Gratuitus Overkill Time

[GotMojo]

I'm dipping my toe back into the pool.

By that I mean I'm cannonballing off the 10m tower without swimming skills, life vest or swim trunks!

1st acquisition:  Spiral Mixer

I pored through the posts here and decided to go with a dark horse:

The Alpha AVS-10

To the uninitiated, it's a sight to behold.  To my counter and back... oof!

It's much, MUCH bigger than what I really wanted.  Don't do very big batches but it ticked a lot of boxes, both good and bad.

On the plus side:

• Tilt Head
  
• Variable Speed
• Timer
• Removable Bowl
• Belt Drive
• Digital Interface

Minuses:

• MIC
• 10L Capacity
• BIG BIG BIG
• HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY
• Digital Interface

Every single one of the downsides washed away from memory when I discovered the price.  $1,036.00 USD

Shipped.
To California!

That is significantly less than anything I've seen that's comparable.  Every other 7qt mixer that I've seen here is around $1500 when it's all said and done.
The non tilting version is $250 less.

[GotMojo]

Here's a video of it from YT:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRnnvVOFcoc

[TXCraig1]

Look forward to reading about how it works!

[Jon in Albany]

Me too. I can find it for sale, but I can't find a manufacturer's web page. Looks interesting.

[GotMojo]

I provided a link to Phoenix Food Equipment.  That's who sells it in Canada.  I couldn't not find it or a rebranded version anywhere else.

[Jon in Albany]

I found them, but I didn't see anything on Alpha Food Equipment. The flyer has their name at the bottom of the page.

Found lots of companies with Alpha in the name, but didn't see a mixer producer.

[GotMojo]

Look forward to reading about how it works!

Shouldn't be too long. 

A friend arrived today.  Good thing I played hooky!

[foreplease]

It's a beaut. Sounds as if you researched it well. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it, hopefully in one of the busy sub forums for various kinds of pizza. You would be a good one to start your own thread from Day 1, maybe in General Pizzamaking https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?board=5.0
I have a feeling you are going to quickly make great progress with your two new tools.

[GotMojo]

This is just for info on the mixer itself for the next person who's scouring the internet, trying to fill that void in their soul/kitchen.

So, in that spirit, first test out of the gate was a raging success.

My very first Baguettes ever!  Outside was damn near perfect.  Inside still needs a little work (a bit too dense) but that will come with time.

Today I mixed up some pizza dough.  Following Vito's method.  (300/300/5/5 honey poolish - 12 hr)  1.5kg total mass for 6 balls.

Melted the poolish in 1/2 water on speed 1 for a minute or two.
Incorporated flour on speed 1 for another minute or two.
Slowly added rest of water and then ran on speed 4 for 6-8 mins.

The only issue so far is that the bowl is quite large and I had to scrape the sides a bit.  Not a huge deal for small batches like this.  I suspect it won't be a problem for larger ones.

Everything came together just like on YouTube.  Stopped when it got silky and shiny. 

SO glad I got the tilting version.  Made scooping out very easy.  Also made cleaning a cinch -- wash the spiral and cutter, pop the bowl off, dump and clean in sink. Done!

Ball came together nicely after a couple of folds.  No sticking or mess to clean up.

So far this has been the easiest, least stressful dough session to day.  Wish I had made the investment a long time ago!

The timer feature is really nice. 

 

[GotMojo]

Lightest, airiest crust I've made to date.  Also the easiest to keep round, which was an unexpected but welcome surprise.  Not perfect by any means but most definitely a level up for me.  The mixer has definitely delivered in the way I had hoped it would.  Making the dough today was a comparable breeze with great results.  Happy Happy!

This was the inagural cook on the new oven and my first on biscotto. 

[PizzaIsBread]

do they make a smaller version?

[GotMojo]

If they do, I couldn't find it.  a 7L version would have been perfect.

I picked up this rolling cart for it so I can wheel it out of the way.  Not ideal -- it needs a second shelf to keep it from flexing but like the mixer, it gets the job done.

[Bill3423]

Mojo.. I'm in the same boat. When you ordered this Alpha 10 mixer where did you get it from? I only see it at phoenix equipment in Canada for $900 plus $108 shipping to New York. If you got it from Canada did you have to pay any import/duty/tariff taxes on top of the shipping? I hear that can get rather expensive and you don't know how much it is till it arrives. Thanks!

[GotMojo]

Yes, I got it from Phoenix in Canadia.  No taxes or other fees.

I would give the smaller ones that have popped up since I got mine a serious look.  They all seem to be coming from the same factory.

[Bill3423]

Thanks! Where have you seen smaller ones than 10 quart? I have had trouble even finding spirals at 10 quart.,I just don't want to go too big. Typically I'm doing about 1500 grams/ 3.3 pounds of flour. The alpha 10 quart should be able to do this smaller batch?

[Decoy205]

If you're not using it for commercial use might as well start  .  Pizza and Brad look fantastic!  One technique is down I think proper tools make a big difference.  Looks like a success!

[raminolta]

I am contemplating about buying this mixer. Considering that you have had the mixer for about three months now, I am wondering how your experience has been so far? Any problem? How often have you used it? 

Thanks

[LucianoButNoO]

I'm dipping my toe back into the pool.

By that I mean I'm cannonballing off the 10m tower without swimming skills, life vest or swim trunks!

1st acquisition:  Spiral Mixer

I pored through the posts here and decided to go with a dark horse:

The Alpha AVS-10


To the uninitiated, it's a sight to behold.  To my counter and back... oof!

It's much, MUCH bigger than what I really wanted.  Don't do very big batches but it ticked a lot of boxes, both good and bad.

On the plus side:

• Tilt Head
  
• Variable Speed
• Timer
• Removable Bowl
• Belt Drive
• Digital Interface

Minuses:

• MIC
• 10L Capacity
• BIG BIG BIG
• HEAVY HEAVY HEAVY
• Digital Interface

Every single one of the downsides washed away from memory when I discovered the price.  $1,036.00 USD

Shipped.
To California!

That is significantly less than anything I've seen that's comparable.  Every other 7qt mixer that I've seen here is around $1500 when it's all said and done.
The non tilting version is $250 less.

I think getting the best equipment right off the get go is great. I m new to pizza making and I got a spiral(though more basic, the Vevor) and I am really happy I did. No need to hand knead and feel the dough. I can do all the learning and feeling right on the spiral. Just stop more often, check and pay close attention in the beginning. Quick note: I m sure the tilt head is better but it's so easy to clean the fixed head if the dough is properly done and removed, I don't feel I m missing out much. Kudos for the oven too.

[raminolta]

I just saw tese mixers on US Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFQGKC44/?tag=pmak-20

and

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG5WVMQB/?tag=pmak-20


They looks similar to Alpha mixer with a digital display sold in Canada, variable speed and priced even lower. Surprisingly, they are very compact, smaller than Alpha mixer. They don't doesn't ship to Canada but possibly a good deal for Americans.

[raminolta]

Finally, after a long time of looking around and reading all the available online information, I went ahead and placed my order on the AVS-10T model. It will take a week before I can have my hands on it. In the meanwhile, let me explain my thought process:

- Italian tabletop spiral mixers would have been a safer choice. However, they cost 2-3 times more. As a casual user of a dough mixer which could not be used for anything else other than kneading dough. I could not justify the prices of the Italian machines.
- I almost wanted to buy from Alibaba. I preferred their analogue knobs over digital display of Alpha mixers. Besides, I would have some colour choices too. One negative report from someone else who bought on Alibaba before, changed my mind. If for any reason I receive a damaged or defective unit, receiving proper after-sale support from such a long distance would be very tricky when the seller is literally on the other side of the Earth. Phoenix seems to support their products very well and the mixer comes with 2 years warranty.
- My alterntive serious contender was Kys Pro baker. Price wise, differences were negligible. Here are the prices for a couple of available mixers for Canada (after taxes, shipping costs, etc.):

Vevor single speed Mixer   CAD$910
AVS-10                          CAD$1200
Kys Promaker 7+           CAD$1300
AVS-10T                        CAD$1425

After-sale support seems equivalent but Kys has to provide this support from another continent (Norway) while Phoenix is based in Canada. Kys has analogues controls and very importantly, it is noticeably smaller and lighter than both Alpha mixers. While, I appreciate being able to do a larger batch with the larger bowl of the Alpha mixers, the stated capacity difference wasn't that big at only 1kg. While right now I have enough space for the larger Alpha mixer, I am worried in the future, the size could become a problem if I ever move to a new place with a smaller kitchen. I took a bit of risk by choosing the bigger mixer. Hopefully, it will be ok in the future.

Tilting head: I wasn't sure how important it could be. The convenience is definitely there and the price difference wasn't that great either. So I decided to go for the tilting head version.

I was very budget conscious about my purchase but didn't want to cut too much on the corners. I could have a single speed Vevor mixer for much but I wanted a variable speed mixer. Americans are more lucky as usual as they can now have a variable speed mixer for a little as US$550 (US Amazon) though I am not sure how much after sale support they may get buying on Amazon once the 30day return windows has passed.

I will write about the Alpha mixer once I have it with me. While I am only a beginner so cannot assess the performance, I can certainly check if it functions without any problem and report if I receive a defective or damaged mixer.