August 1, 2015 - 6:17pm
spiral or plantery mixer
Hi there
I'm wanting to purchase a spiral mixer that can handle a min of say 3 kg of dough up to 10 kg if dough ( for pizzas and bread making!).
I'm keen on a 16 litre capacity 'fimar' or 'monoscud' brand spiral mixer.
Can spiral mixers handle high hydration dough ( like ciabatta dough).
Im wanting the spiral to handle say 50% (hard) to say 85% hydration dough ( ver wet). Can a typically spiral mixer accomodate this?
I'm unsure where to go for a plantery ( 20 litre bowl capacity) or the spiral.
regards
Vman
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Spiral mixers are designed specifically to knead dough, while planetary mixers are multi-purpose machines which can knead dough, mix batters, or whip ingredients (such as egg whites). If you plan to use your machine solely to knead dough, then a spiral mixer is the better choice.
Bob
Thanks Bob
if the plantery is also capable of kneading dough wouldn't it be more practical to purchase a planetary( with a spiral hook) over a spiral!
I currently have an old Hobart A200 with a spiral dough hook - it's working well and I use it for loads up to 6Kg of dough. (about 3,5Kg flour)
It does get occasional use to make 3Kg batches of pastry dough although I use the paddle in there and finish it off by hand. I've never had enough egg whites to beat up to use it for that purpose though!
So that works fine for me, but I recently saw a chap with a couple of spiral mixers (and I didn't jot down their type) and am now wondering if they might better suit the quantities of dough I'm making. The current and trivial limitation is the size of the plastic boxes I use to do the bulk ferment of the dough in, and 5Kg of dough is 6 large loaves which is all that will fit in my current oven (but the next oven will take 12, so ...)
When I was looking at spiral mixers a year or so back, some did specifically suggest that they were not for pizza dough - not sure why though.
If you go for the planetary mixer, do see if there is a dough spiral available for it - the one I have for my A200 is much better than the supplied dough hook.
-Gordon
Thanks for your feedback Gordon
The plantetry would definitely have a dough hook. I'm just concerned if I go for a plantery that it will not knead dough with varying hydrations effectively relative to a spiral!
Mr Google bombards me with info that for kneading dough the spiral is more effective than the plantery( with a dough hook), I prefer the plantery option as it's more practical ie with 3 mixing attachments.
is different from the dough hook.
So this is what I bought:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-20-QT-SPIRAL-DOUGH-HOOK-FITS-HOBART-HEAVY-DUTY-BAKERY-MIXER-20L-A200-AE200-/140506442846?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item...
compare that to images of the standard hook... I started with the hook and a friend suggested I get the spiral - which I did and it does seem to perform better - but what's missing is the "dough bar" which sits stationery in the middle of the mixer in a proper spiral mixer.
I've used my 55 year old Hobart A200 for ciabatta (with the paddle beater at speed 2) as well as my usual 65% hydration sourdough and slightly lower standard yeasted dough mixes. (and xmas cake and pastry making) Just worked out the hydration of the pastry I make - it's 38% although I only get it to mix it up until it starts to "clump" then I finish it off by hand.
I think I've spent enough on ovens for now though, but I might re-visit my options by the end of the year..
-Gordon
"but what's missing is the "dough bar" which sits stationery in the middle of the mixer in a proper spiral mixer."
Also the bowl isn't rotating which it would on a spiral mixer.
Gerhard