A Professional Baker’s Guide to the Best Mixers for Baking
A Professional Baker’s Guide to the Best Mixers for Baking
With so many styles of mixers on the market, it’s not always easy to know which are the best mixers for baking. If you’re a professional baker looking for a commercial mixer but feel unsure about which is the right mixer for your bakery, allow us to clear everything up with this easy guide.
With numerous attachments and innovative features, commercial mixers are one of the best investments your bakery could make. Importantly, they can save you a lot of time and effort while helping to create consistent food products. From planetary mixers to heated mixers (tilting kettles) and dough mixers, we’ll run through which are the best mixers for baking and how best to use them. That way, you can be sure that you’ve found the right food mixer for you.
1. Commercial Dough Mixers
Dough mixers, also known as spiral mixers, are often considered the best mixers for baking. They have a rotating bowl which spins while the spiral shaped hook mixes the dough in a motion similar to hand kneading. Spiral mixers essentially automate the dough kneading process and ensure proper dough consistency and well-mixed ingredients. As the spiral hook fits the bowl tightly, this enables you to create both large or small batches in the same bowl.
Dough mixers are generally made from stainless steel so ingredients are less likely to stick to the bowl for easy clean up. What’s more, this material is unsusceptible to corrosion and only requires basic cleaning materials to sterilise thoroughly. Commercial dough kneading machines are made from extremely high-quality, durable materials so you can rely on them for years to come.
What for: Mixing and kneading
Use for: Pizza, bread, doughnuts, pastries, and cookies
Best for: Bakeries, pizzerias, and caterers
2. Twin Arm Dough Mixers
Twin arm mixers are a specialist type of commercial dough mixer which mimic the action of a baker’s arms when kneading dough by hand. The result of using this style of kneading machine is that you get an extremely high quality dough. This method allows you to gently mix the ingredients while incorporating high percentages of water and oxygen without heating or stressing the dough.
What for: Kneading
Use for: Pizza and all types of bread
Best for: Bakeries and pizzerias
3. Planetary Mixers for Baking
Planetary mixers mix ingredients using a large spherical mixing utensil that rotates around the centre of the mixing bowl like a planet around the sun. This is where it takes its ‘planetary’ name. In comparison to dough mixers, planetary mixers spin while the bowl itself remains stationary. They’re great at reaching all parts of the bowl to ensure that there are no areas of unmixed ingredients.
Commercial planetary mixers slowly gain speed before reaching its maximum rotation speed before slowing down to create perfect results every time. Many also come with optional additional tools to use the same machine for tasks like slicing and grating. These mixers are ideal for both established and amateur bakers.
What for: General mixing, whipping, creaming, and kneading.
Use for: Frosting/icing, sauces, cookies, dough and more.
Best for: Bakeries, caterers, and restaurants.
4. Heated mixer aka Tilting Kettles
Heated mixers, also known as tilting kettles or cream cookers, are mixing tools that heat a product while mixing all the ingredients evenly. The jacket of the machine holds a thermal transfer oil which slowly heats in order to cook the product inside. Tilting kettles (heated mixers) used in commercial bakeries can be both planetary or spiral style.
What for: Mixing while heating
Use for: Creams, custards, fruits, vegetables, soups, fondants, melting chocolate and more!
Best for: Bakeries, caterers, and restaurants.
Which Stand Mixer is Best?
As well as the mixer type, there are a few other considerations to take into account when deciding on the best mixers for baking. Space can be a key factor when considering which stand mixer is best for you. The two main styles of mixers are countertop and stand mixers which offer different benefits depending on your needs.
Countertop Mixers
Countertop mixers can be conveniently placed on counters or work tables. They are ideal for bakeries or other environments with limited space as you can store them away if needed. Due to this, they’re generally smaller in size than stand mixers. With that said, commercial countertop mixers are still perfectly capable of producing large quantities.
Stand Mixers
Stand mixers have legs and are generally designed to sit directly on the floor. They are also known as tall bodied mixers. These are larger in size and suitable for heavy-duty use and long mixing times. Capacity for industrial stand mixers can be slightly greater than countertop mixers, but this means they do take up more space.
How Much are you Mixing?
As well as considering what you will be mixing, it’s important to take into account the quantities you will need your mixer to produce. For example, with dough mixers, the capacity of flour the bowl can hold ranges from a minimum of 5kg up to maximum of 150kg. Similarly, planetary mixers can hold between 10 litres and 60 litres.
A small bakery or restaurant may only need a smaller mixer to keep up with demands. In contrast, a pizzeria or commercial bakery will want to look at larger mixers as you will need to produce high volumes in quicker timescales.
Heavy-Duty Mixers
Heavy-duty mixers are considered the best mixers for professional bakers. Professional bakery equipment needs to be able to keep up with the demands of a commercial environment. They are made from sturdy, easy to clean materials like stainless steel. In comparison, domestic mixers are made using less durable materials like plastic and are only suited to light baking requirements with low quantities.
What’s more, you can often customise commercial mixers with various attachments to suit your needs. Plus, they come with long warranties and are easy to maintain. This means they offer you greater longevity and peace of mind for years to come. By purchasing a high-quality heavy-duty mixer, you’re investing in a useful and versatile piece of equipment to improve your bakery.
Where to Buy the Best Mixers for Baking
Our friendly team of ex-professional bakers at Creeds Direct have over 50 years’ experience advising and supplying the best mixers for baking. For more information about which of these is the best mixer for you, contact us today.