On 29 Oct 2003 at 17:29, Kenneth wrote:

> Many years ago, the smallest Hobart mixer design was sold to
> KitchenAid and became the familiar mixer we see today. The Hobart was
> a true commercial mixer with all that implied. The KitchenAid version
> was a fine home machine, but certainly not in the league of its
> ancestor.

I have to argue the point here. The KitchenAid made by Hobart
differed from a true commerical mixer in several important ways.

A commercial mixer has a geared transmission on it and is driven by a
single speed motor. Some have two or three speed motors, but these
speed changes are accomodated by activating seperate coils in the
motor.

The KitchenAids, then and now, have a variable speed motor. The
speed is changed by use of a rheostat, resistor divider network, or
some newer sort of "solid state speed control". The sad fact is that any
given motor design has an optimum working speed. Get too much out
of it, and you lose power. Low speeds and high power are very hard
on a motor. You get more power at higher speeds.

Of course, bread dough is a problem here. It's dense, thick, and
sticky. And has to be kneaded at lower speeds, where the motor
generates the least power. So, the motor heats up. I bought my
KitchenAid K45-SS mixer in the late 1970's, and the manual warns
against mixing or kneading too much dough, and warns a rest is
needed between batches of bread dough.

I have honored these warnings, and the mixer is still running fine. I
wonder how much of the decrease in reported reliability is because the
mixer is now sold to a wider audience, one who doesn't bother reading
the manual, and who feels, "for this much money, it should mix
concrete"?

Mike
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Mike Avery

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