Great post! I was told that I’d kill my KA while writing my bagel book. You know that’s a seriously stiff dough and my recipe requires 6 minutes of machine kneading on 4. I’ll admit my KAs sometimes squeal, but BOTH of my KA Pro mixers survived that year. I alternated using them so one could cool down while I made another batch in the other. I still expect both will expire at which time I’ll buy the Ankarsrum.
Thanks for for doing the research. I replaced my Kitchen Aid with Ankarsrum. Love the larger capacity, however there is a learning curve. Looking forward to your part 2. I still haven’t completely figured out which is better for kneading- the roller or the hook.
As is true about the majority of your writings, this article gave me "facts I can use", without any frippery or cutesy-pie prose like so many websites do. The information you provide is clear and concise, and I will be able to immediately utilize it in my voyage to becoming a better baker.
It has been my experience the Ankarsrum doesn’t like small amount of dough. Beats eggs whites fine- however need to switch out bowl and attachment. Andrew has already hinted at difference between mixing and kneading. On the Ank. mixing requires manually swinging the arm to “grab” all of the ingredients in the beginning. The Ank. Is made for kneading.
One remark; you wrote: "That’s because some time ago KitchenAid replaced a metal “worm” gear in their motors with a plastic one that is designed to disintegrate if the machine is overheated or overtaxed."
That's not actually correct; the machines in the K series (introduced way back when, and still produced today using the same design) have *always* used a "plastic" worm follower gear. The materials have changed a bit over time, but the gear's function as a "mechanical fuse" has not changed, nor has its plasticness.
The "Pro" series mixers use a bronze worm follower gear; this is somewhat more durable but serves the same function as a wear part and "mechanical fuse".
Came here just to express appreciation for the tremendous header image & copy on this post! "...not in this disagreeable old-fashioned way" is GOLD. Is that from Hobart? Love it.
Great article! I have replaced the gearing in my 12 year old KA "pro" mixer twice now. It has a metal gear instead of plastic but must be a soft metal as it hasn't held up (brioche did it the first time and bagels the second). It's really fun cleaning out all of the greasy metal shavings from the inside of the gearbox when it gets shredded...
I've had an Ankarsrum for several months now and love it - looking forward to that article btw. Bit of a learning curve for me - somewhat of a challenge to break out of my KA mindset. The thing is a beast for rye breads!
I have one of those Universal bread mixers with the crank on top. It belonged to my great aunt who received it as a wedding present in 1908. (I don't use it because it's a lot of very old, sketchy metal.) But I do have the 1970s hippie version that I used for decades made of aluminum and works great for 6 loaves, although with considerable elbow grease. Now I have an Ankarsrum and it is wonderful.
I look forward to your post on the Ank. I got one about a year ago and I love it for bread. I don't think it handles small batches of dough very well, so like a few others, I'm curious about your experience there.
I bought my 5 qt KA in 1996! And I do indeed have the original instructions/booklet that came with it. Under the yeast breads and quick breads section, surprisingly, it does say, " NEVER exceed Speed 2 when using the dough hook". Under the general instructions it doesn't specifically say to run only for 2 minutes, but most of the recipes seem to run the mixer in 2 minutes increments for any one step. Funny that I never noticed (nor heeded) those instructions. I'll just continue to use my KA as I always have. It's lasted this long with zero hiccups. I agree with you that KA just put that in there to cover themselves from any liability if the motor burns out by saying, "See, we told you not to go over Speed 2!"
I purchased my Famag IM-8S back on Nov 2022 and am a huge fan. I bake 12 loaves of bread every week for a local food bank and it never bogs down or struggles. It also can handle modest size batches (2 loaf or around 3 lbs). Heads and tails better than my 30 year old Kitchenaid Heavy Duty, which overheated with longer kneads. The Kitchenaid manual stated to use speed two for kneading, but no time limits.
My Ankarsrum was great for bread, but wasn’t as good as a Kitchenaid for things like cake batter or meringue. I sold the Ankarsrum and now think I have a good combo to handle all bakes.
Since a high percentage of my baking is bread I invested in the Famag when it first became available and love it. It handles any bread, larger batches, as well as heavy cookie doughs. I do have a KA for non bread things but the Famag gets a lot more use. I had a Bosch mixer at one point but wasn't a fan.
Really enjoyed reading this post! Thank you for doing the research. I have KA Pro but I've been thinking of switching to Ank for a few years now. I hope in your next post you will talk about Ank and how it handles small batches of dough e.g cookies, 2 egg whites etc. Thank you!
There is another problem KA had, at least when my family gave me my mixer. The mixer said it was rated to handle "9 cups of flour". It started to overflow with my challah recipe at about half that. KA's response was that 9 cups meant 9 cups of flour ONLY. That was kind of ridiculous.
I make a couple of bread recipes in my KA but most just overflow the 5 quart bowl. The Ank is supposed to handle much larger batches of dough and I'd like to try it but it is also pretty spendy. Of the three recipes I make the most the smallest, my sandwich bread, is still about five or six pounds of dough and that's too big.
Great post! I was told that I’d kill my KA while writing my bagel book. You know that’s a seriously stiff dough and my recipe requires 6 minutes of machine kneading on 4. I’ll admit my KAs sometimes squeal, but BOTH of my KA Pro mixers survived that year. I alternated using them so one could cool down while I made another batch in the other. I still expect both will expire at which time I’ll buy the Ankarsrum.
Thanks for for doing the research. I replaced my Kitchen Aid with Ankarsrum. Love the larger capacity, however there is a learning curve. Looking forward to your part 2. I still haven’t completely figured out which is better for kneading- the roller or the hook.
Excellent article, Andrew --
As is true about the majority of your writings, this article gave me "facts I can use", without any frippery or cutesy-pie prose like so many websites do. The information you provide is clear and concise, and I will be able to immediately utilize it in my voyage to becoming a better baker.
Keep up the good work,
C. Crawford
It has been my experience the Ankarsrum doesn’t like small amount of dough. Beats eggs whites fine- however need to switch out bowl and attachment. Andrew has already hinted at difference between mixing and kneading. On the Ank. mixing requires manually swinging the arm to “grab” all of the ingredients in the beginning. The Ank. Is made for kneading.
One remark; you wrote: "That’s because some time ago KitchenAid replaced a metal “worm” gear in their motors with a plastic one that is designed to disintegrate if the machine is overheated or overtaxed."
That's not actually correct; the machines in the K series (introduced way back when, and still produced today using the same design) have *always* used a "plastic" worm follower gear. The materials have changed a bit over time, but the gear's function as a "mechanical fuse" has not changed, nor has its plasticness.
The "Pro" series mixers use a bronze worm follower gear; this is somewhat more durable but serves the same function as a wear part and "mechanical fuse".
More about it here: https://www.mixerology.com/plastic-mythology/ .
Came here just to express appreciation for the tremendous header image & copy on this post! "...not in this disagreeable old-fashioned way" is GOLD. Is that from Hobart? Love it.
The FAMAG IM-5 isn't the only game in town for tabletop spiral mixers anymore. VEVOR has a private label Chinese mixer currently selling for only $515: https://www.vevor.com/commercial-mixers-c_10669/vevor-commercial-dough-food-mixer-spiral-dough-mixer-w-7-3qt-bowl-p_010396288289
There are many other models of Chinese tabletop mixers...hopefully they will find distribution in the USA in the near future.
Great article! I have replaced the gearing in my 12 year old KA "pro" mixer twice now. It has a metal gear instead of plastic but must be a soft metal as it hasn't held up (brioche did it the first time and bagels the second). It's really fun cleaning out all of the greasy metal shavings from the inside of the gearbox when it gets shredded...
I've had an Ankarsrum for several months now and love it - looking forward to that article btw. Bit of a learning curve for me - somewhat of a challenge to break out of my KA mindset. The thing is a beast for rye breads!
I have one of those Universal bread mixers with the crank on top. It belonged to my great aunt who received it as a wedding present in 1908. (I don't use it because it's a lot of very old, sketchy metal.) But I do have the 1970s hippie version that I used for decades made of aluminum and works great for 6 loaves, although with considerable elbow grease. Now I have an Ankarsrum and it is wonderful.
I look forward to your post on the Ank. I got one about a year ago and I love it for bread. I don't think it handles small batches of dough very well, so like a few others, I'm curious about your experience there.
I used a glass bowl with my KA and it shattered when I was kneading dough. Be warned.
I bought my 5 qt KA in 1996! And I do indeed have the original instructions/booklet that came with it. Under the yeast breads and quick breads section, surprisingly, it does say, " NEVER exceed Speed 2 when using the dough hook". Under the general instructions it doesn't specifically say to run only for 2 minutes, but most of the recipes seem to run the mixer in 2 minutes increments for any one step. Funny that I never noticed (nor heeded) those instructions. I'll just continue to use my KA as I always have. It's lasted this long with zero hiccups. I agree with you that KA just put that in there to cover themselves from any liability if the motor burns out by saying, "See, we told you not to go over Speed 2!"
I purchased my Famag IM-8S back on Nov 2022 and am a huge fan. I bake 12 loaves of bread every week for a local food bank and it never bogs down or struggles. It also can handle modest size batches (2 loaf or around 3 lbs). Heads and tails better than my 30 year old Kitchenaid Heavy Duty, which overheated with longer kneads. The Kitchenaid manual stated to use speed two for kneading, but no time limits.
My Ankarsrum was great for bread, but wasn’t as good as a Kitchenaid for things like cake batter or meringue. I sold the Ankarsrum and now think I have a good combo to handle all bakes.
Since a high percentage of my baking is bread I invested in the Famag when it first became available and love it. It handles any bread, larger batches, as well as heavy cookie doughs. I do have a KA for non bread things but the Famag gets a lot more use. I had a Bosch mixer at one point but wasn't a fan.
Really enjoyed reading this post! Thank you for doing the research. I have KA Pro but I've been thinking of switching to Ank for a few years now. I hope in your next post you will talk about Ank and how it handles small batches of dough e.g cookies, 2 egg whites etc. Thank you!
Thanks. Great article!
There is another problem KA had, at least when my family gave me my mixer. The mixer said it was rated to handle "9 cups of flour". It started to overflow with my challah recipe at about half that. KA's response was that 9 cups meant 9 cups of flour ONLY. That was kind of ridiculous.
I make a couple of bread recipes in my KA but most just overflow the 5 quart bowl. The Ank is supposed to handle much larger batches of dough and I'd like to try it but it is also pretty spendy. Of the three recipes I make the most the smallest, my sandwich bread, is still about five or six pounds of dough and that's too big.