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I could get behind some of these. Like that Hobart mixer. Granted, I don't use a mixer 24/7 in a bakery, but my first Kitchen Aid overheated and broke after ~5 years.

I'd prefer if commodity things, like computer mice, were made to last, and not $5 pieces of cheap plastic that end up in landfills. But I'm the person who complains about the tons of cheap plastic trash sold in 0.99 stores while able to afford $500 mixers.

I wish there was a happy medium, where society didn't demand China produce plastic stuff that turns into trash within a month, destroying the environment exponentially.



At least things things like Kitchenaid mixers are easily fixable if you still have it. Ours recently died after about 8 years, and it was a pretty quick turn around from model number > spec sheet > motor number > $80 replacement. The actual swap took less than 15 minutes with nothing more than a phillips screwdriver.

I did the same with our microwave when the door close sensors failed. The internet has made fixing things infinitely easier, as spec sheets and part suppliers are available to everyone.


Yeah, Kitchen Aid is all hand made still AFAIK. So, it should be easy to fix, too.


NB: KitchenAid is Hobart.

I immediately recognised the design from the pictured mixer. Turns out they are the same company, different branding. Now owned by Whirlpool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KitchenAid

TIL, FWIW.


Both the KitchenAid and the Hobart use a planetary action which is not the best for kneading bread. A better idea is to find a small spiral mixer where the bowl rotates and the mixer blade spins in place. I have a Haussler Alpha and it's great for tough doughs, and seems appropriately overbuilt.


Many people have been known to use these Electrolux mixers for decades, I have one that's 30 years old, working perfectly.

https://www.electrolux.dk/kitchen/small-kitchen-appliances/k...


Commercial kitchen equipment isn't always set up for 120V single phase operation.

If you really want to rewire your house to mix 20 gallons of dough at a time...go for it I suppose. But do the homework first.


> If you really want to rewire your house to mix 20 gallons of dough at a time...go for it I suppose. But do the homework first.

You could get a 3 phase commercial standby genset installed and have the remote annunciator for it mounted next to whatever monster 3 phase stand mixer in your kitchen. All in all this would run you ~50K USD.

Every day people spend far more money on way stupider bullshit than what I just proposed.


Sure some of it is but certainly not all of it. Also there are reasonably sized mixers like GP said


Oh, sorry. The point of the article was 'overkill'. It's really 'just heavier duty'.




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