I just bought an old Berkel BX20 20 qt mixer. It's cast iron and super heavy. I'm looking to purchase a work table to support it. Does anyone have any idea what this might weigh and what are my best options for a table?

Hey everybody,

I'm looking at buying a 20 qt mixer for some light commercial baking (for a local café, farmers market, etc.) and possibly some intense home baking.

I've been finding tons of Hobart A-200 in the $1200-1800 range, often with questionable history and function. A perk is that there are tons of reasonably priced accessories and replacement parts out there.

I've also been finding a bunch of Univex 20 qt mixers for $500-1000, some of which have been checked out or refurbished. Extra parts and bowls, however, seem a bit expensive when compared with the Hobart.

So obviously Hobart is the golden standard in the mixer world but I'm seeing some great deals on the Univex models. It seems hard to pass up a Univex since I can purchase two (or even three) for the same price as a Hobart.

What are your histories with these mixers? How do they stack up to Hobart? Any info would be helpful!

thanks in advance,

Tom

Is anyone here familiar with older hobart mixers?  I was recently given one and have used it for the first time this morning.  As a test, I made a double batch of sourdough which is rather small for a 20 qt mixer but too large for my 300W K45 stand mixer.  The 20 qt mixer kneaded the dough in far less time than my K45... it passed the a windowpane test after 8 min of kneading while my K45 usually takes 13-15 min.  I did observe a few noises while mixing that I captured on a video.  While not in the video, I also observed the clutch to slip once and the rotation speed increased momentarily.  It is an old mixer that has sat idle for quite a few years.  Is there anything I can do (grease/oil) to refresh it a little?  I have the user/operator manual with the exploded parts list from hobart but I've never disassembled and re-greased one myself.