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30qt Hobart Paddle not getting all the flour on the bottom

MNBäcker's picture
MNBäcker

30qt Hobart Paddle not getting all the flour on the bottom

Alright,

so I got lucky with a very well kept 30-quart Hobart I bought on Craigslist a couple of months ago. Runs great, I basolutely love it.

One problem I ran into: when I mix my Whole Wheat Flaxseed ingredients, there's usually a little bit of flour left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl... I first add the flour, then the flaxseed, chia seeds, gluten flour and date fines. I then mix those ingredients for a minute to distribute everything. Then I add the water and mix everything for 3 minutes with the paddle in lowest speed. After 30 minutes of rest in the bowl, the dough has autolyzed very well, and I add the salt and yeast, mixing it for 2 minutes with the spiral arm on lowest speed.

When I dump the batch into my plastic tub, there's always a little bit of flour mix left on the very bottom that didn't get incorporated. Is there an adjustment I could make to the bowl height, to get it just a smidgeon higher? I can't really mix the dough any longer without risking it losing all of the gluten development again...

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Stephan

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

Stephan,

I am 99% certain that the bowl height can be adjusted through the internal spring mechanism that acts as a counter balance.  I have not done this but remember reading that this adjustment exists.

Jeff

pmccool's picture
pmccool

you could also mix part of the flour with the seeds, etc., in a separate bowl to ensure good distribution.  Put the liquids in the mixer bowl first, then plain flour, then the mixed flour.  It's another step in the process, which isn't desirable, but may give you the thorough combination of wet and dry all the way to the bottom of the bowl that you want, while still ensuring even distribution of the mix-ins.

Paul

richkaimd's picture
richkaimd

I've had good luck dealing with the people at onesharpstore.com.  You can get their phone number from their website.  Tell them your problem and see what they say.  The website will tell you who they are and what they do.  I dealt with them about finding a bowl and dough hook for an old Hobart.  Very helpful.

Faith in Virginia's picture
Faith in Virginia

The instructions on my 30 qt says to add the wet first then the dry.  I would give that a try first.

gerhard's picture
gerhard

In most bakeries when you mix a batter with the paddle you mix it for x period of time, stop the mixer and use a plastic spatula to scrape the bowl then continue mixing the batter. A dough that gets mixed with the hook normally doesn't need this step because as the dough forms into a ball it cleans and incorporates all the ingredients from sides and bottom of bowl. 

Gerhard

MNBäcker's picture
MNBäcker

Thanks for all the suggestions. I called onesharpstore, and he told me how to adjust the bowl height. He also told me there should be about a "finger-thick" distance between the bottom of the paddle and the bowl. Upon further inspection, the gap was the correct distance.

I then mixed a little, scraped and finished mixing. That worked somewhat, but left a good amount of dough on my arms and still didn't incorporate everything.

My next step was to add a third of my water first, then my dry ingredients, then the rest of the water. Mixed that at 3 minutes in first gear, and everything incorporated like a champ!

 

Stephan