Increased yield, cookies spreading

[brooksms]

I'm attempting to switch from 6 to 20 quart mixer for cookie dough and having a difficult time. All ingredients have been weighed and multiplied in grams to make 6x my normal batch. 

 

While the cookies are usually thick with an evenly round edge, they're spreading a ton more and getting a thin crispy edge. I'm having to bake 25 degrees hotter to keep them from being complete pancakes but it only helps so much. At first I thought I might not have been creaming the butter and sugar long enough so I've tried to improve. I'm making sure to scrape diligently and reaching a mousse-like consistency before adding eggs. I've tried chilling the bowl as suggested elsewhere...no change. Tried starting from room temp vs cold butter...no change. Adjusting the recipe helps bandaid the problem a little (less b. soda, less egg, more flour etc..) but, while it helps a bit, it's not truly fixing the problem.

 

Maybe the air is somehow deflating during the mixing process...? I see a thin puddle of dough form on the pan very quickly which is unusual for my recipe. The convection fan is then pushing the rising dough away from the puddle, causing an exaggerated dark edge. So frustrating! Any ideas on how to fix this? My current plan is to start back with a smaller batch and increase slowly to see at what yield the recipe stops working. I just can't seem to pinpoint where it's going wrong.

[pastrygirl]

That does sound frustrating.  How full is the mixer with 6x?  Triple-check your math and maybe try a 3x or 4x batch next.

[Darienne]

No attempt here to give any advice, but aren't there some recipes which specify that they cannot be doubled, etc.  Could this be one which leaves that part out? 

[Merry Berry]

If you feel like you might be incorporating too much air into your batter, you might be onto something.  20 qt mixers are so much more powerful than the 6 qts and require much less time to mix everything together.  For a lot of my cake and cookies on the 20 qt, I am mixing on speed 1 only, after the creaming process is complete (sometimes speed 2 for the egg addition, and then speed 1 for the rest).  I do not even bother softening the butter before creaming it in large mixers since they are powerful enough to soften it in a about a minute.

 

Do you let the dough rest and hydrate in the cooler for a few hours after mixing?  Do you scoop the dough and then let those rest in the cooler or freezer until ready to bake?

 

What type of cookie are you making?

[JeanneCake]

The type of cookie  you're making will help diagnose the issue -  and if going from a 6 qt to  20 (with the subsequent increase in batch size) is the only change?  Are these the same ovens you've been using all along?  No other changes in ingredients (new brand of flour, milk, etc)?   What speeds are you using on the 6 qt when mixing?  On the 20?

 

Perhaps just try making your usual batch in the 6 qt and make the same size batch in the 20 (well, you might have to double or triple it) and compare what the dough looks like between the two at each step.