I was wondering if anyone could weigh in on spiral dough hooks as opposed to the J shaped ones. I’ve only ever used the spiral shape hook but am looking at a mixer with a J shaped hook. Would I have to purchase a spiral hook or is the J hook usable for pizza dough? Thanks!
The reverse spiral dough hook is by far, the best way to go, that is unless you enjoy stopping the mixer to cut the dough off of the top of the hook, pulling it to the bottom of the bowl, and starting the mixer again, only to repeat as necessary. If you don’t do this, you end up with an inconsistently mixed dough. The problem is worse when the dough size is closer to the maximum capacity of the mixing bowl. By all means, factor in getting a reverse spiral dough hook. The reverse spiral hook is designed to push the dough back down to the bottom of the bowl, so it never climbs up the hook. The only time I ever heard of the dough climbing up on a reverse spiral was when the mixer was running in the wrong direction…Oops!
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor
Thanks, Tom. I appreciate it. And thank you for all of the knowledge and insight that you (and others) so generously share in this forum. This is the first I’ve ever posted here, but have gotten an incredible amount of useful information from the posts that you’ve made in assisting others. Thank you!