pets in your home

QueenPaws · 29/10/2020 19:19

My friend has a successful brownie business and has a dog

heartshapedfaces · 29/10/2020 19:23

I would hope you wouldn’t pass a hygiene inspection

Drinkingallthewine · 29/10/2020 19:26

I don't think you'd pass inspection. I remember the standards for kitchens being extremely high when I was in commercial catering. I can't see that you would pass the inspections with live-in animals. Even if you kept them to another room and never let them in the kitchen their hair and dander would make it's way in to the food prep area no matter how stringent you were.

Original poster
MrsJunglelow · 29/10/2020 19:26

I would hope you wouldn’t pass a hygiene inspection
I’m extremely clean and house proud but thank you for your opinion anyway.
Be interesting to see how the thread pans out, if it’s popular or unpopular 🤔

OP posts:
notanotheronepleasee · 29/10/2020 19:28

Personally if I knew you had pets, even if you passed, I wouldn't buy from you.
And I know that sounds horrible, sorry!

OverTheRainbow88 · 29/10/2020 19:28

Wouldn’t put me off, but I’m a dog lover

SoddingWeddings · 29/10/2020 19:29

My brother was able to get a hygiene certificate for a baking business with two dogs in the house.

They were kept out the kitchen with baby gates at all times when he was working, and the room was fully sanitised before he started each day.

More than doable.

FractionalGains · 29/10/2020 19:29

Bloody hell should i not go to dinner at the homes of my friends with pets either? I had never really thought about it Confused

KindergartenKop · 29/10/2020 19:30

My horrible cats always sit on the worktops even though I take them down and tell them off every time. I bet your cat does this when you're not looking!

FangsForTheMemory · 29/10/2020 19:30

It’s not a question of popularity, it’s a question of what’s legal. If you’re going to get stroppy about opinions you don’t want to hear, what’s the point of posting. My own opinion would be that you could only do this if you had an outbuilding or similar that the pets never have access to. I say this as I live with a cat whose ability to get his nose in everything never fails to astonish me.

Tumbleweed101 · 29/10/2020 19:31

I know someone with two dogs who sells cakes/baked goods as a home business and has all the relevant certification.

BluebellsareBlue · 29/10/2020 19:33

@heartshapedfaces
Who pissed in your cornflakes? What a horrible thing to say!!
In these strange and scary times we should all be championing one another not being dicks about stuff! Away and be a miserable git elsewhere.

OP it wouldn't bother me whether you had a dog or not, as long as I wasn't eating their coat and I'm sure that wouldn't happen. Best of luck with your venture if you choose to do so.

Moondust001 · 29/10/2020 19:37

I'd be fine, but have a dog. However.... Honestly there are dozens of people doing it. What about healthy bakes for dogs and cats? There's a burgeoning market for pretty owners with disposable incomes. Given what it costs to responsibly look after a pet, we do tend to spend on such things!

Original poster
MrsJunglelow · 29/10/2020 19:38

My horrible cats always sit on the worktops even though I take them down and tell them off every time. I bet your cat does this when you're not looking!
She can be kept out by keeping the door shut but tbh, it’s very, very rare to see her up there.

It’s not a question of popularity, it’s a question of what’s legal. If you’re going to get stroppy about opinions you don’t want to hear, what’s the point of posting
It was phrased very rudely imo but I don’t think I was particularly stroppy and obviously, I wouldn’t consider doing it without the correct insurance, registration etc.
All I meant was that if I got comment after comment saying how unhygienic it was I wouldn’t bother thinking about going any further.
That’s all.

OP posts:
OneForMeToo · 29/10/2020 19:38

You will struggle to pass a hygiene inspection. A friend who started a company had to basically prove the dog only live in the garden to make sure it didn’t contaminate anything. In the end the dog moved in with a close friend. The business is a huge success though not cakes though.

As a pet owner I wouldn’t buy baked goods from a pet house. I know what my cats are like and I expect a higher standard when buying a product than my own pet kitchen.

Moondust001 · 29/10/2020 19:38

Pet not pretty. Although we are all pretty too!

GameSetMatch · 29/10/2020 19:41

It wouldn’t put me off, if you have the right certificate then it’s obviously clean. I wouldn’t buy anything from anybody who smoked.

vanillandhoney · 29/10/2020 19:43

There are plenty of successful home baking businesses here and all the owners/cooks own dogs and cats. They all have their hygiene certificates and insurance and are well above board.

Don't let it put you off - it's perfectly possible! :)

Original poster
MrsJunglelow · 29/10/2020 19:43

What about healthy bakes for dogs and cats? There's a burgeoning market for pretty owners with disposable incomes
Perhaps.
I think the problem there is that would surely require a form of carbohydrate like squash or rice or something to bind together and I don’t personally agree with feeding cats and dogs carbs.
Unless I used a dehydrator so it was all meat, but then I’m not convinced people would pay the high price tag as I imagine the tiny end product from a significant proportion of meat would have to be quite pricey to make a profit.
It’s something to think about though
🤔

OP posts:
KiposWonderbeasts · 29/10/2020 19:44

I did it, it was fine.

You have to put massively preventative systems in place to clean thoroughly once you exclude the pets, but it's doable. Also, a cake business is a low risk endeavour. I got a 5 star rating, so it's entirely possible.

Baking businesses don't make much. It's hard work, long hours, little pay. Not nearly as fun as people imagine.

Pumpkintopf · 29/10/2020 19:47

My friend recently got a 5 star rating, home baking business, has a cat.

PanamaPattie · 29/10/2020 19:51

It's possible. Speak to your local Environmental Health officer.

scoobydoo1971 · 29/10/2020 19:57

I went to see a house I was thinking of buying a few years ago. A lady lived there with a cat and dog. She was preparing and decorating cakes as I viewed, and told me she ran a catering business for weddings etc. It must be possible and it was clean enough, but must be hard work to maintain the standards needed for professional work.

nikkylou · 29/10/2020 19:58

I have a cat. And I bake. I'm very conscious to clean throughly before undertaking any baking for others....and if you were a 'amateur' I wouldn't give it a second thought.

As a professional however. In all honesty, if you get your hygiene certificates it wouldn't really cross my mind. Unless upon visiting your premises, for either pick up, discussion etc., the reality gives a different impression...like I'm greeted by a slobbery kiss and cake mix covered spatula. As well as this, unless you actively mention your pet, out of sight is out of mind. The only people who actually are aware of your pet are your friends and family. If you're selling professionally, I don't think it's the first question anyone will ask. Would be quite easy to tuck away bowls etc. or have them out of the client 'reception' areas.

My only concern however is that you say it's a small house, and the hallway doesn't really feel like a far enough distance. You only have to open the door for a loo break, or to grab the door and release the animals into the kitchen... plus I expect it will be a NEVER enter the kitchen that you'll need, not 'only when I'm baking'