Understanding The Options For Edible Printing Supplies
As a bakery owner, one of the best investments you can make to help expand your business is an edible printer. Edible printing allows you to create flawless, crisp images to put onto cakes and pastries. The key is choosing the right printer and printing supplies. Here are a few things you should know as you start looking at your options.
What Kind Of Printer Do You Choose?
In most cases, you can use any photo or inkjet printer that will support edible ink cartridges. Sometimes, you can even find a desktop printer model that will meet your needs. If you're anticipating high volume printing or you're looking for something that can produce detailed, intricate printed designs, you may need to consider a larger photo-style printer.
There are both new and refurbished options as well, making it easier to find something that will fit your budget. Just don't ever use a printer that's been used for traditional printing in the past, because the standard printer ink will contaminate the edible printing sheets.
If you aren't ready to jump into a purchase yet, you can even work with a local printer rental company to rent one for a few months. This may give you a good chance to see how edible printing would be received in your business without the costly expense of actually buying a printer outright.
What Kind Of Paper Do You Need?
You'll probably want to keep both forms of edible paper in stock because both have their own unique benefits. Understanding each one will help you choose the one that best fits the project you're working on.
Frosting paper, a product created by spreading thin layers of buttercream onto plastic sheets. It makes it easy to print images that will blend into the texture and flavor of an iced surface. This is great for buttercream frosted cakes because the frosting sheet will essentially melt into the surface, leaving the image clearly behind. Unfortunately, frosting paper doesn't blend as well with fondant and marzipan coatings, so you'll want to use starch paper for those.
Starch paper is another popular choice for edible printing. Some suppliers may sell it as wafer paper. It's flexible, thin and white in color. It's not made to dissolve into the frosting like a buttercream sheet, though, so you'll want to be choosy about what you use it for. Don't try to print something to cover an entire cake surface. Use this for smaller decorations and accents or for those fondant-covered spaces. Also, when applying starch paper to buttercream, make sure the buttercream is dried on the surface. If it's still wet, the moisture will damage the paper.
Edible printing is a great way to expand your bakery operation. Before you make the leap into stocking up on all of those supplies, though, talk with a local printer rental company about giving it a trial run.
For more information, contact Office Products Services or a similar company.