Heating mixers and spot stirrers

[churrostation]

Hi everyone, my wife and I have just started a new business selling churros at the market. We are now trying to optimize our time a little to improve our hourly rate. What we are looking for is a way to make the dough and the most time consuming sauce.

Churro dough is mixed with boiling water and needs to be stirred and scraped on low heat for a few minutes. It gets very hard to stir very quickly, and we sell about 5 to 10 kg already which takes several batches. We thought a regular dough mixer would be ideal if it could be used over a heat source or if there was a mixer that heated it would be perfect.

Doce de Leite, or Dulce de Leche or caramelized milk takes literally hours of stirring milk just below boiling point. Usually doesnt need scraping. We think the thermomix might be perfect, but so pricey. Most pot mounted soup mixers otoh tend to be battery operated and wouldnt last three hours. Doce does not require a powerful mixer at the thickness we need.

Any suggestions are welcome. We have a reasonable budget and will consider commercial equipment, but prefer to get the minimum for now as we are still growing our customer base.

Edited November 22, 2014 by churrostation (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

Couldn't you just throw cans of condensed milk into a water bath to make dulce de leche? That's how I'd make it at home if I ever wanted it and I suspect a lot of commercial users would do the same.

[Dave W]

What Chris said. I think you could do it even faster in a pressure cooker.

[churrostation]

Fair comments, but we have found it just doesnt give the same result. Ends up tasting a lot like condensed milk. The maillard reaction doesnt seem to take place to the same extent. Our doce is richlt flavored and dark.

Last post for the day (new user), so see top post for OP replies.

Edited November 22, 2014 by churrostation (log)

[Dave W]

Well if you're stuck on cooking the milk conventionally you could try sous vide milk for a couple days below boiling. I know ideas in food caramelized yogurt like this.

Or, get an induction burner with temperature settings and robot pot stirrer.

[Lisa Shock]

There's a new Kenwood 7qt mixer that has induction heat. I own an older model and have found it to be very reliable. I have worked with the new model at work and the induction is great; you can program precise temperatures and coordinate it with an electronic timer.

[Chris Hennes]

There's always the Thermomix (if you've got the budget!).

[Lisa Shock]

FYI, churros are made of pâte à choux.

[Kerry Beal]

Hotmix PRO Twin 220 volts, but would let you make both at the same time.

[andiesenji]

Fair comments, but we have found it just doesnt give the same result. Ends up tasting a lot like condensed milk. The maillard reaction doesnt seem to take place to the same extent. Our doce is richlt flavored and dark.

Last post for the day (new user), so see top post for OP replies.

Exactly what I have always contended.  I prepare dulce de leche in a slow cooker (once made a huge 12-quart batch in an electric roaster for canning the stuff for holiday gifts) from a recipe from a Mexican neighbor.  It takes longer but requires only occasional stirring because the heat source surrounds the cooking vessel instead of causing hot spots on the bottom.

I usually use a combination of cow and goat milk but sometimes use just goat milk.

 

Frankly, the stuff made with condensed milk always has a metallic, "tinny" flavor that I do not like. 

 

I have a Thermomix, purchased in November 2009, but have never used it for dulce de leche - although I have used it numerous times for reducing sauces, making small batches of jams, jellies and custards that require constant stirring. 

It was expensive but for me well worth it for the tasks for which I needed it. 

[Kerry Beal]

I've made DDL in my thermomix - only issue is the max 1 hour timer.