I'm having trouble with my rye breads ion the DXL. The loaves seem fine but after putting themm on parchment paper they start to flatten out. I've been following George Greensteins recipes. The dough doesn't seem to be worked in the machine unless I move the scraper around and/or the roller or constaqntly push the dough off the hook. Should I go to folding the dough every 30 minutes to develope the gluten more? I'm thinking of putting some vital gluten in the mix. This may not have anythinbg to do with the mixer itself but the mixer himself.

Hi

I'm just getting to grips with a 20-quart Hobart (nicknamed 'Godzilla'), standard hook. I need this machine as I bake for a local market and they keep crying 'More bread, more bread!'. I'm getting variable results, with some breads not rising as much as expected and others fine. I have read the threads here and seen that people mirror my own experience re. hydration levels; that at lower hydration (say below 62%) a medium-size stand mixer can just push the dough around (and wind it up the hook).

To try to eliminate variables, I'd like to ask a simple question: for a 20-quart planetary stand mixer, is the extra investment in a spiral hook worthwhile, in folk's opinions?

Best from the UK

Steve