Cottage Food Connection
Enews for Minnesota Cottage Food Producers
March 2018
What's New | Food Safety Corner | Producer Spotlight | Just Curious  | Resources

WHAT'S NEW?

MDA updates registration forms
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture now has online registration applications for both new and renewing cottage food producers. A fillable PDF form for emailing or sending was updated on January 2, 2018.
  • Find updated registration fillable form to email or send here. 
  • Online registration application here. 
pH testing practice
Need Tier 2 training? You have options
The cottage food law enacted in 2015 requires training every three years. Is it time for your refresher course? Reaching close or over $5000? We have training options for you. 

Our four-hour in-person training is offered around the state. Or choose to take our online self-paced course offered 24/7. Both training options satisfy the advanced Tier 2 training requirement of the law. These training options are open to anyone interested in cottage food production. 

FOOD SAFETY CORNER

Test doneness of baked goods with a thermometer
You may routinely use a thermometer to test the doneness and safety of meat or poultry. But do you check the temperature of breads, cakes or pies? Using a thermometer is the most reliable test for doneness. 

When your timer goes off, insert an instant read food thermometer in the center of baked goods. Be careful not to touch the bottom of the pan or you will get an inaccurate reading. 

A baked product reaching a temperature above 165°F destroys microbes and makes the food safe from a food safety stand point. However, each baked product has different doneness temperature standards for quality and water activity control. 


Baked goods internal temperature chart
Product
Type
Temperature
Bread, yeast
Hard, crusty
200-210°F
Bread, yeast
Soft, dinner rolls
180-190°F
 
Bread, sourdough
 
200-210°F
Brownies, bar cookies
 
180°F
Biscuits
 
210°F
Cakes, cupcakes
 
200-210°F
Cookies
 
No set final temp.
Cinnamon Rolls
 
190-200°F
Pies, tarts, fruit
 
175°F
Quick Breads
Muffins, cornbread
200°F
Scones
 
200°F

Learn more at:
Flour and food safety concerns
E ggs as a source of Salmonella in raw cookie dough may be on your radar but what about flour? Flour has been the source of foodborne outbreaks related to raw cookie dough, pizza dough and cake batter ice cream in recent years. 

Does your cottage food product contain flour? Flour is a raw agricultural product harvested from grain and may be contaminated with disease causing microbes. Because of the outbreaks, some companies are heat-treating flour to destroy pathogens. 

Siemer milling has a heat-treated cake flour. However, most flour is not-heat treated. Follow these tips for handling flour safely in your cottage food kitchen.
  • Use heat-treated flour, if you make and sell baking mixes, dried noodles or other uncooked products with flour as an ingredient. Alternatively, Cookinglight.com provides this recipe to heat-treat flour in the oven.
    •  Spread two cups of flour on a baking sheet pan in a single layer. Bake for 5 minutes at 350° F. Let cool completely.
  • Raw flour can be used in baked products as pathogens will be destroyed during the baking process.
  • Wash hands, surfaces and utensils after use with flour or raw dough products.
  • Use separate bowls, measuring cups and utensils for flour, raw dough and batter.
  • To prevent cross-contamination of flour powder, prepare food products containing raw flour away from ready-to-eat foods.
  • Wash, clean and sanitize containers holding flour before refilling them.
  • If transferring flour to a container for storage, take a picture of the package with the establishment number and product codes. If flour is recalled, use the photo to identify if you have the recalled product. 
  • Pay attention to recalls related to flour and baking mixes. Throw out any recalled product. 
  • Bake before you bite. Do not taste raw dough or batter with raw eggs or flour.
Source: Flour, raw dough, and raw batter. FoodSafety.gov.   
PRODUCER SPOTLIGHT

Lisa Baxter
Cookie Extraordinaire
Royal iced sugar cookies is Lisa Baxter's cottage food specialty. She is known as the 'cookier' by her customers around the Grove City and Litchfield area. 

Lisa owns and operates Little Bear Bakery--named after her one and only 1 year old grandson Grayson...also known as Graybear. Farm animal cookies such as cows, pigs and lambs are very popular items at her bakery. Lisa loves adding the eyes and smiles to the cookies. It's almost as if they come to life, Lisa noted. 

Lisa has been a registered cottage food producer for one year. Her customers find the bakery through the   Little Bear Bakery Facebook  page and also through Facebook marketplace. Making cookies is very rewarding for Lisa. She enjoys making special treats for others, and seeing the smiles on their faces when they see their orders. 


 
JUST CURIOUS
Just curious explores topics cottage food producers wonder about.

Do I have to use an approved recipe?
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture does not have an approval process for recipes or products. As a cottage food producer, you are responsible for making and selling safe non-potentially hazardous food.

Remember, only non-potentially hazardous food items are allowed for sale under the cottage food law. These foods do not require refrigeration to prevent growth of spoilage and pathogenic organisms. See types of food allowed in Minnesota Department of Agriculture's guidance document here . For recipes and resources, check out our resource hub here . 


Don't 'cakenap' someone else's design? 
A customer asks you to make and decorate a cake with Elsa from Frozen. Is this legal? No, not unless you have permission or a license from the copyright owner to copy it. Same is true with registered trademarks of toys, sports team logos or designs by designers. Unfortunately, copyright owners of popular characters like Elsa don't grant licenses.
 
Changing the color of Elsa's hair or dress isn't legal either. Buying a licensed Elsa figurine is okay and not a copyright infringement; unless, Elsa is a knockoff. 

Avoid getting into a legal jam with protected images, learn more from these resources:
  • Cakeboss.com interviews an intellectual property attorney and provides expert advice and answers common question about selling cakes and cookies with copyright designs. 
  • The Bakery Perspective's blog post, Copyright Law and Cake Decorating, provides tips to protect against copyright infringement. 
  • Wicked goodies. Video explains to prevent copyright infringement on yours and others artistic designs.
RESOURCES TO EXPLORE

University of Minnesota Extension Q & A
You had questions? We found the answers? Answers to over 100 questions asked by Minnesota Cottage Food Producers can be found on our Cottage Food Q & A blog here . 

Recently answered questions include:
  • Can I use the cottage food exemption to process my honey and boil my maple syrup in my home kitchen? 
  • Can I use Norwex ™microfiber cloths for sanitizing food contact surfaces? 
  • Can I use my shed, deck or garage to do my cottage food production? 
  • Is dehydrated or freeze dried fruit an allowed topping on cake/cupcakes? 
  • Can I add cooked bacon to my BBQ sauce? 
Cottage Food Law Guidance 
Minnesota Department of Agriculture
This site is frequently updated to answer questions about registration, sales limits, training requirements, types of food allowed, labeling requirements, sales locations, inspection and compliance with the law. 

Minnesota Registered Cottage Food Producers Facebook Group
Want to connect with other Minnesota cottage food producers? Join the MN Registered Cottage Food Producers Group to share pictures of your product, ask for advice and learn tricks of the trade. You must be a registered cottage food producer to join.

Bakerpedia
Hey bakers, do you know about bakerpedia.com ? It's a great credible free online resource that you must bookmark. On the site, you will find resources about baking science, formulas, and tested recipes. You can also ask experts anything about your baking business. 
HELP WITH FUTURE ISSUES

Interested in being featured in the Producer Spotlight? Have a favorite resource to share? Curious about something? Let me know at  [email protected] .


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