March 21, 2012 - 11:24am
Maximum safe dough weight for Hobart 20 quart mixer ?
Conflicting information from Hobart. First of all the A-200 that I just bought
seems to have been originally fitted with a 1/3 HP motor ( like mine) and then
they changed to a 1/2 HP . Further confusion is that both the 1/3 and the 1/2
are both rated at 8.5 amps on the specification plate on the machines.
I am thinking that to be safe I should use the 1/3 HP A120 recommendation
rather that the A200 specs . See Hobarts charts for both below.
Hobarts 'AR -absorbtion rate' ( water divided by flour) is not the same as
'hydration' I guess, to further confound me. What total pizza dough weight do
you think would be safe ?
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On our 20qt Hobarts, for high hydration doughs (around 70-73%) we go to 6.8kg (just under 15lbs) dough weight. As hydration drops, and/or mixing time rises, so does the load. Example: croissant-like dough at 60-62.5% drops the load to 5.4kg (just under 12lbs), but actual croissant dough with its long mix drops to 4.8kg (a little better than 10lbs).
These guidelines are based on using the dough hook, not the paddle. Using the paddle, I would change these examples to 10lbs and 7.5lbs but these are just guesses, we never use the paddle for bread and bread-like doughs.
Cheers
Thanks for the first hand info. I want to stay on the safe side. Can always do more
than one batch. The Hobart chart seems a bit optimistic. Do you remember what HP yours is ?
By the way I found a great online bread dough calculator after I posted.
http://swingleydev.com/bread/bread_calculator.php
I would recommend that you stay on the lighter side of things and not overload the mixer. They can and do break. I am a bit confused by the charts as the chart on the left is for a 12 quart mixer which you do not mention in your post.
Jeff
I'm in general agreement with Jeff, but I can mix around 8kg of dough in my Hobart 20 quart without straining the machine in anyway.
I use an autolyse of 1 hour first of all. Then I add salt and leaven and mix on first speed only for 15 minutes. This is for a dough with 73% overall hydration. The spiral type hook is much more effective than the D hook which I replaced when I bought the machine.
Best wishes
Andy
I think we'll try upping batch size on our high hydration stuff
Cheers
Yerfejj: The A200 was made with 1/3 and 1/2 HP - the A120 was 1/3 HP only, so
I showed the A120 specs for the 1/3 and the A200 as probably 1/2 HP. I would have have hoped that
a manufacturer would not have the same model with 2 different motors - or if , would show different
specs for the 2 sizes of motors.
I have now discovered that the hook is running anti clockwise and not clockwise so its a
big learning experience. No wonder they sold it. Will have to find out how to change the wiring.
You will find that, in fact, the same mixer model can have two different motor sizes. I assume that this is just part of the evolution of the machine. I would disregard motor size and go with Hobart specs for the year your mixer was made and by all means do not exceed what those specs call for. For all I know the 1/3 hp motor of 1960 could be better and stronger than the 1/2 hp motor 0f 2000....just a possibility as I do not actually know.
The shaft from the housing runs clockwise but the attachments spin counter clockwise while rotating in a clockwise pattern. This is the essence of a "planetary" mixer.
Jeff
The same KitchenAid/Hobart people own the entire mixer market from
$ 199, to $2000 and up. Why is there no competition? No market.
When more people bake bread, better, cheaper mixers will come.
" the housing runs clockwise but the attachments spin counter clockwise while rotating in a clockwise pattern"
So how do I change the motor direction ?
Andy- " spiral type hook is much more effective than the D hook" ?? More ...
the one I have I think is 'ED' ??
Respect to all Bakers !
Kitchenaid and Hobart have been separate since 1986 when KA was sold to Whirlpool. There are quite a number of mixers from other manufacturers in the price range you mention. Both for the home market and the light commercial market. As for Hobart, I do not believe that they sell any mixer for under $2000.
Jeff
We hane KA Pro 5's and 6's and a few of the 7's on the way. We also have Hobarts. The KAs are used for small batch work and recipe testing.
For our new location, I just picked up 2, 20qt (checked, they are 1/2) for $1100 ea and a 60qt for $2275. The 60 is old and loud but give me a used Hobart over a new just about anything else anyday.
A colleague (i.e. friendly competitor) of mine has a Hobart 80qt from (he claims) 1918 that is still in full daily production.
To be sure, we only use planetary mixers for their versatility. I was tempted to get a spiral instead of the 60 , but the guy dropped the price waaaay down, so....
Cheers
" The shaft from the housing runs clockwise but the attachments spin counter clockwise while rotating in a clockwise pattern. This is the essence of a "planetary" mixer.
Jeff"
My newish /never repaired KitchenAid shaft runs ANTIclockwise around the bowl and the hook spins Clockwise
on the shaft. The recently purchased old Hobart is the opposite, which must be wrong.
I think I need an electrician. No wiring diagrams on Hobart site.