My future speciality. Technology of bread, confectionary, macaroni and food concentrates

The professions of baker and confectioner have always been essential for mankind. They fall under the category of 'food processing occupations.' Bakery and confectionery as a career is both an art and science. Individuals in these professions are responsible for processing raw food products into finished goods that are sold either through wholesalers, in food services establishments, or at point-of-sale to a customer in a grocery store, for example.

Bakers produce varying quantities of bread, pastries, and other baked goods for sale in establishments such as bakeries, grocery stores, and manufacturers' outlets.

Confectioners are people who manufacture confectionery items such as sweets, biscuits, bread, toffees, chocolates, chocolate cakes etc.

In small bakeries or specialty shops, bakers and confectioners bake small quantities of breads, pastries, cookies, and pies for consumers. They may also take orders and create specialty items, such as wedding and birthday cakes, for customers. They may feature foods that appeal to particular regions or that emphasize a baker's specialty. Creativity is required, because bakers create new variations of products and decorate specialty goods like wedding cakes in accordance with a customer's request.

In large-scale manufacturing operations, bakers and confectioners produce goods in large quantities using industrial equipment, such as mixers and ovens. The items are then sold through distributors, grocery stores, or manufacturers' outlets.

Bakers and confectioners typically perform the following tasks:

- check baking production schedules on a daily basis;

- weigh, measure, and mix ingredients (following recipes) to make dough, batter, fillings, and icings;

- work with large mixing/blending machine bowls to combine products;

- knead, roll, interweave, twist, cut, and form prepared dough into various shapes for cookies, tarts, pie crusts, etc.;

- pare, cut, and prepare fruits for pastry or pie fillings;

- determine and use a wide variety of sheets, pans, and moulds;

- set oven temperatures and baking times, and monitor products while they bake;

- prepare and apply icings, glazes, and a wide variety of toppings to finished baked products;

- decorate fancy pastries and special cakes;

- check equipment to conform to safety and health rules and regulations.

Bakers do not need an advanced education. They often start as apprentices or trainees, and learn through on-the-job training or take high school or community college courses in the culinary arts before they get a job in a specialty or industrial bakery.

Bakers must also learn about nutrition, government health and sanitation regulations, operating and maintaining machinery, and production processes. If they aspire to own their own bakery, knowledge of business and accounting is necessary.

When asked what qualities and good baker and confectioner should have, Joseph Gomes, Senior Lecturer of the National Institute of Hotel Management in Kolkata, answers, 'Proper knowledge of ingredients, costing, proper methods of preparing products and pricing is essential. One should at least know that mozzarella and not cheese should be used to make pizza. One should also take care not to waste ingredients.' Chef Barbara Truskaller, former pastry chef at the Grand Hyatt of Mumbai, advises, 'A good baker and confectioner should be well-acquainted with the products that he/she is using, the reaction when he/she mixes products and correct presentation.'

Prospective bakers and confectioners should apply directly to specialty bakeries to become an apprentice, or apply to supermarkets to become a bakery trainee. High school training in the culinary arts is an advantage, as is knowledge of baking processes, equipment, and ingredients.