When working in bulk food production, choosing the right mixer is one of the most important equipment decisions you’ll make. The size of your mixer directly affects qualities like product consistency, labor costs, and output capacity; selecting the wrong size device will leave you playing catch-up as you struggle to meet production goals.
With that in mind, here’s how to sort through various commercial mixer sizes and identify the right choice for your business.
Why Mixer Size Matters
Mixers aren’t one-size-fits-all. A facility producing small batches of sample products doesn’t need the same kind of firepower as a high-volume bakery. If your mixer is too large, you risk wasting energy, eating up valuable floor space, and creating sanitation challenges. And if it’s too small, you’ll waste time running additional loads. Finding the right size mixer is all about identifying the machine that can best handle your intended use case.
Commercial Mixer Sizes
For the sake of simplicity, we can group commercial mixer sizes into these two broad categories:
Small to Mid-Size Mixers
Small to mid-sized mixers are typically found in restaurants, bakeries, and facilities with lower daily output. These machines can handle a few hundred to several thousand pounds of products per day, and they’re easier to clean because they take up less space. They also offer versatility when working with a variety of proteins, doughs, and smaller batch runs.
Large-Scale Mixers
A floor mixer offers maximum capacity and far greater power than a countertop or portable mixer. Typically, such a large machine is built to integrate with dumpers, conveyors, and grinders, resulting in less manual handling and increased speed across your entire production line.
However, a bigger mixer will take up more space on your factory floor, so you must make sure you have the room for not only its bowl, but also its stand and all of its other attachments.
Factors to Consider Before Choosing Commercial Floor Mixers
Beyond determining the right size for the commercial mixers for your business, you’ll want to consider the following additional characteristics as well:
Product and Mixer Type
Perhaps the most obvious variable to consider is the kind of product you intend to mix, as not all mixers are compatible with dense dough or similarly thick substances.
Here are some product-related factors to think about:
- Product Type: Bread dough, mashed potatoes, pizza dough, egg whites, cake batters, cookie dough, icing, filling for patries
- Machine Type: Planetary mixers, spiral mixers, dough mixers, floor mixers, etc.
You should also consider whether the machine has enough motor power for your heavy-duty mixing needs.
Labor Impact
Next, you need to familiarize yourself with how the mixer you invest in will impact day-to-day labor requirements. Larger mixers are specifically designed to handle high volumes of things like bread dough, pizza dough, whipped cream, and other substances, and that means less loading and unloading for your team.
The faster you can get products mixed, the sooner you can move on to the next phase of the food production process. And once you’ve yielded a finished product, you and your team can move on to packaging and shipping activities. Cutting down on mixing time with mixers that have more power reduces the risk of safety issues as well.
Product Quality and Absorption Ratio
Uniform mixing is critical in bulk production. Undersized mixers can be overloaded, creating an uneven distribution of ingredients, while oversized units might not properly agitate smaller batches. Both situations impact product quality and shape how consumers view your brand, which means you need equipment that can support the needs of your operation and preserve product quality.
Ensure that the motor, agitator, bowl, and other components of the mixer you pick can handle the items you process in your facility. Choosing a machine that offers the ideal absorption ratio results in a consistent product that your customers will appreciate.
Ease of Maintenance
The best machines are easy to clean and maintain. Simplifying maintenance means less downtime and a better lifespan for your machines. Aim to identify options that offer toolless disassembly, for instance, so you can easily swap out attachments and get your bowl ready for its next batch.
Equipment that is difficult to maintain may be more prone to unplanned downtime. But when time is money, you can’t afford to face constant production disruptions.
Explore FPEC’s Heavy Duty Commercial Mixers
Choosing the right commercial mixer size is an important step in ensuring your production line runs safely and profitably. With decades of experience in the food processing industry, FPEC has seen firsthand how the right equipment can solve challenges like inconsistent blending, wasted product, or slow batch times.
We provide high-end commercial machinery to a wide range of businesses in the food processing industry. Our selection of mixers, meat grinders, dumpers, and other equipment is designed to help you overcome the specific challenges and production demands of your unique food business. Contact our team for assistance choosing the right mixer for your facility today.