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Overview

Most recipes are not one continuous task. They have distinct phases — prep, mix, bake, cool, decorate. Knead lets you define these phases on each recipe so it can estimate production time, feed The Sweet Spot capacity calculations, and generate accurate checklists on The Pass.

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What Are Recipe Phases?

A recipe phase is a single stage of production with its own time estimate. When you break a recipe into phases, Knead understands not only what to make but how long each step takes and how that time changes with quantity. Common phases include:
  • Prep — Measuring ingredients, preheating the oven, lining pans.
  • Mix — Combining ingredients, creaming butter and sugar, folding batter.
  • Bake — Oven time.
  • Cool — Resting on a rack before the next step.
  • Decorate — Frosting, piping, fondant work.
  • Assemble — Stacking tiers, boxing, final touches.
You can name your phases anything that matches your workflow. There is no fixed list.

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Adding Phases to a Recipe

  1. Tap Products in the main navigation.
  2. Open the product whose recipe you want to edit.
  3. Tap Recipe.
  4. Scroll to the Production Phases section.
  5. Tap Add Phase.
  6. Enter a name for the phase (for example, “Decorate”).
  7. Set the estimated time in minutes.
  8. Choose a scaling type (see below).
  9. Repeat for each phase in your recipe.
  10. Tap Save.
Your phases appear in order on the recipe. Drag them to rearrange if needed.

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Understanding Scaling Types

Each phase has a scaling type that tells Knead how time changes when you produce larger quantities. Fixed — The time stays the same regardless of quantity. Preheating an oven takes the same 15 minutes whether you bake one tray or five. Use this for setup tasks, oven preheating, and any step that does not repeat. Linear — The time scales directly with quantity. Decorating 24 cookies takes twice as long as decorating 12. Use this for per-item tasks like piping, hand-decorating, or individually wrapping. Stepped — The time increases in steps based on batch capacity. If your oven fits two trays and each bake cycle is 20 minutes, four trays means two cycles at 20 minutes each (40 minutes total), not 80 minutes. Use this for baking, chilling, or any step limited by equipment capacity.
Good to know: Getting scaling types right matters. They feed directly into The Sweet Spot capacity calculations. If your time estimates are off, your availability windows will be too.

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How Phase Times Feed Into Knead

Once you set up phases, Knead uses the data in two places: The Sweet Spot — When a customer submits an order, Knead calculates the total production time based on the order quantity and your phase scaling types. This is how The Sweet Spot knows whether you have capacity on a given day. The Pass — Production checklists show each phase as a checkable step. You can work through them in order and track your progress throughout baking day.

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Setting Phase Overrides for Variants

Some product variants take longer to produce than others. A three-tier wedding cake requires more decorating time than a single-tier birthday cake, even though they share the same base recipe.
  1. Open the product and tap Variants.
  2. Select the variant you want to customize.
  3. Tap Phase Overrides.
  4. Adjust the time estimate for any phase that differs from the base recipe.
  5. Tap Save.
Phase overrides apply only to that specific variant. The base recipe phases remain unchanged for other variants.
Pro tip: Start with your base recipe phases and only add overrides where the time difference is significant. A few minutes here and there do not move the needle on capacity, but a 90-minute decorating difference on a tiered cake absolutely does.

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Tips for Accurate Timing

  • Time yourself during your next bake. Estimates from memory are often too short.
  • Round to the nearest 5 minutes. Precision down to the minute is not necessary.
  • Revisit your phases after a few weeks of use. Adjust any estimates that consistently feel off.
  • Include cleanup steps if they block other production. Washing bowls between batches is real time.
Still need help? Contact us