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Funkychef

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Does anybody own a kitchenaid 8qt commercial.

Thinking of buying one but not sure if it is strong enough.
For the last 10 years ive been making bread by hand... No machines and through the winter months I make about 10 loafs of bread a day. Will this machine keep up with that?
 
I have the Kitchenaid 5 quart, bowl lift model. Will handle 38 ounces of bread flour for two 2 pound loaves without a problem.

edit: 10 loaves a day may be to much for it.
 
I need one of those, with all the attachments for bread, sausage, etc. Our regular mixer is ok for a loaf of bread, but not up to bigger challenges...Kitchenaid is a beefy product for the home.
 
I've a thirty+ year old k5ss that has no problem kneading bread doughs. I have heard that newer home models have plastic gears, but don't know if that's accurate.
I'd imagine that an 8qt commercial would be able to handle bread just fine.
 
Thanks.
After kneading bread for the last 10 years has been great therapy but it takes up too much of my time now it will be nice to have a machine to do it for me. I think it will handle the dough fine now but slightly worried if I do small batches if it might be too big.
 
Don't think you need to worry about it being too big. Too small would be an issue though.

I would second this. I don't think a 10qt mixer would come close to handling 10 regular size loaves of dough at once but I might be wrong.
 
I also have the six qt pro mixer .It's one of the best kitchen tools you can have ,but dang.What are doing with 10 loaves per day?
 
I have a 6-quart "Professional" Kitchenaid. I seriously doubt you will be able to do 10 loaves in that thing but maybe you can do 2 or 3 batches. I guess it partly it depends on how big a loaf you're making, but the most I've ever done in mine is 2 big loafs so I'm guessing with a bigger bowl you could do 3-5 loafs at a time.

I don't think the mixer really saves that much time over doing it by hand but the big benefit is that you can do other things while it's mixing, and of course you don't have to do the physical labor. When I'm making bread I usually do 90% of the kneading in the mixer and then finish it by hand so I can make sure it's good to go and make any final flour adjustments if needed.

One thing to note if you're switching to a stand mixer is that you might have to fine-tune your recipes. When kneading by hand the dough tends to pick up a little extra flour from your hands, the tabletop, etc but that doesn't happen in a stand mixer so I usually have to add a little extra flour up-front. On the other hand the plus is that once you have an exact recipe for the mixer (ideally measuring the flour and water by weight) you can be confidant that it will come out exactly the same every time.

I will also say that I think the mixer will probably NOT be good at small batches. Even my 6-quart model struggles if I'm trying to beat just 1 or 2 eggs. There is a height adjustment to fine tune the bowl height which helps the attachments get to the bottom of the bowl without hitting the sides but I still find that for small batches it's not really worth it. I imagine the problem is exacerbated with an 8-quart model.

Overall though I think a stand mixer is indispensable for even semi-regular baking and I can't imagine running a commercial kitchen without one.
 
Yes this is exactly the way I see it. It will free up my time so its like having an extra set of hands. 3-4 loaves at a time is fine as I do a mix of different breads. Rye, whole wheat. Sourdough and fruit breads. I don't mind fine tuning my recipes. That's why I like being a chef

For beating eggs for desserts and other things I still prefer to do it by hand, more control. Plus when I did my apprenticeship we had no machines so everything was done by hand with love.
But during winter time is a premium and to have a machine to mix my dough so I can do other things will be a big plus!
 
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