The Benefits of Investing in an Industrial Mixer

If you are running a restaurant and looking for ways to make your kitchen run more efficiently or if you are running a bakery and looking for ways to offer customers a medley of fresh, unprocessed pastries, from loaves of bread and pizza crusts to cakes, biscuits, muffins and more, industrial mixers are some of the most useful and versatile pieces of equipment you can invest in.

What Is an Industrial Dough Mixer?

It is the perfect machine for quickly making batches of dough or batter and can be a great addition to your restaurant or bakery equipment. It works the entire bowl thoroughly using powerful motors and attachments, leaving the contents perfectly mixed and aerated. Whether you are whipping cream, kneading dough or simply doing a batch of cake mix, an industrial mixer is a great choice to save time and effort.

Types of Industrial Food Mixers and the Benefits

The key to your success is having a reliable mixer that creates the highest quality products. But choosing the right mixer can be a daunting task. To find the perfect industrial mixer, you need to think about the different kinds of food you plan to create most often and the volume and weight of ingredients. Planetary and spiral mixers are the two most common types of industrial mixers and here is what you should know about them.

Planetary Mixers

This is the most common type of industrial dough mixers used in bakeries around the world. Planetary mixers offer a variety of options, allowing you to prepare different kinds of foods at a high volume. They are a good choice for blending cookie ingredients and kneading heavy dough, but also, they can be used to make a batter, whip light meringues, slice vegetables, chop meat, grate cheese and more.

For optimal performance, planetary mixers need proper attachments and agitators. Dough hooks, whips, beaters, whisks, mixing paddles and knives are common kinds of agitators used for bowl mixing. Slicers, shredders, graters and meat choppers are also common hub attachments for some planetary mixers and they extend the capabilities of the mixer.

These mixers have one motor and a non-rotating bowl. They are generally referred to and sized based on their bowl volume rather than capacity. That’s because specific weights of dough vary widely. Smaller planetary mixers can be placed on a countertop, while larger ones are floor standing. They are a great choice for general-purpose kitchens, pizzerias and bakeries.

Spiral Mixers

Spiral mixers are ideal for kitchens and bakeries that create artisanal bread, pizza and bagels. They ensure proper dough consistency and perfectly blended ingredients because they rotate the bowl in both directions. Spiral mixers are a great option for producing a consistently high-quality dough, but also they can produce smaller batches than planetary mixers.

The mixer bowl rotates as the spiral hook spins to knead the dough, which makes these mixers a great choice for mixing bread because they keep the dough at a lower temperature. This way the dough won’t overheat or ferment too quickly, which affects how the yeast activates.
 

Spiral mixers use one motor to rotate the bowl and another one to rotate the spiral arm. They operate with a pulley system and are quieter than planetary mixers. Also, thanks to the dual bowl rotation, spiral mixers are easier to clean as all you need to do is reverse the bowl to clean the dough off the hook.

Tips on How to Choose the Right Industrial Mixer

Everyone who is a part of the food industry knows that the equipment you choose has a huge impact on the quality of your products. Choosing industrial food mixer is important and it must fit your kitchen’s needs. The right mixer can increase productivity and efficiency in your daily operations and can save you time and money as well. To make the right decision, here are a few things you need to consider before buying your mixer.

Bowl Capacity and Power

The power rating is essential to ensure the dough is kneaded thoroughly without excess wear and tear on the motor. Industrial mixers usually match the motor to the capacity, so you can mix a full bowl. But if you are going to be mixing heavy dough, opting for a more powerful model is always a good idea.

Mix Speeds

Most industrial mixers can adjust to the speed of the mix. If you are doing very precise mixing, make sure to choose a model with easily adjusted speed controls.

Control

Industrial mixers can be operated by manual or digital controls. Manual controls may seem simpler to operate, but mixers with digital control panels can be programmed to stop when needed. It can help you prevent overmixing and do multiple batches simultaneously.

Bowl Lift

As bowl capacities get bigger, the content gets heavier. This can make it a bit tricky to position the bowl ready for mixing. Industrial mixers with a bowl or head lifting mechanisms are designed to help you position the bowl correctly and prevent injury.

Pouring Chute

It can be dangerous to add ingredients to a mixer while it’s still in use. Choosing a model with a pouring chute will allow you to safely add ingredients during operation.

That being said, all commercial mixers must adhere to certain safety standards and it’s important to ensure moving machinery like this is supervised and maintained properly at all times.