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Mixing Time

Appears in
top 1000Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes
Bread

By Jeffrey Hamelman

Published 2004

  • About
Many other factors affect mixing time. Here is a brief discussion of some of them.
  • The type of mixer. Spiral mixers, oblique (axis) mixers, and planetary mixers are the most common types used by professional bakers in the United States, and stand mixers (similar in action to planetary mixers) predominate among home bakers. Not only are the revolutions per minute different in each speed for each mixer, the mixing arms affect the dough differently. Spiral mixers are highly efficient, and develop the dough comparatively quickly without an excess of oxidation. Being so efficient, they also have the ability to overmix a dough quite quickly, and so require careful timing. Oblique mixers are slower and gentler (seeing them spin, I have always believed they were designed to simulate the kneading performed in former times by two bakers standing opposite each other at a dough trough, literally up to their elbows in dough as they mixed). As with spiral mixers, the bowl in an oblique mixer rotates along with the mixing arm. Because of the action of the mixing arm, oblique mixers, in spite of their gentleness, incorporate a greater amount of oxygen into the dough than spiral mixers do, and overoxidation can potentially be more of a problem. Planetary mixers operate with the mixing arm descending vertically from above the bowl, which does not rotate. They are highly regarded (and rightfully so) as all-purpose mixers, since, unlike spiral or oblique mixers, they can accommodate not only dough hooks, but paddles and whips as well, and therefore can mix a great variety of products, from sponge cakes to cookie doughs. Although they are fairly inefficient as bread mixers, great bread can nevertheless be made using them. With any mixer, knowing the rpms at different mixer speeds is important. Calculating the friction factor of the machine is equally important (this is discussed in “Desired Dough Temperature,” beginning).
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