The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Hobart Kitchenaid Model G

Anderon's picture
Anderon

Hobart Kitchenaid Model G

Hi everybody,

since i'm new here a few words about myself:

I'm a 23 year old guy from Germany who likes old Machines, Technology and repairing / restoring or even improving these as well as building / creating stuff in general.

Well lets start with the Backstory :)

About a week ago i was searching for a kitchen mixer that is sturdy, good quality and will stand the test of time. Litte did i know wich way this late night stroll through Ebay Kleinanzeigen (basically a german version of craigslist) would be heading in to the end. I found many Artisan's, Ultra Durable's and even a few Professionals and K5A's but then i laid my eyes upon an ooold Kitchenaid Mixer here in my area with no price listed. I said to myself: asking doesn't hurt, if they agree on 100 bucks i will take it and restore it. The very friendly Woman wanted 120 so i was like ok, deal!

By then i was hooked, i researched a bit, come to find it's a Hobart Kitchenaid Model G made in 1931! Sleep can wait, i'm going to find out everything i can about this old beauty of a beast. Said and done, i searched for pictures, found out it is produced until TODAY 89! years later nearly identical by the same company to the same level of quality. The glorious N-50. Read every Post i could find on the Model G, watched youtube videos and so on.

The next morning at 9:30 i got it in my trunk grinning from ear to ear.

The machine works and sounds great, goes through the gears like a charm but has a few issues. The little metal hook where you snap the bowl in place is broken off, the original switch is gone, replaced with one in the place of the fuse, the grease is leaking out of the casing, one rubber foot is gone and the paint shows its age. Still, nothing i can't fix.

Now to the attachements. I got the flat beaters, the original and a similar looking one (don't know wich kitchenaid its from), the original whisk, Bowl, a meat grinder missing it's knifes and the nut fixing them in place, a dough hook and a bowl with a sieve at the bottom.

Now they all show their age and i wouldn't want to make my food with them, the nickel coating of everything is nearly all gone, the bowl is dented, the flat beater is like eaten away from the inside where you attach it to the machine and the whisk wires are halfway falling out.

So i contacted Hobart told them what i wanted to do and got redirected to a very, very nice and helpful woman working the replacement parts service here in germany. Said and done and i got a Parts catalouge of the N-50 complete with drawings and everything and a quote for a few Parts.

The bowl i will buy, since it's stainless steel, the whisk i will repair myself with new wires since it would cost more than the bowl, the flat beater and the dough hook would still be aluminium coated, so thats a no too.

Soo, what will i do to the Machine? New Paint, new grease, maybe new bushings, a new powercord, hopefully a new switch at the place of the old one with the lock for the gear lever, a new bowl, refurbish the whisk, maybe a new dough hook and flat beater or powdercoat the ones i have depends if i can find new ones in stainless steel.

And now we are at the main reason i opened this thread and got carried away writing a little short (long) story.

I really REALLY want the pastry knife but they are incredibly hard to find and extremely expensive for and old aluminium part with the coating gone...

So i want to build my own one since i have the Machines like a mill, lathe, steel cutter, etc. at my disposal. And maybe if more want one i could talk my boss into letting me built these at work and sell them. Somehow i have to give him a reason to buy a WIG welder :D.

So, does anyone have an original Pastry knife and can provide me with detailed photos and measurements of it? I would also like to build one to give it away to either the one providing the measurements or to someone who is desperately searching for one like myself. The pastry knife would be made fully of stainless steel, since i dont want to coat it and i want to be able to put it in my dishwasher.

By the way, does anyone know about a flat beater and a dough hook made out of stainless?

And at last, i am sorry for the extremely long post of me storytelling and geeking out on the Model G, i hope it was at least nice to read and not all too bad english.

Yours sincerely

Markus

 

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Markus,  can't help with your request for info,  but enjoyed your post, hope you like your mixer, and be sure to post before and after photos.  

Rock's picture
Rock

I have no experience with this company but they show a pastry knife for number of models along with dough hooks and beaters. Perhaps they can help with your Model G.

https://www.superdoughhook.com/english/spiral-doughhooks-beaters-pastry-knife/

Dave

Anderon's picture
Anderon

@barryvabeach thank you :) I will post pictures once i got the time to start this project.

@rock thank you very much, it seems like they actually have the knife i wanted to make for 82€ and i will order one. And ask them if they have a dough hook and a flat beater in stainless too. 

When their pastry knife arrives i would like to compare it to the original, so i'm still hoping for a savior with measurements and photos ?.

Yours sincerely

Markus

flormont's picture
flormont

Hello Markus,

I'll share with you the requested pictures and information about the genuine pastry knife as soon as I gain access to my lock-up where my hobart stuff is stored (for now I'm travelling from south-america to europa).
Thank you for your patience,

Regards

Anderon's picture
Anderon

Hi, 

Thank you very much :)

I wish you a nice trip and good health. If you are travelling through germany send me a pm.

Yours sincerely

Markus

Anderon's picture
Anderon

Hi everyone,

I just got my order from superdoughhook

The doughhook is absolutely great and has a polished finish - perfect! But it doesn't reach the bottom of the bowl, it's about 18,5cm long. (The original is 19,5cm)

The pastry knife fits great too but it has a rough finish and isn't "sharp" its dull (a little more than 3mm thick) so i will have to make my own to come as close as possible to the original. The one i got will get polished and tested (before the polish) and has to go head to head with my one when i eventually have the prototype ready.

And now the flat beater. The finish is ok, it's polished but

1. It doesn't fit the shaft and it is 18,5cm long. The original should be around 19,5-20cm.  

2. It wasn't sanded, the bridge where the pieces were cut is still partially there and the edges are sharp and it's got a few little dents.

Apart from the flat beater not fitting, this would be complaining on a high level BUT these 3 Attachments cost me 250€! And for that price i am expecting high quality parts. Sadly my expectations were not met.

I did send them an email about the flat beater, we will see how they will answer.

Here is a picture of the 3 new ones and the original flat beater on the right, but it looks much smaller on the picture as it is in realtiy,

Does anyone know how close the doughhook should come to the bowl?

Yours sincerely

Markus

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Most of the participants also thought that the knife should have a sharp edge, rather than a blunt edge, even though the manufacturer said the blunt edge is correct.  Here's a post from one user about their experience using the pastry knife without sharpening.  In short, it is very effective exactly as it is manufactured, without any further sharpening.

I suggest that you use it without modifications so that you understand how it works before trying something that might diminish its capabilities.

Paul

Anderon's picture
Anderon

Thank you for your comment, i will read the thread this evening.

I will test it as is before doing any modification to it and after modificating it.

I dont like the idea of having an attachement for food that isn't smooth (or nearly smooth like the stainless steel bowl.) 

But that could be just my imagination, i'm quite new at baking / making dough myself.

Yours sincerely

Markus

Knead_By_Hand's picture
Knead_By_Hand

Hobart puts edges on all their pastry knife attachments for a reason.  SuperDoughHook doesn't demonstrate its use with butter, only with pasta dough.  It doesn't look like its very effective with pasta dough either.  I seriously question that poster's validity, except as an advertisement for a third party item that does not match Hobart's original design.  

therearenotenoughnoodlesintheworld's picture
therearenotenou...

Markus, 

Just be aware, the Model G's beaters and bowl are slightly different to modern Kitchen 5qt mixers.  

Yes you can use  modern beater attachments - but as you discovered they are slightly too short.  Model Gs are more like the Hobart N50 (which is essentially the model that replaced it).  What you are looking for is either: original Model G attachments, N50 attachments, or after market equivalents for N50.

As a heads up, the standard Copper insert bowl for 5qt bowls do work for the Model G if you are using a whisk. However, the wall thickness can be an issue if you are using the flat beater. I am amazed at how close the original flat beater runs to the wall of my original bowl (it must be under 1mm) so I wouldn't use a flat beater on mine. 

Once you realise these machines are this heavy just so they can run this precisely, it all makes sense.