The Halo Pro is much quieter, and the motor does not overheat; I don’t get the sense that the motor is straining to knead the dough. There’s also—sorry, I don’t know how else to describe this—no violent thwapping of dough as it’s being kneaded. Unlike a KitchenAid, you can leave it unattended. This is so easy that I ruined not one but two batches of shokupan with over-kneading before I realized what was happening.
Photograph: Adrienne So
Being able to more precisely calibrate the speed of the mixing with a dial instead of the KitchenAid’s five settings helped. You can knead it much slower and treat it more gently with a dial and a spiral mixer than with a KitchenAid.
I also love the Halo Pro’s flexible paddle, which is much better than the KitchenAid flat paddle. It fits perfectly against the bowl’s sides, which means you can put even the smallest amounts of softened butter and sugar in the bowl, and the paddle will cream them perfectly. No stopping every few seconds to lift the arm and scrape the sides with a separate spatula, although you will probably feel the need to do that anyway. I’ve only had this mixer since February, so I can’t vouch for the paddle’s long-term durability, but it seems to be holding up well.
Finally, there is even a light inside, so you don’t have to have the mixer perfectly positioned in your kitchen to check if your chocolate chips have been well distributed in the dough.
Mucho Gusto
Photograph: Adrienne So
As you may have guessed, getting a commercial stand mixer is mostly about volume. If you’re a bread baker who wants to improve your one or two weekly loaves for your family, there are cheaper and easier things you can do that would have a much better effect before you invest in one of these. (For those tips, I refer you to Ken Forkish’s book Flour Water Salt Yeast, which my colleague Kat Merck edited and recipe-tested.)
The Halo Pro’s main competitor is the Ankarsrum stand mixer. It is beautiful and has the same retro aesthetic as the KitchenAid, if that’s your thing. The Halo Pro has better specs in some regards. For example, I got the Halo Pro up to 345 revolutions per minute versus the Ankarsrum’s measly 130 rpm. The Halo Pro has the interior light and the flexible paddle, which I liked quite a bit.
The major downside has to do with why people buy KitchenAids: You know they’ll last a lifetime, and maybe several. No matter how great any spiral mixer is, it’s hard to stand up against that kind of well-known guarantee. But if you’re like me, and you like entertaining in a carby, chaotic way—pizza! Pretzels! Cinnamon rolls!—getting a bigger spiral mixer is worth it. No more worrying about making multiple batches, or overheating, or having to babysit your dough. It’s also convenient for whipping up little batches of this or that in the mornings, too.
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