Pizza kneading machines are basins with varying capacities (5 to 1000 g), generally rotating, in which parts of the formula are subjected to the mechanical action of arms of different shapes, in function of the energy that has to be delivered.

They make three types of kneading machines for pizzerias (plunging arm, spiral, and fork). They have different technical characteristics and are designed for very precise things. Based on the capacity of the basin, the volume of dough, and the kneading arm, the final heat that is transferred to the dough changes. To these three types of kneading machine, which are the most used in the field of breadmaking, there’s another type that is mainly used in pastry making: the planetary mixer.

Let’s look closer at the characteristics of each individual machine:

It has a kneading arm called a fork, is the slowest machine compared to the plunging and the spiral, with the advantage of being the one that transfers the least degrees to the dough in the end. Designed to knead with a low percentage of water (dry or hard doughs).

This was the first kneading machine that appeared in the early 1900s, known by the name artofex; it has two arms whose movement (both circular and vertical) simulate the movement of human arms.

Designed to knead very wet dough (soft, with 60-85% hydration) that requires good final oxygenation to perfectly develop the dough’s gluten network. The movement of the arms, from up to down, oxygenates the dough more, thus obtaining a larger finished dough volume compared to a spiral or fork kneading machine.

Used a lot in pastry shops to make dough for panettone, pandoro (traditional buttery, vanilla-flavored Italian Christmas cake of Verona, tall, star-shaped and sprinkled with powdered sugar), and colomba (dove-shaped Easter cake). In bakeries, it is used for soft dough like flat loaves, baguettes, zoccoletti rolls, and focaccia.

Its design sprang from the need to cut kneading time in industrial production. Suitable to any type of dough, it works with an arm called spiral that generates pressure from up to down (depending on the shape of the spiral itself) with a central column that holds and better exposes the dough to the spiral itself.

It is the kneading machine that transmits the most degrees to the finished dough, 9°C for the straight dough method (direct) and 18°C for the sponge method (a preferment). The dough obtained with the spiral clearly develops the finished product less than the plunging arm and the fork.

Primarily designed for pastry production. Thanks to its versatility, you can use several types of arms with the aim to get soft dough with the paddle attachment, medium hardness with the spiral, whip sponge cake dough and egg yolks, and create mousses and creams with the whisk.

The kneading tool moves elliptically creating very smooth, uniform dough.

It’s unlikely to be used in pizzeria due to the extremely high amount of heat transferred to the dough.