As Mike Avery pointed out, home mixers do have there limits. KA gives the
following maximums for all purpose and whole wheat flour:
5 quart mixer: 12 cups ap max/6 cups ww max
6quart mixer: 14 cups ap max/8 cups ww max

"Mike Avery" > wrote in message
news:mailman.7.1162233523.27802.rec.food.baking@ma il.otherwhen.com...
> On 10/30/06, Frank103 > wrote:
>
>> I was reading the reviews for KA on amazon.com and mostly they were
>> averaging 4 to 4 1/2 stars. But there were some very unhappy people who
>> noted a decline in quality since Hobart sold out to Whirlpool. One
>> reviewer
>> mentioned the use of plastic gears instead of metal.
>
> Hobart used A plastic gear also. It is in there so the people who
> don't read the manual will strip a cheap gear instead of burning out
> an expensive motor.
>
>> Others were unhappy
>> that the mixer turned off for a few minutes while kneading when it got
>> over-heated. I believe KA starts off with a 300 watt motor for the less
>> expensive models. Viking has 800 watts. The link given for the Viking on
>> Ebay is up to $400 and it's used. New Vikings on Amazon start around $500
>> plus. There's no doubt that Viking is the stronger machine.
>
> Actually, there is reason to wonder.
>
>> But is it worth
>> twice the price of a KA? Costco is selling the KA Professional HD model
>> for
>> $269. (I would take the use of the word "professional" with many grains
>> of
>> salt.)
>
> A big grain of salt.
>
>> However, on the box they proudly announce that the "professional"
>> model has direct-drive all steel gear transmission and a 475 watt motor -
>> which should be able to serve most people's needs. So I bought one. If
>> I'm
>> not happy with it, Costco will take it back and give me a refund.
>
> For some time, I owned a bakery. We had a Hobart 30 quart mixer. We
> bought it used, and it was probably older than I am. We won't go too
> far into how old I am, but I am certainly old enough to drink
> legally... and a good bit more.
>
> It had a 275 watt motor in it. I routinely mixed 10 pounds of bagels
> or 25 pounds of bread dough in it. One batch after another. For
> about 5 to 8 hours a day. It ran very nicely.
>
> So, why does a home mixer, intended to mix just a few pounds of bread
> dough need an 800 watt motor?
>
> The key difference is simple. The professional mixer has a
> transmission in it. The motor runs at an optimum speed and the gears
> change the speed of the mixing action.
>
> The home mixer uses a variable speed electric motor. When mixing
> dough, it is being asked to deliver high torque at low speeds. Which
> electric motors don't like to do. This provides strain throughout the
> drive train.
>
> A professional mixer comes with a chart that tells you what your load
> limits are, in pounds of product, by product type, and includes limits
> on doughs, such as the flour type and hydration. You can make a lot
> of cake batter, less bread dough, and much less pizza dough or bagel
> dough. My ancient 30 quart mixer could make about 44% as much pizza
> dough as bread dough.
>
> KitchenAid says it has X cups of "flour power" They do tell you to
> reduce the load of the mixer when using whole grain flours, as they
> are harder to mix. They don't mention hydration in their
> documentation.
>
> My ancient KitchenAid's manual has a warning that you should let the
> mixer cool off for 45 minutes after mixing two batches of bread dough
> back to back. I recently asked KitchenAid if ANY of their mixers at
> any price could be used to produce back to back batches of dough all
> day long. The answer was, no. I do not know why they can call any of
> their mixers professional or commercial when they can not tolerate a
> professional or commercial workload.
>
> I haven't seen a Viking's instruction manual, but it faces the same
> fundamental limitation as the KitchenAid, a variable speed motor. It
> is an inapporopriate design choice if you are going to be making lots
> of bread. In one of these forums, someone complained that her
> KitchenAid died on her. She was on her 4th batch of whole wheat
> bread. And each batch was a serious overload of the mixer - if she'd
> been using white flour. Is it the mixer's fault she didn't read the
> manual? No.. but the mixer was still not the best tool for the job.
> If you have a home mixer, regardless of brand, you need to read the
> manual and be aware of its limitations.
>
> Hobart, among others, make professional mixers in sizes suitable for home
> use.
>
> Another option that is frequently mentioned is the Bosch mixer. I
> owned one for a while and sold it on eBay. I found the beaters too
> fragile for real world use, and the dough hook heated the dough too
> much. Neither my employees nor I liked it.
>
> I've played with a Magix Mill/Electrolux Assistent once and it seems a
> better design than the Bosch, but you are paying a good bit more. I'd
> rather play with a mixer a lot longer before recommending it, though a
> friend who's judgement I trust strongly prefers the Electrolux, and
> she owns both.
>
> Any tool has to be selected with an eye towards what you are going to
> use it for. If you are beating egg whites and making cakes, a
> KitchenAid is a great choice. After all these years, I still like my
> KitchenAid. If you're doing lots of bread, neither it - nor any
> machine with a variable speed motor - is likely to be a good choice.
> Especially if you are making whole grain or denser breads.
>
> Mike