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Kitchen Aid spiral hook is vastly superior to the C hook

GaryBishop's picture
GaryBishop

Kitchen Aid spiral hook is vastly superior to the C hook

I found a KA spiral hook on Amazon and a couple of reviewers said it worked with their KA Professional 5 (KP50) so I gave it a try. It is a huge improvement over the C hook that came with it. KA does not list it as working with the KP50 and I have read that there may be issues with the bearings but it seems to work really well with my tiny experimental loaves.

 

 

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Gary, please provide a link for the attachment.

naturaleigh's picture
naturaleigh

Hi Dan!  I just realized I commented under Gary's post and you wouldn't necessarily get a notification about the links, which I provided below.  Benny purchased one as well, and I believe he is quite happy with the functionality.  As Gary said, it is a FAR superior design and works so much better for kneading.  I rarely used my C-hook because it just didn't work well as far as I could tell, so I was super happy to stumble across the spiral hook several months ago.  

naturaleigh's picture
naturaleigh

Hi Gary!  So glad the spiral hook is working for you too.  It's been a game changer for me for dough formulas that require extensive kneading especially.  I don't know why Kitchen Aid doesn't offer this style on all their models...it is FAR superior to the C-hook.  I'm super glad I bought mine.

Here's a link for the one I got for my smaller KA mixer as well as a link for the larger machine.  Anyone thinking about purchasing should be doubly sure they have checked all the specs to make sure they would be compatible with their machine (although both sellers list free returns on these, at least here in the US).  

Dan, let us know if you give it a try and what your thoughts are!

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Do you find the spiral hook makes the motor work harder to turn?

naturaleigh's picture
naturaleigh

That has not been my experience, although my old KA mule gets warm easily with any kind of effort, LOL. 

I actually think it kneads the dough more quickly and is more efficient, so you can get by with less mixing.  That being said, a large amount of heavy, stiff dough is going to be challenging for most home stand mixers, regardless of the type of hook, but this isn't typically the type of dough I am working with, so it has not been an issue.  I think the design of the spiral hook just works better based on my observations and amount of time it takes to get dough to a windowpane stage.  It works extra ingredients into the dough better as well, like for enriched doughs when you need to add butter.  If I use it this weekend, I'll try to post a video for you so you can get a visual.

Also, The hook is heavier than the old C-hook but it hasn't seemed to be an issue for my old machine.  The finish is pristine and although I was initially hand-washing it, it's since gone through the dishwasher multiple times and come out gleaming.  I was so impressed with the spiral hook, I also immediately ordered the stainless steel version of the paddle and got rid of my old plastic coated one (which I was never thrilled about using).  So, I'm using both without any problems.  Let me know if you have any more questions about anything I haven't covered--I'm happy to provide whatever info I can.

Colin2's picture
Colin2

I got the spiral hook, I think on your recommendation, for my old 4.5 qt.  Thanks!  It's quite good for mixing doughs and is in regular use for that purpose.  The fact that it pushes stuff downward rather then just in a circle mixes dry and wet ingredients a lot faster.

I have not had luck with kneading, though: just like with the C-hook in this machine, it seems to take a dough straight from under- to over-kneaded with no stop in between.  Perhaps I am doing something wrong.  

 

naturaleigh's picture
naturaleigh

Hi Colin!  The only time I've had an issue with over-kneading was when I took the speed up too high and went too long.  For the doughs I'm using the KA for with the spiral hook (cinnamon twists, stromboli dough, enriched rolls, etc.), I do an initial 5-minute knead on the medium speed (around the 4/5 setting, or two to three clicks up from zero), then I start checking gluten development.  If it needs more, I go another 2 minutes, then check again, etc.  It will raise the temp of the dough too if you knead for a long time, so something to consider as far as whether the hydration and/or add in's need to be room temp, warm or cold for your target dough temp.  

I'm not sure what speed you were using or for how long, but maybe a more conservative approach on both might help?  I hope you find a method that will work for you--I love mine and hope everyone that tries it would have good experiences too (especially since I've sung its praises so highly).  ;-)

 

 

alfanso's picture
alfanso

based on this thread and your link I checked my model against those listed to see whether it was eligible for my mixer.  I have a 40 year old K45SS, and was bit surprised to find it there.  I received my spiral 2 days ago and put it to use yesterday. 

On the infrequent occasions when I do use a mixer for my dough, I am almost always vexed by the lack of ability of the C hook to mix efficiently.  And the frequency that I've had to manually clear off the accumulated dough from the hook itself.  

But I'll attest to the difference this spiral makes.  From almost the first few revolutions of the planetary mixer, the spiral was already showing its superiority.  And continued to do so throughout this first AP mix at 76% hydration.

I won't chuck the C hook into the trash, although I should, but I have nary a plan to ever use it again.  Thanks to Gary and you for posting.

Alan

naturaleigh's picture
naturaleigh

Hi Alan!  I'm so glad you are enjoying the spiral hook too!  I hope it is working the dough for you as you had hoped it would.  Sounds like you are happy though ;-)

AlanG's picture
AlanG

I had an older KA Artisan mixer with the C hook but it was underpowered for bread making.  The motor would really labor when you tried to do almost any bread dough.  Some years ago I move up to a KA model 610 and the spiral hook came as standard with that mixer.  It does work very well for every bread that I bake.  I still hand mix pizza dough as I'm only baking one pie for the two of us.  Bread dough is usually 2-3 loaves..

Benito's picture
Benito

I have a KA Artisan stand mixer and purchased the spiral dough hook based on Leigh’s recommendation.  I do think it develops the dough more efficiently than the original C hook that came with the Artisan.  The one issue I have with it is that I have to hold down the mixer as the dough develops otherwise the tilting head starts to bounce up and down.  I waiting for the day it bites the dust and I’ll be forced to buy a better mixer.  That being said, it is definitely a better design than the C hook.  My issues are with the KA Artisan and not the spiral hook.

Benny