A commercial mixer is one of the few pieces of equipment where buying too small is worse than buying too big. If you mainly whip, cream, and blend batters, a planetary mixer is the versatile workhorse — the agitator spins on its own axis while orbiting the bowl, so it reaches every surface. If your day is built around heavy bread or pizza dough, a spiral mixer develops gluten faster and cooler because the hook and bowl both turn. Many bakeries end up owning both. Before you shop, write down your two or three biggest recurring batches — that decides size and type more than any spec sheet.
Planetary mixers are sold by bowl capacity in quarts. The common jump points are 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 qt. A useful rule: rate a mixer by the toughest thing you make, not the easiest. Pizza dough and stiff bread dough cut a mixer's usable capacity roughly in half because they load the motor hard. The table below is a planning starting point — always check the manufacturer's dough capacity for your specific flour and hydration.
| Bowl size | Typical fit | Light batter | Stiff dough (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 qt | Cafe, small prep, sauces | Small | ~1–2 lb |
| 10–12 qt | Bistro, dessert station | Medium | ~4–6 lb |
| 20 qt | Busy restaurant, small bakery | Large | ~12–15 lb |
| 30–40 qt | Bakery, pizzeria | Very large | ~25–40 lb |
| 60 qt+ | Production bakery, commissary | Batch | 50 lb and up |
This is the most-searched mixer question for a reason. A planetary mixer with a dough hook can handle occasional dough, but running stiff dough at capacity repeatedly stresses the gearbox and heats the dough through friction. A spiral mixer keeps dough cooler, develops gluten in less time, and handles low-hydration pizza dough all day. The trade-off: a spiral mixer only does dough — it can't whip cream or whisk egg whites. If dough is 70%+ of your volume, buy the spiral and keep a small planetary for everything else.
Horsepower matters most for dough. Look for a mixer whose rated horsepower and dough capacity match your heaviest batch with headroom to spare. Gear-driven transmissions handle heavy, sustained loads better than belt-driven models, which are quieter and cheaper but better suited to lighter work. Three fixed speeds plus a stir setting covers most kitchens; some allow shifting speeds while running, but many require stopping first — a real workflow difference.
Tip: Check power and clearance before you buy. A 20 qt+ mixer may need a dedicated circuit, and floor models need overhead room for the bowl lift and to swing the bowl out. Measure the doorway too.
The core three come standard on most units: flat beater (paddle) for creaming and batters, wire whip for aeration, and dough hook for kneading. The real value-add is the #12 attachment hub on the front of many commercial mixers, which drives meat grinders, vegetable slicers, and shredders off the same motor. If you want one machine to grind and slice too, confirm the hub is present and sized — though for heavy slicing volume a dedicated commercial meat slicer or food processor will outperform an attachment. Bowl guards are now standard for safety and are often required by inspectors — don't remove them.
See the kitchen equipment configurator to size your line, and the NSF certification guide for why the sanitation stamp matters on food-contact parts.