That Saturday my mixer almost caught fire and I lost a whole wedding cake order

Last month I had a Saturday from hell. I was in the middle of a three tier wedding cake for a bride in Portland, whipping up a big batch of buttercream. My old Hobart started making this grinding noise I'd never heard before. I figured it was just the machine acting up from overuse, so I kept going. Then smoke started pouring out of the motor casing. I yanked the plug and saved the mixer, but the batch was ruined and I had to start over at 9 PM. The cake got done at 4 AM and I was about dead on my feet. Has anyone else had a piece of gear nearly give out right before a big order?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp766d ago

Blew the motor on my Hobart doing six dozen macarons two summers ago... replaced it with a KitchenAid commercial but it's just not the same. Did you rebuild the mixer or is it retired for good now?

the_jana6d ago

Three months and a couple of burnout breakdowns later (the mixer's, not mine, ha) I finally swapped out the motor on my own Hobart. Cost me around $140 for the part and maybe two hours of YouTube tutorials, which is nothing compared to dropping a grand on a new commercial KitchenAid. @simonp76 the torque difference is real, I swear. My Hobart handles bread dough like it's nothing now, and the KitchenAid I borrowed from a friend felt like it was struggling with half the load. Rebuilding is totally worth it if you've got the guts to take the thing apart, just keep track of all those little screws. Yours might be a little different but I'd bet money a rebuild kit will get it back to the glory days.

the_wendy6d ago

Legit had a Hobart for fifteen years before it gave out making bread dough, not macarons though. Rebuilt it myself with a new motor and some new gears from a parts shop online. Cost me like 150 bucks total and it's been running like a champ ever since. My buddy swears by the commercial KitchenAid but says the same thing about the torque not being the same. Might be worth looking into a rebuild kit if you still got the old Hobart sitting around.