Dough Mixer
Who doesn’t love the mouth-watering taste of home made bread? Well for the average household, making that bread used to be a long and tedious process. Thanks to advances in technology, the dough mixer is now a household appliance. As with most things these days, there are many different models, which may vary in size, color, power, or amenities, but never in purpose. The dough mixer is an appliance designed for household and industrial purposes, to efficiently knead large quantities of dough.
Although there are a wide variety of brands and models, most of them consist of the same general parts and features. A motor head, which powers the unit, a beater shaft, which is the part of the unit that holds and spins your beater of choice, a bowl lift handle, used to adjust the height of bowl in relation to the beaters, and a stainless steel bowl, which holds all of the ingredients being mixed.
Sunbeam 2371 Mixmaster Stand Mixer, White
Sunbeam Mixmaster Stand Mixer features a powerful 350 watt motor with 12 variable speeds for unsurpassed mixing versatility. Soft start technology starts the motor slowly to prevent splatter. The ergonomically designed soft grip handle provides both maximum comfort and control. Off-center mixing allows you to add ingredients while you mix and requires less scraping saving you time. This mixer features 2 glass bowls, chrome beaters, whisks and dough hooks.
Depending on your model, your mixer may also come with a variety of beaters including a spiral dough hook, which is used for mixing and kneading yeast dough’s, a wire whip for mixtures that need air incorporated, and a flat beater for normal to heavy mixtures.
How to Maintain a Dough Mixer?
Whenever you’re dealing with food and machinery good maintenance is crucial. Fortunately, these units are easy to clean and maintain. How frequently you “service” your unit depends on how often you use it. It’s important to note that not all models are the same and therefore may require you to perform different techniques when handling your particular device.
KitchenAid K45SS Classic 250-Watt 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer, White
KitchenAid's stand mixer is a substantial piece of equipment: 250 watts of mixing power make child's play of creaming butter, kneading dough, and whipping cream.
The kid in you will appreciate how quick and easy it is to mix up a batch of cookie dough; the 4-1/2-quart bowl can hold up to 8 cups of flour, which translates into as many as 192 sweet treats.
Reading your manual is the most essential step because it’s important to know the capacity and limitations of your machine. As part of knowing your machine, determine what parts are dishwasher safe, what parts should and should not be removed, etc. Once you have established the safest way to clean your equipment make sure the power is switched off and unplug the unit. First, you must remove the beater from the beater shaft. To do this, press the beater upward as far as possible and turn left. Then pull the beater from the beater shafts. The beater shaft is prone to accumulate residue, so make sure you wipe it frequently. Now you must remove the bowl. To do this, place the bowl lift handle in the down position, grasp the bowl handle and lift it straight up and off the locating pins. In most cases the bowl may be the only part that is dishwasher safe.
KitchenAid Professional 600 Series 6-Quart Stand Mixers
Designed with all-metal construction and a 6-quart capacity, this powerful stand mixer features a 575-watt motor for handling tough mixing jobs. It can effectively mix up to 14 cups of all-purpose flour and produce up to 8 pounds of mashed potatoes. The mixer can also churn through double batches of bread dough with the included burnished PowerKnead spiral hook, which replicates hand kneading with a forceful punching and rolling action. The mixer's 10-speed slide control ranges from a very fast whip to a very slow stir, while its Soft Start mixing function helps minimize ingredient splatter and flour puff with gentle acceleration to the selected speed after start-up. An electronic speed sensor helps maintain a consistent mixing speed, even when adding ingredients. For commercial-style motor protection, the mixer automatically shuts off when overload is detected.
When you need to clean the body of the unit, make sure to use a clean damp cloth, but do not use abrasive cleansers or scouring pads, and never immerse the unit in water. On rare occasions you might even need to clean the bowl support, which is the arm that holds the bowl and prevents it from moving while the unit is turned on. To remove this you have to remove the mixer base; this includes whatever screws may be securing it and the vent screen. Then remove the nut from the lifter rod located inside the column, followed by removing the washer and spring. Note the order that these pieces were assembled. Proceed to loosen the screw holding the bowl clip to the front of the bowl support – you should not have to loosen it all the way because the bowl support should be able to slide down. Once you are able to slide it down, do so until the tabs on the back of the bowl support line up with the slots in the column. Then remove the bowl support by passing the tabs through the slot. It’s recommended that you clean the bowl support and column with a mild detergent. But as previously stated, do not use abrasive cleaners or scouring pads.
Cleaning your tools and equipment is an important part of preparing food. Following this guideline will help ensure that your equipment is properly maintained but I cannot stress enough the importance of reading your manufacturer provided manual.