The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

RPMs on the DLX & Greetings

RugBoy's picture
RugBoy

RPMs on the DLX & Greetings

Hi everybody!

I don't think I've posted before, but I figured out a way to get the exact RPM count on the DLX, and I thought some of you might be interested.  I put a little sticky note on the side of the bowl, and took video at the three lowest speeds.  Next I played them back in slow motion, and counted turns with the second timer.

The very lowest setting turned out to be 60 rpms, where the second line starts was 120 rpms, and where the third line starts was 180 rpms.  Of course, this was under no load, but at least it gives a benchmark.

Off topic a bit, let me say that this is a great site, and it has really helped me get a leg up on my learning curve.  I baked my first loaf on June 6th of last year, & I have loaf #138 & #139 retarding as I sit here.  I thank all of you who have helped me witout knowing it. 

My wife and I attended Peter Reinhart's lecture at the Asheville Bread Festival this last weekend, and we were impressed with what a nice person he seemed to be, in addition to having a deep insight into the tranformative nature of, as he puts it, "wheat to eat ".  Emily Buehler, author of "bread science" was also teaching a seminar, and again, you couldn't imagine a nicer, gentler person.

This community of bakers from all over the world is a great one, and I feel lucky to be part of it.

ehanner's picture
ehanner

Rugboy,

We have a lot of IT types and engineers along with a goodly share of scientist that will no doubt be thrilled at your solution for determining the rpm on your mixer. I can't off hand think of a reason I would want to know due to the other variables but why not.

Welcome to the site. I look forward to seeing your breads at least every 800-900 revolutions.

Eric

RugBoy's picture
RugBoy

Thanks Eric.

Through the months I've found a great many of your postings very helpful.

As to why...

Early on in my reading Jeffrey Hamelman told me I needed to know the rpms to get in the vicinity of 900 to 1000 revs.  Now, I'm pretty much able to let the dough tell me when its ready; but, in the beginning I was looking for guidance. 

Over time, I've come to mix just as little as I can get away with, and finish developement through stretch & folds, and retardation.  Even so, in the back of my mind I guess I still wanted the rpm question answered.

RugBoy's picture
RugBoy

I think the rpm thing was Hamelman's way of giving a new baker a sort of general ideal for how long his machine might take to develop the dough.  I went back and looked at his advice, and he stresses that, as we all know, there are no hard and fast rules.

In retrospect, I know that yesterday's loaf took about 720 turns around the spindle.  What's more important is that it made a killer BLT this morning.

I'll try a picture.