Bakery Checklists Kit Pro: Bread Bakery Opening, Production & Closing Checklist Templates for Excel

The overnight bake shift first, in the order it happens. From 3:00 AM: the proofer and the deck or rack oven on, the sourdough starters checked (activity, pH, temperature), the day's ingredients scaled, the base doughs mixed (baguette, rustic loaf, ciabatta) with the mixing water temperature set for the season, the bakehouse checked at 72–79 °F and the specialty doughs started. From 5:00 AM: bulk fermentation, dividing, scaling and shaping, the final proof in bannetons, scoring, baking with steam for the first 10 minutes and cooling on racks. From 8:00 AM, the shop: the bread display and pastry case, allergen labels on everything bagged or boxed, meat empanadas and cream-filled items held at 41 °F or below or 135 °F or above, the POS and starting bank, and the display cases cleaned and sanitized. The "Opening & Closing" checklist has those 19 opening tasks already written, each with a time and who does it.

In production: the starter fed for tomorrow, the mixer, workbench and utensils cleaned and sanitized (checked with test strips), and the ovens off and clean, with gas ovens serviced by a licensed technician as your local code requires (if you smell gas: light nothing, get out and call from outside). In the shop: day-old bread counted and sent to donation, breadcrumbs or croutons, and the register closed out with the cash count and over/short against the POS Z report. Then the flour and ingredient order for tomorrow. The kit has those 6 closing tasks already written, and the display checklist adds the shop's own close.

Daily cleaning goes in the closing checklist. On top of that, the kit schedules a weekly deep clean of the ovens (carbon and grease) and of the mixer, divider and proofer, sanitized at label strength and checked with test strips, plus the scale calibration, the inventory and the use-by dates; and monthly upkeep: preventive oven maintenance (burners, gaskets, thermostats; gas ovens by a licensed technician), mixer maintenance (belts, gears, lubrication), a review of your temperature, cleaning and allergen logs, and pest control by a licensed operator with the service report on file while the team checks traps and signs in the flour storage.

Yes, as a bonus. The daily production sheet has 13 fields in 4 blocks: today's production (baguettes and loaves, specialty breads, pastries and confirmed special orders), the starter and preferments (pH, temperature and activity; poolish made the night before, yes or no; fresh and dry yeast stock), ovens and equipment (deck oven, rack oven and mixer status) and the team on shift, low-stock alerts and notes. The manager checklist adds planning the day's production from sales and orders.

Yes. The starter checklist covers the daily 1:1:1 feeding (starter, flour, water) at the same time every day, pH before use (ideal 3.8–4.2), starter temperature (75–82 °F), the float test at peak activity, a backup in the refrigerator fed weekly and a log of feeding date, pH, temperature and activity. Then the fermentation checks (dough at 75–79 °F after mixing, bulk time by bakehouse temperature, the windowpane test, a cold retard at 37–41 °F for 12–72 hours if you use one, a final proof of +80–100% and the poke test) and yeast and preferments: fresh yeast at 36–39 °F, dry yeast airtight, poolish (1:1 flour and water plus yeast, 12–16 hours) and biga (50–60% hydration) made the night before. There is a column to write down each reading.

The opening checklist runs task by task from 3:00 AM: the ovens and proofer on, the starters checked, scaling and mixing, then fermentation and baking from 5:00 AM and the shop opening from 8:00 AM, with the closing tasks in the early afternoon (the last at 2:30 PM). Every task has a time and who does it (baker, bakery assistant, counter staff or manager), and the manager checklist plans the overnight shift schedule every week. Change the times to fit your own schedule.

Deck and rack ovens. For the deck oven: preheating 45–60 minutes before loading, the deck temperature checked with an infrared thermometer (430–500 °F, by bread), steam on loading for the first 8–10 minutes, the damper opened after 10 minutes to dry the crust, rotating loaves if needed and brushing the deck at close. For the rack oven: preheating per the manufacturer (15–30 minutes), loading racks with evenly spaced pans, programming time, temperature and steam, checking the rack rotates evenly and cleaning the oven and pans. If you bake in a convection oven, add its steps to the blank template.

A bake table in °F for 7 breads, set as a starting point for your oven: baguette at 465–480 °F with steam for 18–22 minutes, rustic loaf at 445–465 °F with steam for 35–45 minutes, ciabatta at 445 °F with steam for 20–25 minutes, whole wheat at 430–445 °F for 30–40 minutes, croissant at 375–390 °F without steam for 15–18 minutes, brioche at 355–375 °F for 20–25 minutes and sourdough at 445–465 °F with steam for 40–50 minutes, by size. Adjust them to your oven and your recipes.

Yes, alongside the everyday bread: croissants, pain au chocolat, danishes and brioche, savory items such as empanadas and filled breads, seasonal breads (rye and walnut in winter, focaccia in summer, pumpkin and chestnut in fall, stollen and panettone for the holidays) and specialty lines such as spelt, kamut, buckwheat and whole rye, gluten-free and organic. It is a bread bakery kit: if you mostly make cakes and pastries to order, the Pastry Shop Checklists Kit Pro is the one built for that.

Yes. Everything bagged or boxed on site gets a label with the name, ingredients, net weight and the major allergens (FDA Food Code 3-602.11); unwrapped bread gets a written allergen notice where your state has adopted the 2022 FDA Food Code (3-602.12(C)). The 9 major US allergens are listed for the counter, mainly wheat, milk, eggs, soy, sesame, tree nuts and peanuts in a bakery. Call an item gluten-free only if you can back it (under 20 ppm gluten, 21 CFR 101.91) with strict separation in a bakery that uses wheat flour, and organic only with certified flour under USDA Organic rules. If you sell by weight, the scale must be legal-for-trade (NTEP).

No. It is set up for a bakery with a health permit (a food establishment) with a bakehouse, ovens and a shop. Many tasks, such as TCS items held at 41 °F or 135 °F, labels for items bagged on site and a licensed pest control operator, assume that. If you bake at home under your state's cottage food law, its rules on what you can sell and how you label it come first.

Yes, you will find free checklist templates online, and a blank one is fine to get started. This kit is something else: 11 Excel workbooks with 135 bread bakery tasks already written and sorted by shift, area and role, a sourdough starter checklist, a bake table and process temperatures in °F, and a ✓ / — / N/A drop-down on the checklists. Print it on US Letter, or save any sheet as a PDF from Excel.

Yes. Every checklist comes with the real tasks of a bread bakery already written. You'll want to make it yours: every cell can be edited, so adjust tasks, times and temperatures to your bakery, delete the ones that don't apply and add your own. The blank template has the same columns for anything extra.

Each checklist has columns for the area or dough type, the task, who does it, when (a time on the opening and closing list, a frequency or the moment of the shift in the others), OK and notes; the starter checklist adds a column for the reading. In 7 of the checklists the OK column has a ✓ / — / N/A drop-down, and the row turns green when you pick ✓; the manager checklist has a status column you fill in yourself. Print the list and hand it to the team, or keep it open on a tablet in the bakehouse.

Checklist apps charge a monthly fee per location and need connected tablets or phones. This kit gives you the same kind of task lists in Excel for $15, a one-time payment. What it is not: there are no reminders, photos or notifications on your team's phones.

Yes. One purchase covers one business with all of its locations, which makes it a good fit for bakery chains. If you are a consultant, you can use the checklists with your clients, but you can't hand them copies: each business buys its own.

The register close-out is part of the day: the closing, display and duties checklists have you count the cash and note any over/short against the POS Z report. This kit has no separate cash count sheet by bill and coin; if you want one that works out the starting bank and the over/short for you, the Restaurant Checklists Kit Pro includes it.

Yes, with a few edits, all in cells you can change. The kit is set up for the US: temperatures in °F, the FDA Food Code (41 °F cold holding and 135 °F hot holding for TCS items such as meat empanadas and cream fillings) and the 9 major allergens. In the UK, the legal limits are 8 °C for cold holding and 63 °C for hot holding, allergen information covers 14 allergens, and plain bread and most cold bakery items sold to take away are zero-rated for VAT, while hot takeaway food is not. In Canada and Australia, check your provincial or state food safety rules and allergen list and type them into the tasks. Every English edition also includes the US · UK · Canada · Australia Equivalents Guide, a bonus with the local terms, taxes, food safety, staff rules and units side by side.

The price is $15 USD, a one-time payment. At checkout, Stripe can show the amount in your local currency (for example GBP, EUR, CAD or AUD) and converts it for you.

No subscription: you pay once and get lifetime access to the online dashboard. When we add new templates or improvements, you get them at no extra cost — just download the files again.

Yes. A full 30-day guarantee. If you're not happy, we'll refund 100% with no questions asked.