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Question:
What size dough mixer do you recommend?
Answer:
The answer to this question depends upon the quantity of dough that is needed on a daily basis, so it is really hard to answer this question on a specific basis, but in general terms, I can give you some examples where different size mixers might work very well for you.
12-Quart Planetary:
This mixer has a capacity for between two-and-a-half and three pounds of flour when making pizza dough. In a pinch, it might be useful for making dough where the pizzas will be sold by the slice, and sales are not too great. With a flat beater it can also be used for mixing up to about two gallons (roughly two #10 cans) of sauce.
20-Quart Planetary:
We tend to see a lot of these mixers coming out of restaurants where they are used to mix sauces, gravies, mashed potatoes, and the like. For making pizza dough they will only take about five pounds of flour so they are just a little bit better than the 12-quart mixer, but they should still be relegated to the same duty. These can be used in a pinch, and only in a slice type of operation where a limited number of pizzas will be made daily. For making sauce, you can mix up to three to four gallons at a time (roughly three to four #10 cans).
25-Quart Vertical Cutter Mixer:
These mixers are actually pretty useful in their own right. They are extremely fast mixing with typical dough mixing times running in the range of 75 to 90 seconds. This fast mixing time is one of its faults. Take a telephone call, or get distracted at the wrong time and you can end up with a dough that has all of the unique handling characteristics of well chewed bubble gum. With the correct type of mixing blade this type of mixer can be used to make dough, mix sauce, and even cut up cheese. Because of its high speed mixing action (1,750 R.P.M. at low and 3,500 R.P.M. at high) doughs mixed in the VCM tend to heat up quickly so care must be taken to control dough temperatures otherwise inconsistent dough performance will be high on the order of the day. One place where the VCM is really in its environment is in a pizza trailer where you might need to mix a few doughs during the day and the last thing you will want to do is to spend a lot of time at the mixer. Because the mixer would be used infrequently during the day problems with extreme heating of the dough as a result of mixing several doughs back to back should not pose a problem. This mixer has a small “foot print” for its size, which also makes it right at home in small or cramped spaces. This mixer will mix doughs based on up to 12 to 15-pounds of flour weight, and will mix up to five gallons (about five #10 cans) of sauce.
30-Quart Planetary:
This is another mixer that we occasionally see coming out of restaurants. It is very similar to the 20-quart mixers except for the slightly larger bowl size and it is a floor mounted mixer rather than a bench top mixer as the 12 and 20-quart mixers are. This is probably the smallest planetary type mixer that can be justified in a pizzeria application. It will mix doughs based on up to eight to 10-pounds of flour weight (only about 15-pounds of dough weight). With a flat beater it can also be used to mix sauce at the rate of about five to six gallons (roughly five to six #10 cans) at a time. Be aware that this mixer can also be fitted with a 20 quart size bowl and mixing agitators. If you get one with a 20-quart bowl you will have essentially a 20-quart planetary mixer as previously described.
40-Quart Vertical Cutter Mixer:
This is essentially the same mixer as the 25 quart VCM but with a larger capacity. It will mix dough, make sauce and cut cheese as well as a host of other cutting and blending chores just like its smaller brother but with a greater capacity. This mixer will easily handle doughs based on up to 25-pounds of flour weight as well as mix up to seven gallons (about seven #10 cans) of sauce at a time. Its “foot print” is not much larger than that of the 25 quart VCM. This would be an excellent mixer choice for a store with very limited space when doughs must be mixed fresh during the day due to a lack of sufficient refrigerated storage space for holding/managing dough.
60-Quart Planetary:
There are two different types of 60-quart mixers available. Heavy duty, designed specifically for mixing tough, strong doughs like pizza and bagel doughs, and regular/medium duty mixers designed more for bread and bun dough mixing applications. The heavy-duty versions are capable of mixing doughs based on up to 40 pounds of flour weight, while the medium duty versions are better-suited mixing doughs based on not more than 25 or 30-pounds of flour weight. In both cases, you should be able to mix up to about 10-gallons of sauce (roughly 10, #10 cans). Either of these mixers will work well in the average pizzeria application, but the heavy-duty version is the one that really enjoys the greatest popularity. Some might even call it the “work horse” of the pizzeria.
80-Quart Planetary:
The 80-quart planetary mixer is possibly the most common mixer found in pizzerias across the U.S. If the heavy-duty 60-quart planetary mixer is the “work horse” then the 80-quart planetary is the Clydesdale of the industry. Like the 60-quart mixers, there are different types of 80-quart mixers too. Most of these mixers have four speeds. With the medium duty mixers you can mix up to about 45-pounds of flour weight if you keep the mixer in first speed for the entire mixing process, which will normally take about 15 to 20 minutes. If you have the heavy-duty variety, you can mix up to 50-pounds of flour weight, and depending upon the water absorption and strength of the flour used, you might be able to do all or most of your dough mixing at second speed. This will reduce the time needed to mix a dough to something in the eight to 10 minute range. When it comes to mixing sauce, that 80-quart bowl will handle up to 12 to 15 gallons (roughly 12 to 15, #10 cans) of sauce.
Both the 60 and 80-quart size mixers can be equipped with ring adaptors allowing for the fitting of smaller size mixing bowls with the correct mixing agitators bowls as small as 30 quart size can be used on these larger mixers.
Many of the planetary mixers described above can be had with an attachment hub on the top front of the mixer. The attachment hub allows for the installation of a special attachment for cutting, grating or grinding.
Spiral Mixers:
Spiral mixers are significantly different in operating design from planetary mixers in that with the spiral design the agitator, looking somewhat like a corkscrew, rotates in a circle without any planetary movement. At the same time the bowl also rotates to bring the dough into constant contact with the spiral agitator. With the planetary design mixer the bowl is stationary and the agitator both rotates in a circle and also in a planetary rotation around the inside diameter of the bowl.
Spiral mixers are sized by the flour weight of the dough they are designed to mix. Typically, they are available in sizes of 50, 100, 200 and 300-pounds of flour weight. Spiral mixers are extremely sturdy and are capable of mixing dough sizes as small as 25 percent (1/4) of their rated capacity. A popular size for a pizzeria might be the 100-pound capacity mixer. This mixer will have the capacity to mix pizza doughs as small as 40-pounds and as large as 160-pounds of dough weight. The main drawback to the spiral mixer is the lack of an attachment hub and the dedication of the mixer to mixing just dough. They cannot be fitted with a different mixing attachment for mixing the sauce, so a second mixer is usually required for mixing the sauce. Where this type of mixer really shines is in a commissary setting. In this application the mixer is well suited to the long hours of operation mixing larger size doughs.
Unless you are planning to go into a very confined space, such as a pizza trailer, my personal recommendation when planning to buy a mixer is to buy the largest one you can afford. You can always mix smaller size doughs at first, but you have the capacity to mix larger size doughs as your pizza orders increase without having to buy another (larger) mixer..