Choose a Commercial Mixer to Fit Your Bakery

A commercial mixer is an essential piece of equipment for every bakery, but it’s a challenge to find the right machine to match production demands. From countertop mixers to floor mixers, you have a wide range of products to choose from, and it’s important to know what you’re looking for before you start shopping.

Your search should start by taking into account how much dough you need to make each day and its composition — these factors will also help determine how much horsepower you need. 

Find a Mixer with the Right Capacity

Assess your bakery’s daily production — how much dough do you have to mix? Small-to-medium-sized mixers will hold from 10 to 30 quarts. If you are only adding a few baked goods to your menu and have limited space, you may be able to find a countertop mixer that can keep up with demand.

Most commercial bakeries don’t have this luxury — they need heavy-duty floor mixers to get the job done. A large or industrial-sized commercial mixer will hold from 30 to over 100 quarts of dough at one time. Busy bakeries, pizza shops and restaurants with mixing needs depend on large-capacity machines to handle the sheer volume.

Make sure the mixing basin is the right size for each batch of dough — if it’s too small, ingredients can spill out. If it’s too large, the dough won’t be mixed thoroughly. Finding a balance is essential to putting out a quality product every time.

Horsepower Matters

Once you have an accurate estimate of how much dough your kitchen must produce, you can target your search based on commercial mixer capacity, but don’t forget to check on the machine’s horsepower too. If you’re going to push the mixer to its maximum, it could overheat.

Without enough horsepower to easily keep up with demand, the commercial mixer will break down quicker and require repairs to its belts, gears and more.

Consider the Dough’s Makeup

The type of dough you mix is important to consider when selecting the right product as well. If your dough has a high fat content and is very moist, the machine will have an easier time. Dough with a high level of gluten at cold-water temperatures is more difficult to mix.

For more difficult batches, choose a mixer with a larger capacity so the engine meets the challenge.

Let Us Help

At Dough Tech, we specialize in helping our clients find the perfect commercial mixer match. We stand by our products and we’re ready to help outfit your bakery today — just give us a call.