Viking 7qt. mixer failed my test.

[AKSteve]

I tried to make a double-batch of pizza dough today (10 cups of flour). It was my first test of a brand new Viking 7qt., 1000watt mixer. Welp, it couldn't handle the task. The mixer froze up after about a minute and I had to finish the dough by hand.


Steve

[Steve]

Unfortunatley most home mixers lack a transmission (gear case) and simply regulate the power to the motor in order to achieve different speeds. A true mixer (e.g., a Hobart) allows the motor to run at its optimum speed all of the time with the mixing speed adjusted via a gear box. This is similar to the transmission in your car. First gear allows the engine to run fast yet the car travels at a slow speed (high torgue). Higher gears produce faster speeds with lower torgue. The opposite is true with most home mixers. The gearing remains the same, so "low" is a relatively high gear with a slow motor speed. This scenario provides low torque which stalls the motor.

[Steve]

As a follow up to my previous post:

For those of you who want a "real" tabletop mixer that sports multiple gearing and some serious horsepower, the Hobart N50 mixer is for you!

http://www.hobartcorp.com/hobartg5/pr/n50.nsf/home

Beware, this mixer is expensive!!

[Steve]

Here is a link to the N50's speficications:

http://www.hobartcorp.com/hobartg6/pr/products.nsf/pages/product-directory_mixers_Mixers?opendocument

[AKSteve]

I'm half tempted to order that Hobart as I'm pretty disgusted with my new Viking 7qt mixer. It can't handle any more dough than my 20 year old KitchenAid. Plus, given the same size amount of flour, the KitchenAid puts out a smoother final dough. The Viking dough hook has this extra cutting blade on the bottom edge. Things will start to mix OK, then if the dough loses traction, this cutting blade will go nuts and slice everything to pieces. I've yet to get a solid, smooth to come out.  Maybe I need to adjust something, but I'm just not very pleased with this mixer.

Steve