Commercial Stand Mixer

[Slimjen06]

Hi all; New to the forums...Looking to purchase a commercial stand mixer...currently I have a 6qt from the Pro 6 series and had it for 10yrs now... It's still working; but my side baking business has picked up since my layoff from my day job. I want something 8qt or larger although the 8qt may not make a huge difference...Thanks in advance

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hello welcome to the forum.

I can’t recommend a mixer but I can offer a couple of thoughts that come to mind when moving into commercial equipment territory.


Voltage: If you are in the US, one of the things you have to consider when moving up to a larger capacity mixer is voltage. Residential homes in the US are wired for 120 volts. But commercial kitchens are usually wired for higher volts because commercial appliances can require between 208 volts – 220 volts. So you need to make sure that the unit you’re interested in is available in 120 volts (again if you live in the US).


Although there are voltage converters, most manufacturers do not recommend their use since it doesn’t eliminate the overheating and potential fire risks.


Warranty: You should confirm the manufacturer’s policy on the warranty when the equipment is in use in a residential kitchen. I don’t know about mixers but, commercial oven manufacturers will void the warranty if the unit is installed in a residential kitchen because residential kitchens not designed with the required fire abatement equipment, and reinforced walls and flooring.


Right mixer for the job: You need to consider what you’re going to be mixing. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean it can mix anything and everything.


Some manufacturers will void a warranty if you mix the wrong things for the mixer. For instance Hobart, a top of the line commercial mixer, will void the warranty on 20 qt and smaller mixers if it is used to regularly mix heavy doughs like bread and pizza. The smaller mixers do not have the torque to hold up to frequent use in mixing bread and pizza doughs. So if you’re mixing bread doughs you need a 30 qt mixer or larger if you want to keep your warranty.


If you’re mixing cake batters and cookie doughs you don’t necessarily need a top brand like Hobart.


If you’re mixing a lot of bread dough then maybe a spiral mixer makes more sense. I think analyzing your needs and researching the pros and cons of the different types of mixers will help you decide.



Sorry, just gotta vent a minute here...one of my biggest pet peeves is the failure of manufactures to educate consumers on the limitation of countertop mixers (yeah KitchenAid, I’m talkin’ about you!). If a Hobart 20 quart mixer can’t handle regular use for bread dough, then KitchenAid doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hades under that kind of workload. Consumers pay good money and have high expectations for these KitchenAids, yet nary a word from the manufacture on the heavy dough limitations.

 

[Slimjen06]

Hello welcome to the forum.

I can’t recommend a mixer but I can offer a couple of thoughts that come to mind when moving into commercial equipment territory.


Voltage: If you are in the US, one of the things you have to consider when moving up to a larger capacity mixer is voltage. Residential homes in the US are wired for 120 volts. But commercial kitchens are usually wired for higher volts because commercial appliances can require between 208 volts – 220 volts. So you need to make sure that the unit you’re interested in is available in 120 volts (again if you live in the US).


Although there are voltage converters, most manufacturers do not recommend their use since it doesn’t eliminate the overheating and potential fire risks.


Warranty: You should confirm the manufacturer’s policy on the warranty when the equipment is in use in a residential kitchen. I don’t know about mixers but, commercial oven manufacturers will void the warranty if the unit is installed in a residential kitchen because residential kitchens not designed with the required fire abatement equipment, and reinforced walls and flooring.


Right mixer for the job: You need to consider what you’re going to be mixing. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean it can mix anything and everything.


Some manufacturers will void a warranty if you mix the wrong things for the mixer. For instance Hobart, a top of the line commercial mixer, will void the warranty on 20 qt and smaller mixers if it is used to regularly mix heavy doughs like bread and pizza. The smaller mixers do not have the torque to hold up to frequent use in mixing bread and pizza doughs. So if you’re mixing bread doughs you need a 30 qt mixer or larger if you want to keep your warranty.


If you’re mixing cake batters and cookie doughs you don’t necessarily need a top brand like Hobart.


If you’re mixing a lot of bread dough then maybe a spiral mixer makes more sense. I think analyzing your needs and researching the pros and cons of the different types of mixers will help you decide.



Sorry, just gotta vent a minute here...one of my biggest pet peeves is the failure of manufactures to educate consumers on the limitation of countertop mixers (yeah KitchenAid, I’m talkin’ about you!). If a Hobart 20 quart mixer can’t handle regular use for bread dough, then KitchenAid doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hades under that kind of workload. Consumers pay good money and have high expectations for these KitchenAids, yet nary a word from the manufacture on the heavy dough limitations.

Thanks for the feedback...You've given me pause about my decision. I may not necessarily need a commercial but an additional good stand mixer to pull double duty to keep up with my cakes and icings for my orders...I need to reduce my time instead of mixing one batter at a time when I have different varieties of cake and icings. So now my question is whether I can find another good stand mixer to fit the bill. BTW: I don't do breads and any other recipes that would require me to use the dough hook thus my Kitchenaid mixer has last me over 10yrs without fail

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thanks for the feedback...You've given me pause about my decision. I may not necessarily need a commercial but an additional good stand mixer to pull double duty to keep up with my cakes and icings for my orders...I need to reduce my time instead of mixing one batter at a time when I have different varieties of cake and icings. So now my question is whether I can find another good stand mixer to fit the bill. BTW: I don't do breads and any other recipes that would require me to use the dough hook thus my Kitchenaid mixer has last me over 10yrs without fail

I am wondering if this is a mixer availability issue instead of a mixer capacity problem.

Just thinking out loud here…running two mixers with two different batter flavors, won’t reduce work. Each batter still requires the same prep and mixing labor.

Your oven capacity is also a consideration. If you purchased a second mixer that was say 8 quarts you then have 14 quarts total mixing capacity. But there’s no production increase if your oven capacity can’t hold that much cake.

Have you thought about purchasing extra mixer bowls and beater attachments?

Some years ago I realized all the emphasis on mise en place was more about working clean and avoiding mistakes like leaving out an ingredient. It had nothing to do with the labor efficiency, especially when equipment availability came into play.


No matter how well I organized prior to the bake, I inevitably had to stop to wash the bowl and beaters before moving on to the next phase/item.


Then one day I had an epiphany: why not buy extra mixer bowls and beater like they do in a commercial kitchen?


It wasn’t so much a mixer capacity issue as it was an equipment availability issue that was slowing down my production.


All of the prep and mixing is the same. But there is time saved moving seamlessly from one item to the next without having to wash the mixing equipment first. Having to wash mixer bowls and beaters between phases is added work


The additional mixing bowls and attachment, as well as good planning took the stress out of the baking.


For every big bake I prepare a shopping and baking schedule.


I place all the weighed ingredients, mixer bowls, attachments, and other tools on a sheet pan.


The mixing methods for each item is taped on the cabinets above the mixer in the order in which I will be mixing. Having the extra mixer bowls and attachments lets me go from one tray of ingredients to the next.

 

[Linus]

Get a Globe SP08 Commercial Mixer. It has an 8-qt bowl, 1/4 motor. I got one used from Ebay. For $325. If you don't want one that's used, it'll cost you over $1,000 Stil, a cheaper machine with a 5-qt bowl (SP05) will cost over $600. They are very good.

 

[Linus]

Here's an Avantco commercial mixer, but it cost over $700. It has a 10-qt bowl.

 

[Linus]

Here's the Globe commercial mixer that I bought from Ebay. Have to buy the bowl & beaters separately though.

 

[Linus]

You probably won't buy this mixer. It is too expensive, costing well over $200,000!! And it's only 5qts.

 

[natescnd]

View attachment 2818
You probably won't buy this mixer. It is too expensive, costing well over $200,000!! And it's only 5qts.

The 5 qt hobart is not 200k lol wtf

 

[Linus]

Slimjen06, what did you decide to do?

 

[retired baker]

I saw a hobart 20 quart near me for $500, no paddle or hook but thats a great price.

 

[Linus]

I saw a hobart 20 quart near me for $500, no paddle or hook but thats a great price.

Good!! But that is few & far between.