Introducing…Ankarsrum!

We didn’t know we could feel a love like this! We hadn’t heard of Ankarsrum before our mixer research and testing, but after reading about it we knew we needed to include it. This mixer is well known for gently kneading amazingly smooth, silky, elastic bread dough. The Ankarsrum is unlike any of the other mixers. It blends together two different types of technology to create both a spiral and planetary mixer (read more about this in this post). When using its steel bowl and dough roller, the Ankarsrum performs like a spiral mixer. When using the plastic bowl and other attachments, it functions as a bottom-drive, planetary mixer (similar to a Bosch mixer). Its patented belt-driven, worm gear transmission gives the Ankarsrum amazing torque. This is why it is well-known for kneading heavy doughs.

The History of Ankarsrum

Ankarsrum’s roots actually go all the way back to 1655! Ankarsrum Industries, formerly called “Ankarsrum Bruk”, is one of Sweden’s oldest operating companies. It has produced many different products, but by the early 1900s, it manufactured mostly stoves. During the 1940s, World War II caused a lot of stress and destruction for many families in Europe. It was during these turbulent times that Ankarsrum created the Ankarsrum Original Assistant. The stand mixer helped many families prepare and preserve food and gave them a sense of security. Included in its original packaging was a collection of “crisis recipes”. Over time, the mixer has gone through several improvements to become the powerful kitchen assistant it is today.

In the 1960s, Electrolux acquired the company and began manufacturing the Ankarsrum Original Assistant and electric motors on a larger scale. In 2001, Traction acquired Ankarsrum Industries. Today, three main businesses operate under Ankarsrum Industries including Ankarsrum Motors, Ankarsrum Kitchen, and Ankarsrum Real Estate. The mixers are still made and manufactured in Sweden to this day. They undergo rigorous testing before leaving the factory. Because of its high-quality design, the Ankarsrum mixer has a 7-year warranty.

Let’s give this mixer a whirl

Many bakers love using the Ankarsrum for dense and elastic bread doughs, but we wanted to see if it could stand up to our other tests as well as the other mixers we tested. Getting an Ankarsrum was a tricky ordeal. Our Ankarsrum sales rep just happened to be in Salt Lake City when we reached out to him. He was so kind to let us borrow his mixer, but there was a catch— he was only in town for one more day. We had less than 24 hours to test this mixer out and were determined to take advantage of the time we had! We were beyond excited to try this mixer, but the results shocked us.

Cookies

We used the plastic bowl with wire whips for this test. We felt nervous about using the whips, but that was recommended in the We used the plastic bowl with wire whips for this test. We felt nervous about using the whips, but that was the recommendation in the manual. The mixer whipped the butter and sugars together wonderfully. Some chunks of butter stuck to the sides and required scraping, but it wasn’t too bad. The whips incorporated a lot of air and made the dough very smooth and fluffy. There were no issues with adding the dry ingredients. We were most nervous about adding in the chocolate chips, but we had nothing to worry about! The chocolate chips mixed in well and the dough looked perfect. Some dough got stuck in the wire whips, but it came out fairly easily. We found out later that the Ankarsrum comes with cookie paddles. We aren’t sure how well those whip butter, but it’s easy to switch attachments out if the whips are needed for creaming the butter and sugars. Once baked, the cookies came out absolutely perfect (and delicious!).

Cinnamon Rolls

This is where we fell in love with this mixer. The steel bowl and dough roller helped the dough come together really well. It mixed all the ingredients thoroughly. Watching the mixer knead the dough was mesmerizing. It was so gentle and it really looked like it was kneading the dough by hand. We loved the adjustable arm so we could ensure the dough wasn’t tearing or being overworked. We cannot say enough about the dough roller attachment! Also included with the mixer is a dough hook attachment. We would have loved to test it, but we didn’t have time. Once baked, the cinnamon rolls were absolutely perfect! The crumb was perfectly uniform throughout and tender. The gluten developed well and overall we loved this cinnamon roll the best out of all of our tests!

Cake

Wow… This mixer produced such a smooth batter. We used the plastic bowl with the center column and the whisk attachments. It whipped a lot of air into the butter and creamed the sugars together well. Making cake in this mixer was so much fun! The only con is that you have to scrape the smaller plastic bowl somewhat frequently. Unfortunately, Ankarsrum does not have a bowl scraper attachment for the plastic bowl. Compared to the Bosch and Nutrimill, we like the Ankarsrum’s bowl a little more because there is a small handle on the top that makes it easy to hold. We also liked that the attachments didn’t touch the sides, but still incorporated the ingredients in the bottom of the bowl well.

Buttercream

We used the metal bowl with the dough roller and scraper attachments. The butter would not move. It would stick to the scraper or the attachment. After performing a lot of back-to-back tests, the mixer started to feel warm and shut off by itself. This programmed protection ensures that the mixer doesn’t get damaged. Eventually, it did churn out a light and silky buttercream, but it was a little grainy and not quite the desired texture. The dough roller and steel bowl weren’t the best for this job. We decided to do a part two of this test with the plastic bowl and wire whip attachments.

Buttercream Part II

Using the plastic bowl with the wire whip attachments went much better! We fluffed the butter and we were able to incorporate much more air. It took longer than the KitchenAid mixers to reach the final desired texture, but it eventually made a beautifully light and silky buttercream.

Whipping Cream

For this test, we used the plastic bowl with wire whisks. It took 2 minutes and 4 seconds to whip cream to stiff peaks. It was surprising how fast it went from soft peaks to stiff peaks. It would be easy to overwhip, so don’t walk away from this mixer if whipping cream or egg whites. Because the Ankarsrum’s bowl is narrower than Bosch and Nutrimill’s, the whips sat deeper in the cream and agitated it well.

Wheat Bread

We used the steel bowl and dough roller for our wheat bread test. We noticed a few clumps of flour that didn’t break up, so we tried moving the arm around which seemed to help. When we added the rest of the flour, the dough started to creep up the dough roller and out of the bowl, but this was easily remedied by adjusting the arm so there was about a one-inch gap between the roller and bowl. The dough was extremely wet and we didn’t think it was going to turn out, but much to our surprise it did! The Ankarsrum bread was actually our favorite loaf out of all of the loaves we baked. It had a lighter texture and a beautiful crumb. We were pleasantly surprised (and may have fallen deeper in love with it, too.)

Some final thoughts…

We cannot say enough good things about the Ankarsrum mixer! Throughout our short day of testing, we loved watching it mix and knead so many tasty treats. It handled all of the recipes well and produced some of our favorite results overall (we’ll be dreaming about those cinnamon rolls for a long time!). Don’t get us wrong… we love all of our mixers! But, the Ankarsrum has won a special place in our hearts. We loved testing out this mixer and especially love that we get to share these results with you!

See all of our mixer testing here!

And check out the video below on How to Use the Ankarsrum Mixer with Ashley from Ankarsrum USA.