Whether you are making dough for pizza or pulling out fresh breads for your cafe, a commercial mixer makes life easier and fresher for the busy foodservice professional. At Eleven36 we have a passion for providing equipment that can help you level up your products and expand your menu, keeping customers coming through the door. If you bake anything, there’s a commercial mixer available that can help you achieve the finest quality when you pull the rack out of the oven.
A Bakery Mixer You Can Trust wWith Your Family Secrets
Often rising before dawn to begin their prep, bakers have a passion for food that must be admired — and at Eleven36, we believe they deserve a machine to match!
If you’re a baker, you need a commercial mixer that can keep up with the amount and variety of batter and dough you want to blend. You need to make sure all parts of your batter are being whisked evenly throughout the bowl with variable speed settings so you can control the process optimally throughout. You also need to know that your commercial mixer is easy to clean and use so making baked goods each morning is not a backbreaking exercise. A variety of attachments that can help you make everything from pies to the fluffiest of frosting is key to expanding menu versatility as well.
Most of all, you need a piece of equipment that isn’t going to break down on you and that will last you for years, so you can focus on running your business and connecting with customers, not becoming a mixer mechanic. You want a machine that will make Grandma weep with joy when she sees how well it replicates her recipes from the old country (even if she’ll only do so in secret).
Achieving Different Goals with Different Models
The two most common models to think about in achieving these goals in a bakery are spiral mixers and planetary mixers. The two models are very distinct in how they work. A spiral mixer, or dough mixer, has a stationary agitator that the mixing bowl revolves around and is excellent at folding dough in particular without overworking it — so it’s a favorite of pizzerias and bakeries with an emphasis on bread. A planetary mixer is designed to do the opposite — the bowl stays still and the mixing shaft rotates about within. This model has a wider range of applications and attachments, and can also handle sauces, potatoes and even chopping tasks with the right attachment.
In choosing a model, you also want to think about its mixing capacity, which will dictate, at least in part, how much space it takes up in your bakery or restaurant and where. A countertop mixer is convenient but generally doesn’t have the power for heavy-duty use and has a smaller bowl (10 qt. or less). A mid-sized stand mixer will need its own table and can provide more power, although output will be limited by bowl size (10 qt. to 25 qt.). Stand mixers that stand directly on the floor offer the largest capacity — while they’re a bigger investment, they can capably handle a much bigger workload.
Leveraging Floor Mixers for the Heavy Lifting
When you are serious about making dough as the operator of a large bakery, catering company, or pizzeria, upgrading to a floor model or a stand mixer will make it easier to do heavy-duty versions of what mixers are made to do. The capacity of a heavy duty floor mixer should be 40 qt. or more and its position on the floor means you can maximize its horsepower, allowing you to mix quickly, powerfully and seemingly endlessly. At a pizzeria or a restaurant baking its own breads, you will want a machine that can go all day to keep up with demand — exactly where a floor model industrial mixer excels. At Eleven36, we supply high-quality floor models from Hobart, Globe and other leading brands that you can trust to keep up with the needs that, unmet, will shutter your restaurant.
Commercial Handheld Mixers
Of course, not every restaurant will need a heavy-duty mixer, or even an industrial mixer, which is where a commercially reliable handheld mixer comes in! Busy bakeries or pizzerias will also find that a handheld mixer comes in handy for making special desserts or handling needs as they come up. Quickly scramble eggs or mash potatoes with a variety of attachments. You can even give slow-cooked chicken an extra shred with your hand mixer. A high-quality model will offer a similar range of accessories as the big boys — wire whips, dough hooks, blending rods, and more.
Choosing the Right Commercial Mixer for Your Business
A dynamic commercial mixer like the kind offered by Eleven36 should keep your business humming for years — so take a moment to think about your menu needs for today, tomorrow and beyond. Think about going a level or two up in terms of capacity and power than what you use now so that you can experiment with new products and be prepared to meet future demand as your business grows. A commercial mixer with a full range of attachments, including dough hooks, pastry knives and flat beaters, will have you producing cookies, cakes, and breads from the same machine. And if you really want to maximize your menu, choose a model with attachments like a grater/shredder, a meat chopper, or a vegetable slicer, so that your unit is truly a powerhouse for pumping out nearly everything on your menu.
A commercial mixer is a difference maker in creating baked goods at the quality and quantity you need. Talk to our experts at Eleven36 today for honest and unvarnished advice on how an industrial mixer can maximize your ingredients and your output. You can be sure that our guidance is never half-baked.