Commercial Stand Mixer | Baking Forums

Hello welcome to the forum.

I can’t recommend a mixer but I can offer a couple of thoughts that come to mind when moving into commercial equipment territory.


Voltage: If you are in the US, one of the things you have to consider when moving up to a larger capacity mixer is voltage. Residential homes in the US are wired for 120 volts. But commercial kitchens are usually wired for higher volts because commercial appliances can require between 208 volts – 220 volts. So you need to make sure that the unit you’re interested in is available in 120 volts (again if you live in the US).


Although there are voltage converters, most manufacturers do not recommend their use since it doesn’t eliminate the overheating and potential fire risks.


Warranty: You should confirm the manufacturer’s policy on the warranty when the equipment is in use in a residential kitchen. I don’t know about mixers but, commercial oven manufacturers will void the warranty if the unit is installed in a residential kitchen because residential kitchens not designed with the required fire abatement equipment, and reinforced walls and flooring.


Right mixer for the job: You need to consider what you’re going to be mixing. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean it can mix anything and everything.


Some manufacturers will void a warranty if you mix the wrong things for the mixer. For instance Hobart, a top of the line commercial mixer, will void the warranty on 20 qt and smaller mixers if it is used to regularly mix heavy doughs like bread and pizza. The smaller mixers do not have the torque to hold up to frequent use in mixing bread and pizza doughs. So if you’re mixing bread doughs you need a 30 qt mixer or larger if you want to keep your warranty.


If you’re mixing cake batters and cookie doughs you don’t necessarily need a top brand like Hobart.


If you’re mixing a lot of bread dough then maybe a spiral mixer makes more sense. I think analyzing your needs and researching the pros and cons of the different types of mixers will help you decide.



Sorry, just gotta vent a minute here...one of my biggest pet peeves is the failure of manufactures to educate consumers on the limitation of countertop mixers (yeah KitchenAid, I’m talkin’ about you!). If a Hobart 20 quart mixer can’t handle regular use for bread dough, then KitchenAid doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hades under that kind of workload. Consumers pay good money and have high expectations for these KitchenAids, yet nary a word from the manufacture on the heavy dough limitations.

Hello welcome to the forum.

I can’t recommend a mixer but I can offer a couple of thoughts that come to mind when moving into commercial equipment territory.


Voltage: If you are in the US, one of the things you have to consider when moving up to a larger capacity mixer is voltage. Residential homes in the US are wired for 120 volts. But commercial kitchens are usually wired for higher volts because commercial appliances can require between 208 volts – 220 volts. So you need to make sure that the unit you’re interested in is available in 120 volts (again if you live in the US).


Although there are voltage converters, most manufacturers do not recommend their use since it doesn’t eliminate the overheating and potential fire risks.


Warranty: You should confirm the manufacturer’s policy on the warranty when the equipment is in use in a residential kitchen. I don’t know about mixers but, commercial oven manufacturers will void the warranty if the unit is installed in a residential kitchen because residential kitchens not designed with the required fire abatement equipment, and reinforced walls and flooring.


Right mixer for the job: You need to consider what you’re going to be mixing. Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean it can mix anything and everything.


Some manufacturers will void a warranty if you mix the wrong things for the mixer. For instance Hobart, a top of the line commercial mixer, will void the warranty on 20 qt and smaller mixers if it is used to regularly mix heavy doughs like bread and pizza. The smaller mixers do not have the torque to hold up to frequent use in mixing bread and pizza doughs. So if you’re mixing bread doughs you need a 30 qt mixer or larger if you want to keep your warranty.


If you’re mixing cake batters and cookie doughs you don’t necessarily need a top brand like Hobart.


If you’re mixing a lot of bread dough then maybe a spiral mixer makes more sense. I think analyzing your needs and researching the pros and cons of the different types of mixers will help you decide.



Sorry, just gotta vent a minute here...one of my biggest pet peeves is the failure of manufactures to educate consumers on the limitation of countertop mixers (yeah KitchenAid, I’m talkin’ about you!). If a Hobart 20 quart mixer can’t handle regular use for bread dough, then KitchenAid doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hades under that kind of workload. Consumers pay good money and have high expectations for these KitchenAids, yet nary a word from the manufacture on the heavy dough limitations.

Thanks for the feedback...You've given me pause about my decision. I may not necessarily need a commercial but an additional good stand mixer to pull double duty to keep up with my cakes and icings for my orders...I need to reduce my time instead of mixing one batter at a time when I have different varieties of cake and icings. So now my question is whether I can find another good stand mixer to fit the bill. BTW: I don't do breads and any other recipes that would require me to use the dough hook thus my Kitchenaid mixer has last me over 10yrs without fail