Anyone have any thoughts on a Eurodib LM50T 50 Qt. / 44 lb. Single Speed Spiral

[Bobby Lawn]

Anyone use the Eurodib LM50T 50 Qt. / 44 lb. Single Speed Spiral Dough Mixer before?

We're in the process of building a (sourdough) bakery.
I will also be doing Detroit style pizza and focaccia sandwich pop ups out of there.
She will be doing maybe 100 loaves of bread a day, so nothing major. I will only be doing 75 full size Detroit pans when I'm there.

It's only single speed and my search of posts on here and elsewhere say that Two speed is great feature to have.
Is single speed a major deal breaker?

Read some reviews that say the single speed was too fast and they had to add dimmer (?)

The inability to remove the bowl....and I can't see anything about a drain hole in the specs.... would make this difficult to clean though.
Should that also be a deal breaker?

Money is a bit tight at the end of our reno here or else we would go all out and get one with everything we suspect we will want (2 speed, easy cleaning..)

Thanks in advance
 

[scott r]

You are probably hearing my warnings about sprial mixers that are too fast.  With larger mixers this usually isn't a problem.  With full size commercial mixers the dough touches the hook, and then takes a ride around the bowl without being in contact for a bit.  With the very small diameter countertop spiral bowls the dough is almost always in contact with the spiral.  Also, these problems usually only show themselves with doughs closer to 60% hydration. If you are making focaccia chances are you are higher in hydration and it will not be an issue. 

I wouldn't worry too much about a single speed mixer.   They work fine.   You just have a longer mix time but the dough turns out the same as a mixer with two speeds.  The only situation where you might need a 2nd faster speed is if your doing REALLY high hydration dough in the 80's on up.

A dimmer will not slow down most spiral mixers.

In a commercial environment its fine to have a non removable bowl with a drain plug.  Its fine at home too, but I personally prefer a removable bowl at home.

[Bobby Lawn]

In a commercial environment its fine to have a non removable bowl with a drain plug.  Its fine at home too, but I personally prefer a removable bowl at home.

afaik, this mixer doesn't have a drain plug. I've looked at the manual (which has some fantastic Engrish btw!) and can't see any plugs/holes in the schematics or part list.

I don't really want to be bailing out water like a ship going down every.damn.time we make a mix.

Thanks for your great insight on the speed factor.

[scott r]

Dont let cleaning stop you.  Made in china might be a concern, but by now you know the deal with that since im sure you are surrounded with it.  Cleaning is easy, wet rag, you dont have to fill the whole thing with water.   Its all about getting to it immediately before the dough dries and sticks to the bowl walls.

I looked up the specs.  Wow, 185rpm is pretty fast for the only speed.  Normally you see 100-200 for the two speeds.   100 is used to do the slow initial incorporation of the ingredients, and then 200 is used for building the gluten.  Some artisan bakers only use the slow speed.  If you get it expect very short mixes.  It could be an issue if your using low hydrations, but I think anything from 65% on up it will be fine.

What a price though!

[Bobby Lawn]

I looked up the specs.  Wow, 185rpm is pretty fast for the only speed.  Normally you see 100-200 for the two speeds.   100 is used to do the slow initial incorporation of the ingredients, and then 200 is used for building the gluten.  Some artisan bakers only use the slow speed.  If you get it expect very short mixes.  It could be an issue if your using low hydrations, but I think anything from 65% on up it will be fine.

What a price though!

Thanks for the insight on the RPM speed. This was the intel I was after.

We're back to the drawing board, looking for a dual speed mixer in our price range.

[Elevatedpizzaco]

I started with this. Great price point to get into spirals. Start here and work your way up to a 2-speed that's of good quality. I just got a "Mixer" spiral mixer by Polin. Great machine.

[Bobby Lawn]

I started with this. Great price point to get into spirals. Start here and work your way up to a 2-speed that's of good quality. I just got a "Mixer" spiral mixer by Polin. Great machine.

Thank you for your insight, appreciated.

Checked your website out too - your pizza looks great. If I ever make it back to Chilliwack I will be sure to pop in.

[pizza_life]

You are probably hearing my warnings about sprial mixers that are too fast.  With larger mixers this usually isn't a problem.  With full size commercial mixers the dough touches the hook, and then takes a ride around the bowl without being in contact for a bit.  With the very small diameter countertop spiral bowls the dough is almost always in contact with the spiral.  Also, these problems usually only show themselves with doughs closer to 60% hydration. If you are making focaccia chances are you are higher in hydration and it will not be an issue. 

I wouldn't worry too much about a single speed mixer.   They work fine.   You just have a longer mix time but the dough turns out the same as a mixer with two speeds.  The only situation where you might need a 2nd faster speed is if your doing REALLY high hydration dough in the 80's on up.

A dimmer will not slow down most spiral mixers.

In a commercial environment its fine to have a non removable bowl with a drain plug.  Its fine at home too, but I personally prefer a removable bowl at home.

Can you please write more about speed on small mixers? I have Famag IM5, 10 speed. Is it wrong to use max speed (after mixing ingredients on low speed)?
Would it be better to start with lowest and then go for middle speed (for little bit longer compared to max speed)? My Famag has 80-240rpm.

[scott r]

I have a famag as well.  That has a wide range of speed and one of the slowest possible in a countertop spiral.  You aren't going to run into any problems with that mixer, however, there are others on the market that have a much faster slowest speed. 

If I am making pizza in the 50's to about 67 ish hydration (depending on flour) I always keep it on the slowest speed.  Even when using an autolyse, by the time all of the dry flour is picked up from the bottom of the bowl and incorporated the dough is very close to being fully mixed if not fully mixed.   

Typically, speed and the amount of RPM's possible increases as the dough hydration increases.  As you get above about 67 hydration it works better to use the faster speeds, however once you get above about 70 hydration you start running into the need to do a bassinage to achieve the best high hydration doughs.  Since the bassinage is best started at the slow speed, I really dont use the higher speeds much.   I only end up using middle speeds it at the very end of very high hydration doughs (in the mid 70's) and then finally the fastest speed only with very high hydration doughs (in the 80's on up)

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.