Ankarsrum Mixer of Many Names

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Ankarsrum, the Swedish mixer of many names: Electrolux Assistent, DLX, Verona, Magic Mill...

 

 

 

I understand a few eGullet folks have these, or have had.  Mine came this afternoon.  From what I've read, mixing procedure with the Ankarsrum is different from mixing with planetary stand mixers.  At the moment I need advice specifically with whether I should use the dough hook (with or without the scraper arm) or the roller attachment for my bread.

 

The Ankarsrum manual says to use the dough hook for dough with between 1 and 1.5 liters of liquid ingredients.  OK.  My usual dough recipe uses 410 g of water.  Rose Levy Beranbaum in The Bread Bible says to use the dough hook when mixing less than 4 pounds of dough.  Which if my math is correct is about 750 g of water (math is not my thing).  Beranbaum adds "For larger amounts, use the roller and scraper."

 

Yet most bread recipes in the Ankarsrum recipe booklet that call for the dough hook use about a liter of liquid.  The recipes that call for the roller use less liquid, 400-600 ml.  Beranbaum is usually right but I'm wondering if she's wrong?

 

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

 

P.S.  Sparkling Gold was not my first color choice.  Sparkling Gold was perhaps not my thirteenth color choice.  But Sparkling Gold was 10 percent off.  Besides, the gold color matches the gold lettering on the bowl and dials.  Now I feel better.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by JoNorvelleWalker
damn autocorrect (log)

[DesertTinker]

No help, but dayum it’s pretty!! Still we don’t have a green with envy emoji 

Edited November 18, 2019 by DesertTinker
Correct wrong word. (log)

[curls]

Congratulations on the new mixer!  
 

I recommend using the roller. Have yet to use the dough hook with my DLX and have been very happy with my results. Going to search for some of the tutorial videos that I found helpful... this mixer is not at all like most others.

[curls]

One of the videos that I found helpful

 

 

another video... this one demonstrates many of the accessories

 

and some addtional videos from the manufacturer

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvbrvIzz39VJsLSAT2SqPQA

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by curls
added another video link (log)

[andiesenji]

I had one for about 20 years - I originally got it after killing two Kitchenaids trying to make Peter Reinhart's  "Struan" bread from Crust & Crumb.

It is a very dense dough and the gears of the KAs  during those years were just not up to the task.  I had purchased the first one at Costco and since they have a  "no-fault" return policy  I took it back in and got a replacement.  When I returned with the second one two weeks later, they suggested I might get a "heavy-duty" mixer.  

So I ordered the AEG 2000 - which was that year's  name - from Pleasant Hill Grain as they included some extras for free that other vendors added on.

I used it quite a bit for large batches of dough as it could handle much more than the KAs.  I rarely used the dough hook but did find it useful for blending batches of ground fruits and nuts for pastry fillings and for "sugarplums"  and for fruitcakes  with stiffer doughs.

Probably 85% of the time I used the roller/scraper for bread doughs, cake batters, etc.  

The twin beaters in the aux bowl produced great volumes of egg whites and faster than the KA so you have to watch that they don't get too stiff.

 

The timer  was a  great feature because I usually had two or three tasks going at the same time..  I think all mixers should have timers.

[Barrytm]

I have one of the older models, marketed as a Magic Mill ,  and I used the hook once, and then put it in the attic.   I use the roller for everything from whipping cream to kneading bread.  The roller can handle any volume of bread that will fit in the bowl, though you will need to turn the adjustment knob for larger loafs.   One tip is to manually push the roller into the center a few times at the outset of the kneading to make sure everything gets incorporated.  After that ,  it will knead dough all on its own, and I am sure you will love it. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Thanks, @curls, the videos were very helpful.  Particularly the one from Bread Beckers.  I had to laugh when a demonstrator in another video was using the Ankarsrum flocker to make steel cut oats!

 

Whether true or not, something interesting in another Ankarsrum video I found:  the presenter alleged attachments for KitchenAid, Ankarsrum, and Bosch were interchangeable.  He was demonstrating the Ankarsrum grain mill.  Of the Ankarsrum attachments, I'd be most interested in the nut grater and the flocker.  But they certainly don't come cheap.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Barrytm said:

I have one of the older models, marketed as a Magic Mill ,  and I used the hook once, and then put it in the attic.   I use the roller for everything from whipping cream to kneading bread.  The roller can handle any volume of bread that will fit in the bowl, though you will need to turn the adjustment knob for larger loafs.   One tip is to manually push the roller into the center a few times at the outset of the kneading to make sure everything gets incorporated.  After that ,  it will knead dough all on its own, and I am sure you will love it. 

 

Sadly I don't have an attic.  The dough hook will probably end up somewhere in the living room.  The living room is the overflow pantry storage from the bedroom.

 

[curls]

@JoNorvelleWalker so glad the videos helped. I saw your first loaves with the new mixer, they look different from your previous loaves. I hope you get the  Ankrasrum to produce the results you are looking for. Yeah, their attachments are pricey but when my Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment goes, I think I'll buy the Ankrasrum attachment.

[Cyberider]

I use the hook for all doughs and the roller for everything else.  It seems to require less attention that way.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, Cyberider said:

I use the hook for all doughs and the roller for everything else.  It seems to require less attention that way.

 

What weight of flour and water do you use?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

One thing I've learned about the Ankarsrum is it doesn't like liquid added after flour.  I had been using the Modernist Bread technique of adding a salt slurry after partial mixing.  Tonight I added powdered Diamond Kosher salt right after autolysis.  I mixed on low speed 8 minutes and 15 more minutes slightly faster.  Entertaining to watch the mixing action.

 

A minor problem is I can't seem to lock the arm.  Not sure if I don't have enough strength or if the unit is defective.  And while we're at it, the heavy bowl is a pain for me to clean.

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by JoNorvelleWalker
spelling (log)

[Cyberider]

On November 22, 2019 at 1:21 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What weight of flour and water do you use?

 

I don't weigh anything. I just use approximate quantities and adjust for the consistency I want.  Anyway, I find the hook less fussy for dough than the roller, no matter whether it's a stiff or a loose dough.  

 

The knob that locks the arm needs to be turned tightly to be effective.  The Ankarsrum is different from most anything else and takes awhile for the love to start.  One thing that is immediately apparent, though, is that it will easily handle twice the ingredients of a Kitchenaid without straining.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am so happy that when mixing wheat* dough in the Ankarsrum I can build dough strength that I just can't get from the KitchenAid.

 

But now I have another question:  I have not baked cookies in years and years.  Cookies are calling to me.  Would it be better to mix cookie dough in the Ankarsrum or in the KitchenAid?  Or does it depend on the specific recipe?  I have read one should not assay cold butter in the Ankarsrum, but cold butter is not at issue here.

 

 

*rye is a separate issue.  I don't like rye anyway.

 

[curls]

Either mixer should have no problems mixing cookie dough. Go with whichever mixer you want to use when the cookie mood strikes. Now, if you triple your normal recipe, go with the Ankarsrum.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I mixed my first cookie dough in the Ankarsrum.  The Ankarsrum did not mix as well as I would have liked.  The cookie recipe was KAF Crystal Diamonds.  The dough for Crystal Diamonds is flour, milk, lemon oil, yeast, and salt; then with butter beaten in in increments.

 

The dough merrily climbed the center column and crawled into the gears.  I suspect the end result will be OK, though with more mess and pain than I anticipated.  Another observation:  Stretch-tite plastic wrap sticks to the Ankarsrum plastic bowl.  Sticks as in "can't get it off".

 

[curls]

Whoops, guess I should have mentioned, I use the metal bowl and dough roller when I mix cookie dough. Haven't tried the plastic bowl & dual whisks for cookie dough (based on your results I'm even less inclined to try that combo). I hope the cookies are tasty!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

17 hours ago, curls said:

Whoops, guess I should have mentioned, I use the metal bowl and dough roller when I mix cookie dough. Haven't tried the plastic bowl & dual whisks for cookie dough (based on your results I'm even less inclined to try that combo). I hope the cookies are tasty!

 

The dough recipe calls for only 177 g of flour and I was afraid that was too little for the big bowl.  Right now I'm trying to summon the energy to get up and roll out the cookies.

 

[chefmd]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The dough recipe calls for only 177 g of flour and I was afraid that was too little for the big bowl.  Right now I'm trying to summon the energy to get up and roll out the cookies.

 

You can do it!

[curls]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

The dough recipe calls for only 177 g of flour and I was afraid that was too little for the big bowl.  Right now I'm trying to summon the energy to get up and roll out the cookies.

 

Agreed, that sounds like a super small batch for the big bowl. Ditto what @chefmd said, you can roll that cookie dough!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, chefmd said:

You can do it!

 

Thank you for the encouragement, Natasha.  I had one and only one project for today.  That was to get out of bed just after 3:00 and bake the cookies.  I had the Silpats and the stamina to roll out and bake half the dough.

 

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight, for the first time, I used the dough hook.  I was skeptical but the dough hook gave better results in less time than the roller.  I suspect the dough hook would work even better if I were making a larger batch of bread.  Cleanup was easier too.  One problem with the roller is getting the flour incorporated.  The dough hook had no such issues.

 

In other Ankarsrum news, price of the flocker dropped $70 from amazon.  One is on its way.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Anyone here have a flocker, Ankarsrum or other make?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Haha.  Price of the Ankarsrum flocker dropped again by a few cents.  But now amazon has none to sell.  "In stock 1/31/2020."

 

Still a good deal if you are looking for a flocker.

 

 

[kayb]

Pardon my ignorance. What is a flocker?