All mixed up
It is not unusual to see a food mixer in use that is 30 years old or more, so it is worth giving them careful consideration before buying - you could still be using your mixer in the year 2025!
Martin Bates, sales director of Robot Coupe, believes people tend to buy mixers that are bigger than they need. "Because they've always had a 20 quart or 40 quart machine, that is what they replace it with," he says. "But they forget that many of the jobs they used to do in a mixer can now be done quicker in a food processor."
Robot Coupe is famed for its food processors, so it is understandable that Bates is enthusiastic about them. Still, he has a point when he says that it is quicker to make items such as pizza dough and breadcrumbs in a processor.
He argues that the only real need for a mixer is for recipes that need aerating, such as meringues, cream and sponges, or gentle mixing, such as kebab mixes.
Most mixer attachments do jobs that are better done in a food processor, adds Bates. But there are exceptions, notably a mincing attachment. "Many people still prefer traditionally minced meat rather than the chopped or ground meat you get from a food processor," he explains.
He also feels a water bath is useful because it can be used to heat the mixing bowl to make, say, Genoese sponge, or cool it for things such as crème Anglaise for ice-cream.
Richard Hirst, head of food equipment at Hobart Still, agrees that too many attachments are not a good idea, although he too says mincers are popular. "The market is slowly going away from power units with lots of attachments," he says. "It leads to backlogs in the kitchen if people are trying to do everything on one machine."
Hirst adds that a feature caterers should look for on large machines is easy bowl-lifting. This may be a powered lift on the large units of 80 litres or more, or it could be a geared mechanism operated by hand on smaller machines.
He believes that gear-driven machines with fixed speeds are best, particularly where heavy mixes are being tackled. He argues that these give consistent mixing over a long lifespan, whereas a belt-driven machine may start to slip when dealing with a heavy mix. Also, he says the multi-speeds offered by belt-driven machines may be a problem for restaurant chains trying to standardise recipes.
Gene Schellenberg, marketing director of Crypto Peerless, disagrees about drives. His own company started to introduce electronic speed control in 1980 and has provided belt-driven mixers since 1984. He refutes strongly that belts slip on heavy mixes, claiming the strength of the motor can be more readily transmitted to the mixer's shaft by a belt and that the loss of power is only about 5%, compared with 20%-25% loss on some geared systems.
Schellenberg also puts the case for having a variety of attachments on a mixer to make it more versatile. "In big kitchens you can afford to buy a mixer, with separate machines for veg prep, bakery and confectionery and food processing. But there are lots of caterers whose budget may not rise to that sort of dream kitchen."
Attachments he recommends include mincers, vegetable slicers and dicers. He also suggests a spiral hook rather than a J hook for dough (because it does not cause the dough to move up the hook), a heated bowl and a knife sharpener. Other features include timers, chutes for adding ingredients, overload protection for the motor and mechanisms for lifting heavy bowls.
The machines in the table overleaf are all traditional mixers on stands, mainly with planetary action - in other words, the shaft moves round the bowl while the beaters rotate. Also, there are hand-held mixers, which are particularly useful for mixing food in the cooking pot. Suppliers include Sammic and Crypto Peerless.
Some of the mixers in the table are intended for pizza dough only. Thesetend to have more powerful motors to cope with the heavy mix. Among the suppliers are Avery Berkel, Fields & Pimblett and Metcalfe.
