KA 7 Quart 'Commercial' Model- Progress Report

[justplainbill]

Bill, what is it in quarts, I mean the flour?

8 cups (2 quarts) of flour yielded 3.3 pounds of bread
12.25 cups (3+ quarts) of flour should yield about 5 pounds of bread.
The machine is advertised as being capable or handling up to 16 cups of flour, but for my bread I have little hope of being able to process more than 12.5 cups of flour.

 

[CharlieD]

So, they lied to us. Darn, I think I have one coming.

 

[justplainbill]

So, they lied to us. Darn, I think I have one coming.

The 16 cup (4 Quart) flour capacity is probably for cake batter or American style white bread. Cake batters are generally more liquid than bread doughs. A 12.5 cup of flour bread dough is more than I can conveniently make by hand and six plus 3/4 pound loaves of bread is still a fair sized batch.

 

[justplainbill]

The 16 cup (4 Quart) flour capacity is probably for cake batter or American style white bread. Cake batters are generally more liquid than bread doughs. A 12.5 cup of flour bread dough is more than I can conveniently make by hand and six plus 3/4 pound loaves of bread is still a fair sized batch.

On the brighter side the machine did not heat up (was barely warm to the touch) and the bowl and dough hook cleanup was easy; but I still had to do the final kneading by hand and my kneading board is a pain to clean, especially with the sticky dough that I produced in the KA.

 

[gadzooks]

Did you buy this mixer primarily for bread dough? It sounds like you may have to live with smaller batches than you'd like. Too bad there isn't a way to beef up the motor and transmission for a little more torque.

 

[justplainbill]

Did you buy this mixer primarily for bread dough? It sounds like you may have to live with smaller batches than you'd like. Too bad there isn't a way to beef up the motor and transmission for a little more torque.

Torque appears to be adequate. My counter and refrigerator space constraints were a consideration in selecting this machine. If the unit's base weighed an additional 10 pounds it would have less of a tendency to do the Shim Sham Shimmy. Guess I could always resort to casting a portland cement base to constrain the machine.

 

[gadzooks]

Could take the base off, turn it upside-down and fill it with epoxy and buckshot. You would need to keep the screw holes accessible for re-assembly.

 

[blissful]

Did you buy this mixer primarily for bread dough? It sounds like you may have to live with smaller batches than you'd like. Too bad there isn't a way to beef up the motor and transmission for a little more torque.

I heard that they made a tv show about a guy that does beef up motors.

 

[gadzooks]

"More POWER!!!"...that guy?

 

[blissful]

"More POWER!!!"...that guy?

Yes, I always wondered how famous tv people interacted on the internet and what kind of alias's they used, now I know "Gadzooks".

 

[justplainbill]

Could take the base off, turn it upside-down and fill it with epoxy and buckshot. You would need to keep the screw holes accessible for re-assembly.

Thanks for the suggestion. Last time I bought lead shot, I paid under 55 cents per pound. Since then (it’s been a while), I see it has gone up to $2 per pound.

 

[FrankZ]

8 cups (2 quarts) of flour yielded 3.3 pounds of bread
12.25 cups (3+ quarts) of flour should yield about 5 pounds of bread.
The machine is advertised as being capable or handling up to 16 cups of flour, but for my bread I have little hope of being able to process more than 12.5 cups of flour.

What hydration bread are you making?

And thank you for the review.

 

[justplainbill]

What hydration bread are you making?

And thank you for the review.

Normally 10 ounces of water to ~16.5 ounces of flour (59.5 - 60.5 bakers%)

 

[FrankZ]

Thanks. That is a little stiffer than what I usually do.

 

[justplainbill]

Thanks. That is a little stiffer than what I usually do.

Good to know. I normally start out with a 90 bakers% poolish, refrigerated for 2 - 4 days, wind up with a 60 bakers% dough and bake off about 50% of the water. I like well baked (fully cooked dough) crusty bread.

 

[FrankZ]

I am usually in the 65%-68% range for my sandwich bread.

I have toned down a bit with smaller pans (we just can't eat all that bread with those big loaves before it isn't edible) but I used to run 8 cups of flour and my mixer didn't even bat an eye at it.

 

[justplainbill]

Erratum

Good to know. I normally start out with a 90 bakers% poolish, refrigerated for 2 - 4 days, wind up with a 60 bakers% dough and bake off about 50% of the water. I like well baked (fully cooked dough) crusty bread.

bake off about 50% of the water
should read
bake off about 1/4 of the water

 

[justplainbill]

I am usually in the 65%-68% range for my sandwich bread.

I have toned down a bit with smaller pans (we just can't eat all that bread with those big loaves before it isn't edible) but I used to run 8 cups of flour and my mixer didn't even bat an eye at it.

Makes sense when baking in bread pans. Free form loaves seem to require a stiffer dough. Even with 6 parts water to 10 parts flour (by weight), I have to work with chilled dough in order for it to hold its shape until it rises and sets during baking.
Depending on the size of the loaf it takes from 15 to 25 minutes at 425 - 450F for the dough to complete its oven spring and set.

 

[FrankZ]

Looking back at my worksheet it seems to indicate the last time I made a SD round I was at 67% hydration and I find using the starter to be a bit slacker for the same (calculated) hydration.

 

[justplainbill]

Sounds like you're using a lot of whole wheat.
This is the skinny according to Hobart:
"The ingredient percentages are based on a flour content of 100 percent to simplify using the recipes to make various sized batches and compute the moisture absorption ratio. The heavy bread dough recipe above is a criterion listed in Section 4.4.2 of Federal Specification 00-M-0038K, Standard for Electric Food Mixing Machines.
The flour used in the recipes is hard wheat flour, enriched and bleached. It
contains 11 to 12 percent protein content and a 12 percent moisture content.
Flour which has a lower moisture content will decrease the moisture absorption, cause difficulty in proper gluten hydration, and make a heavier load on your mixer. Flours containing high quality protein, such as high gluten flour, result in a dough which can be very difficult to mix. If high gluten flour is used, reduce the batch quantity noted on the Mixer Capacity Chart by 10 percent to prevent overloading of the mixer.
The temperature of the water used in the recipes is 65°F to 75°F. Colder water temperature will cause the dough to be harder to mix. If you plan to mix doughs using cold water, the batch size may need to be reduced by 15 to 20%.
Also considered and noted on the Mixer Capacity Chart is the moisture absorption ratio (AR). This is the ratio of the weight of water to the weight of flour expressed as a percentage.
AR = weight of water ÷ weight of flour <-> 100%
The absorption ratio gives an indication of the relative "heaviness" or "wetness" of a batch. In fact, the capacities listed on the Mixer Capacity Chart for the products listed below are based on the following absorption ratios:
PRODUCT ABSORPTION RATIO
Heavy Bread Dough 55%
Medium Bread Dough 60%
Light Bread Dough 65%
Thin Pizza Dough 40%
Medium Pizza Dough 50%
Thick Pizza Dough 60%
Raised Donut Dough 65%
Whole Wheat Dough 70%"
Between my use of some whole wheat, high gluten and durum, and my cold mixing (use of refrigerated poolish) it's seems prudent to limit my dough batches to 12 cups (75% of KA's 16 cup recommended maximum).
A more complete rendering of Hobart's instructions can be seen at-
http://www.hobartfood.com.au/resources/operations/Use Application_2.pdf