Commercial Mixers

[Sour_Jax]

How big is the "standard" commercial (Pizza Hut, Dominoes, etc.) mixer. 20 Qt., 40 Qt., 60 Qt. ??

For example how big of a mixer would I need to mix up a dough that has 50 lbs flour, 65% hydration, etc.

[Pete-zza]

Sour Jacks,

If you take a Hobart mixer as being representative of what professional pizza operators use, then I would say that you would need a mixer with a bowl capacity (in water) of 60-80 quarts. Hobart recommends its mixers based on dough batch size. Dough batch size varies in accordance with the type of pizza dough to be made and the amount of water used. For example, for a 40% AR (absorption rate, or hydration percent), the recommended maximum dough batch size is typically 40 pounds (this would be for a thin-crust pizza as an example); for a 50% AR (e.g., for a medium-thick crust), it would be 70 pounds; for a 60% AR (e.g., for a thick-crust pizza), it would be 90 pounds. If you use a high-gluten flour, the recommended maximum dough batch size is reduced by 10%. So, as you can see, the lower the AR and the higher the protein content, the lower the recommended maximum dough batch size.

In your example using 50 pounds of flour and a hydration percent of 65%, that would represent a dough batch size of around 84 pounds (including flour, water, yeast, salt, and oil), or about 76 pounds if a high-gluten flour is used. You would have to use these numbers to determine which of the Hobart models can best handle these dough batch sizes. If you are interested, you can find the answers at http://www.hobartcorp.com/hobartg5/pr/products.nsf/pages/food-prep_mixer?opendocument. Look at the "Mixer Capacity Chart--All Models". You will see small- and large-capacity mixers, but I think you will find that the answer is 60-80 quarts for your example.

Peter

[Trinity]

A 60 minium


I would get an 80 q.  

I use them all the time.  The 60's have no power at all.

Plus an 80q bowl with 50 in it allows you to start in 2nd gear without blowing flour out of the bowl.

Saves time!!!

And a small dough could be mixed in 3rd in less then 8 minutes.

[Pete-zza]

Trin,

I was wondering whether you weigh the flour in a 50-lb. bag to be sure that it actually weighs 50 lbs. inasmuch as a 50-lb. bag can weigh several ounces more or less because of the way the bags are filled at the miller's facility. I also understand that some bakers and pizza operators don't empty the entire bag of flour into the mixer bowl at one time to prevent the flour from spilling as you indicated. The rest gets added after the mixing process is underway.

Peter

[Trinity]

Any 50# bag is within a pound. Unless the bag has been torn.

And I've worked with a lot of mixers.

IMHO.

The 80 quart Hobart is the best. We have a 120 quart but it spins slower in second.

The 80 spins faster in second. The faster you can mix a dough up, the less the chance of overheating the dough from friction.

The 80 I use could take 100#flour and 50# water and mix it well in 14 minutes.

I will take A few pics when I get time.

[David]

Trin,Is that a Spiral or planetary Hobart you use?I've heard it said that the Spirals work best when used at full capacity.I've only used a Commercial Spiral in Italy (can't remember the Mfg?) where they a preferred in Pizzerias due to the fact that they can handle the heavier doughs and not increase the temps so much.

[pizzanapoletana]

Trin,Is that a Spiral or planetary Hobart you use?I've heard it said that the Spirals work best when used at full capacity.I've only used a Commercial Spiral in Italy (can't remember the Mfg?) where they a preferred in Pizzerias due to the fact that they can handle the heavier doughs and not increase the temps so much.

David

Spiral mixers do actually warm up the dough quite a lot. The one that do not warm up the dough are professional Fork mixers which are also the one prefered in Neapolitan pizzerias.

At Da Michele for example they have 56 litre Fork Mixer where they usually mix 145kg of dough twice a day...


Ciao

[David]

Sorry-wrong wording.I should have said Spirals are more commonplace than Planetary IMO rather than "preferred".
Am I wrong in my asumption that more Italian pizzerias use Spiral than Fork mixers Marco?
I was just thinking about Hobart when I made my comments,as I don't think they offer a Fork Mixer?Mixers seem to be one of the biggest single equipment expenditures in opening a pizzeria and the choice for Used fork mixers is very limited here in the US it seems.I  doubt that many Pizza operators are even aware that they exist?

[Trinity]

Trin,Is that a Spiral or planetary Hobart you use?I've heard it said that the Spirals work best when used at full capacity.I've only used a Commercial Spiral in Italy (can't remember the Mfg?) where they a preferred in Pizzerias due to the fact that they can handle the heavier doughs and not increase the temps so much.

I have allways used the planetary Hobart's.

And yeah, They can really heat up a dough. In the winter when shop conditions are cold it is nice, just add 5 minutes more mixing time and you can heat a dough up nicely.

[pizzanapoletana]

Sorry-wrong wording.I should have said Spirals are more commonplace than Planetary IMO rather than "preferred".
Am I wrong in my asumption that more Italian pizzerias use Spiral than Fork mixers Marco?
I was just thinking about Hobart when I made my comments,as I don't think they offer a Fork Mixer?Mixers seem to be one of the biggest single equipment expenditures in opening a pizzeria and the choice for Used fork mixers is very limited here in the US it seems.I  doubt that many Pizza operators are even aware that they exist?

Depend on where in Italy... In the north, they produce a different type of pizza (crispy and biscuit like) and often use a Spiral mixer (also because is cheaper).

In Naples (and I have first handed counted them) during my research for the book, out of 20 top pizzeria, this is what I found:

12 fork mixers
7 Diving hands
1 Spiral

When I was in America, I have also visited a large Artisan bakery. They had 3 large fork mixer (made in France) and they were also praising the advantages of producing dough with these compared against an Hobart (planetary) or spiral mixers.

[Randy]

And a Partrage in a pear tree!

[Trinity]

And a Partrage in a pear tree!

ROTFL.... Good one!