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How long can you run a KA pro?

930 views 8 replies 4 participants last post by  michele omalley 
#1 ·
I am considering purchasing a KA mixer. I bake 48 mini loaves of Zucchini Bread (double batches) for our local farmers market each week and make homemade egg noodles to sell as well. I'm thinking of branching out into other artisan pastas tool. Right now I do everything by hand ( I do have a handcrank pasta machine for the noodles). All doughs/batters are done by hand. I spend 7 hrs making Zucchini bread in a day and at least that amount of time making egg noodles on another day. If I purchased a KA and wanted to make pasta, would either the Artisan or the Pro be able to run for hours at a time to make the pasta/noodle dough and run the extruder? I would spend the extra money for the Pro since I can write off the expense on my taxes ( I don't ever bake for myself) but don't want to burn out a motor by running it too long. Thanks for your advise.
 
#2 ·
No replies for how long I can run a KA Professional 600 without give it a cool down break? I went ahead and ordered one but have decided to do the egg noodles with my hand crank rolled machine but I bought the KA extruded pasta maker so need to know how long I can run it. I hope to make multiple batches of multiple pastas for the farmers market. Thanks.
 
#3 ·
I haven't heard many good things concerning KA's pasta attachment.  And I think that the instructions will indicate how long to run the mixer depending on the dough you're mixing.
 
#4 ·
How long?  I dunno....  I've got a 5 qt pro I bought at Costco 8 years ago and I use it daily in my bakery, it's doing just fine.  However I must stress as a "back-up" mixer  I have a 30 qt Hobart, so I really don't care if/when the K/A melts down.

My thoughts are as follows: 

If you are only going to buy 1 mixer, and you want a 5 qt capacity, I'd look at the Hobart 5 qt mixer, it's 3 times more expensive, but 20 times more durable, and all of the K/A attachments and accessories fit.

If I know my business will grow in the next few years and that I will have to upgrade my equipment, I'd go for the K/A now, and save up my pennies for a 20 qt or 30 qt Hobart in the upcoming years.

Does this makes sense?
 
#5 ·
@Michele OMalley,

I burn up a few every couple of years. The 600's have been really loud running the last few yrs. Don't be surprised. They sound like an old jalopy running.

I've seen the KA pasta rollers used, not bad for home. For production? I have a motor that attaches to my hand crank Italian machine.

My sister-in-law bought the pasta extruder. Ouch, expensive. Um, I hate to trash something, but, I would say if you have not opened it yet I would return it. Cleaning it is a bugger. I was bogging, have to remove all dough to soften a couple of times. I don't know, maybe it will work fine for you, I hope so. I have someone who makes my pasta for me at the farmers market. I helped her get situated and set up with production.

She has an extruder now but survived almost 2 yrs. with just a variety of flats. It really looks nice displayed, she made Capellini. Pici, Fett., lingu., pappar., Tag., She even made some Farfalline, and tortellini. She sold enough to buy a nice extruder, move inside, and make some money.

Good luck to you. Sounds like your working hard.

BTW. Zucchini mix usually holds up pretty well unbaked. Maybe make the batter ahead of time, then just scoop and bake while you're doing your pasta. Just a thought.

Careful writing off equipment. If the purchase is supposed to last a yr. or more and costs maybe 100-150 up. It can be depreciated. Only if you use it solely for your business. You can usually write off smallware and tools. The friend I talked about got snagged a few yrs. back. An accountant should be able to guide, but hey! who knows, you may be an accountant!/img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

Oh! Maybe look into a buying a Chirata. It's popular right now down here.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Thanks for the advice, panini. I burned up an electric motor on my roller the first day I tried it. Luckily Amazon let me return it. I just crank by hand (I hate making the egg noodles but they are a big seller). I am hoping the extruder works well enough for me to make pasta for the market. I watched a couple youtube videos using the KA extruder and it looked fairly user friendly. We'll see though. I absolutely cannot afford a freestanding extruder...ever! I make 8 different flavors of Zucchini bread so making all that batter ahead of time isn't worth the trouble. Thursdays are dedicated Zucchini bread day and I usually sell out of my 48 loaves in 3 hrs but thanks for the suggestion.
 
#7 ·
Thanks. I am just a home baker/pasta maker who sells at a farmers market and a couple seasonal craft fairs/harvest festivals so I don't plan on expanding my "business" ( I am actually retired. This just brings in some spending money). I ordered the 6 qt KA. This should be big enough for my double batches of each flavor of Zucchini bread. I only plan on making a double batch of pasta dough at a time so hopefully it will be able to kneed the dough for me. I think I will try it on my egg noodle dough too but will roll that with my Presario hand crank pasta machine. Wish me luck...it arrives tomorrow.
 
#8 ·
I understand totally. I hope the extruder works well for you. I have worked with the smaller table top models all the way to the Rolls Royce's.

One suggestion if you already don't know. The cleaning of the extruder is crucial. You will always have pasta left in the turn. I run some stale bread

through the turn wetting it a little. This pushes out the unused dough. Otherwise you're having to disassemble and pick stiff dough until clean so you don't

put it in the sink. a no no for your drain lines.

Have fun and let us know how it goes.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I just finish a couple batches of pasta with my KA extruder. One Rigatoni and one small macaroni. I am eating some for lunch right now and they are wonderful. For the Rigatoni I used 200g Semolina and 2 eggs, tsp salt. For the macaroni I used 50/50 semolina/unbleached AP and tsp. salt. I can't tell the difference in taste. The 50/50 was a bit drier and I had to dampen hands when forming balls for hopper. Any suggestions/better recipes out there for me to try? I plan on drying these and selling at farmers market. Can they be air dried like my egg noodles? How long? I read on a couple sites to dry them in the refrigerator. Can anyone explain this to me. Also, I live in a very low humidity area. My egg noodles are dry and package-able in 24 hrs. Have never had mold even after several months.
 
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