Most people who own a mixer, own one made by KitchenAid. They are work-horses of the baking world and are very versatile. KitchenAid mixers vary in quality and price point, but none of them (even the highest-end) come anywhere close to Hobart’s version. This is a review of the Hobart N50, the only small mixer they make suitable for home use. To make things more relevant, I will also compare it to the equivalent KitchenAid mixer.
Hobart
Anyone who knows commercial baking equipment knows the name Hobart. They are the pinnacle of USA-made quality and reliability, but their machines also don’t come cheap. As of this writing, the N50 I am reviewing retails for about $2,700. I paid much less than that when I bought mine at webstaurant.com.
There are tons and tons of websites that will give you detailed specifications like weight, dimensions, power and more. I am focusing this review on details you may not find elsewhere.
Build and power
OK, it’s a Hobart. You should expect nothing less than an extremely well-built machine using premium parts and materials. You will not be disappointed. Everything is held down with extra screws and bolts and nothing feels flimsy.
By comparison, the KitchenAid weighs much less, has significantly less power – it feels, looks and sounds like a machine of much lower quality (and that’s because it is).
Speeds
As you can see in the picture below, the Hobart has 3 speeds. The N50 motor runs at only one speed and a set of gears (1, 2 and 3) change how fast the mixer arm spins relative to the motor. On a KitchenAid mixer, the motor controls the speed of the mixer arm directly – no gears to change speed.
One (sort-of) disadvantage to the Hobart system is that you only get 3 speeds as opposed to the 10+ speeds you get on a KitchenAid. I personally feel 3 speeds covers the range of things I use it for. I never use all the speeds on a KitchenAid anyways.
The Hobart system has no clutch, so one of the the main disadvantages is that you need to stop the mixer to change the speed. This can be inconvenient when you want to start mixing something slowly and then build up speed as it progresses. For example, if you are whipping eggs, it’s best to start slow to avoid splattering. Once the eggs start to foam, speed can be increased accordingly. But in the Hobart, every time you want to increase speed, you need to stop, flip the dial and restart. Is it a big deal? No, not really. But the KitchenAid is more convenient in that regard.
The advantage of the Hobart method is that the mixer puts out it’s full 1/6 HP at any speed, while the KitchenAid only reaches maximum power on the highest speed. That means if you are mixing something heavy on a low speed (like bagel dough), the Hobart will show almost no strain. Doing the same thing in the KitchenAid runs the risk of burning out the motor or breaking gears inside. It has happened to many people. Do a quick search online to see what I mean.
The bowl
Even the bowl is higher quality on the Hobart. I have no way to prove it, but the quality of the metal appears to be better overall. On the KitchenAid, even after one use, I could see a rust-like build up on the rim where the finish was not perfect. The Hobart is still perfect after several years.
Take a look at the picture which shows the attention to detail. Hobart places a silicone material along all seams to prevent build-up of gunk (presumably). You won’t find these kinds of things on the KitchenAid.
More on Hobart vs KitchenAid
Both machines are assembled in the USA. Hobart is known for making all their parts in the USA too, but the exception is the N50. It is not clear to me where the parts are made, but as I understand it, that place is not the USA.
Accessories
Any accessory that works on a KitchenAid will also work on the Hobart, which is very convenient. I have a meat grinder attachment that I bought for the KitchenAid and it works without issue on the Hobart. A juicer, pasta maker and other attachments would be no different.
The Hobart comes with a decent quality paddle (far left in the picture). I opted for the stainless steel version which weighs about 1.5lbs! The advantage of stainless steel is that it is dishwasher safe while the aluminum version is not. I once put the KitchenAid paddle in the dishwasher and it was completely ruined. Luckily, a replacement was cheap.
The whisk attachments are both good quality, but the Hobart one is a little more precise. By that I mean that when running on high speed, the KitchenAid whisk scrapes the bowl (and even leaves micro-scratches), while the Hobart comes very close to the edge of the bowl but never actually touches it.
The dough hook on both is fine and both are made from aluminum. The Hobart version has a guard near the top to prevent dough from climbing off the hook and it also has an extra bend in the tip.
Noise
One of the major advantages of the Hobart is that it is really quiet. The KitchenAid on high speed screams. I need to wear hearing protection when I stand near it. The Hobart is so quiet it is almost soothing. Check out the difference by clicking on the sound recordings I made below.
Reliability
OK, this is a bit tricky. I am only one guy and I don’t run these machines that hard or that much. I have two KitchenAid machines and put them through some tough situations. They strained and got hot, but I never had any mechanical issues whatsoever. I wanted something more robust like the Hobart, simply because I always felt like something was going to break on the KitchenAid. I just wanted a “forever” machine since I do use them a lot. The bottom line is that this is not ‘Consumer’s Report’. I am not doing anything scientific when I talk about reliability. With that in mind, the situation I ended up having with the Hobart is probably a fluke and not representative of the entire brand at all. When you think of Hobart, you think ultra, ultra, ultra reliable. I was not so lucky though…
About 3 months into my purchase, I started noticing more and more noise coming from the Hobart. At first I tried to ignore it, but finally I had no choice but to call up their technical support for help. Kudos to Hobart, they do take their equipment seriously. Without much hesitation, they sent an actual qualified Hobart technician to my house as part of the warranty service. The same technician who showed up to my house had just come from another call fixing a ginormous Hobart spiral mixer at the Cheesecake Factory. So it’s the real deal.
The technician heard the noise and agreed something was wrong. He took it apart and started looking.
Hobart and the technician determined that somehow the grease broke down prematurely and they recommended re-greasing the entire machine. The technician came back another day and did that – we thought all was good. Not more than a few days later, I realized the noise was back.
The technician had to come out again (third time). After further consultation with Hobart engineers and some more tinkering, they realized they needed to do a “tumbler yoke and eccentric shaft adjustment”. That consisted of making some adjustments and then retightening a bolt that holds the adjustment in place. It didn’t look too hard. Apparently, those adjustments are done in the factory and that specific bolt was never tightened on my machine, which is why the alignment went out after a few months (see 3 pictures up).
It’s hard for me to tell you the Hobart is a problem-free machine that will never give you any problems, because I had a problem right off the bat. It took 3 service calls to set things right. But now that I know what happened and it has been fixed, I think the mixer will last several lifetimes. Keep in mind that my problem was related to noise and not to the overall mechanism that drives the attachments. If I never bothered with the noise issue, it is likely the components and machine would have never suffered any mechanical problems over its service life.
Conclusion
Hobart Pros:
- Very quiet at all speeds.
- Extremely well-built, attention to detail. NSF certified.
- Very powerful – I don’t think anything can break it. Just look at the insides of the machine in the pictures.
- Very reliable (with the exception mentioned above).
- High quality accessories. Optional super-high-quality accessories.
- Compatible with all KitchenAid products.
Hobart Cons:
- Very expensive (you could buy 3 or 4 KitchenAid mixers for the same price).
- Very heavy.
- Only comes in a 5 Qt version. I personally would like something a little bigger (6 or 7 Qt).
Let me cut to the chase: The Hobart is one impressive machine and you are unlikely to use it to its full potential. Aside from the unusual hiccup I encountered, it is likely to last a lifetime (or several). Should you also have a problem in the first year, a real-life person will come and fix it right in your kitchen for free. Check out this machine on eBay and you will find people selling decades-old N50 machines for a high price and all working perfectly. This machine holds it’s value for a reason. It’s something you will pass down to your grand kids.
But is it for you? I can’t answer that, except to say I don’t think it was the right purchase for me, personally. If I was worried about reliability and my KitchenAid did malfunction, I could buy 3 more and still break even on the Hobart. The KitchenAid is noisy and a bit clumsy compared to the Hobart, but it does a brilliant job overall – no one can argue that.
I have since purchased a real spiral mixer to do my challenging bread dough. Now I mostly use the Hobart for cakes and creams. Any KitchenAid, even the cheapest one, can handle that without issue.
If you run a bakery, use your mixer for hours a day, or just do a lot of low hydration dough that really strains your mixer, then a Hobart N50 may be right for you. I do believe you get what you pay for, and you can’t expect to get something like the N50 for cheap. Nevertheless, if you don’t really need something that high-quality or powerful to do the job, the Hobart is overkill. That was my own personal conclusion.
Both a KitchenAid and Hobart will cream butter the same, will whip eggs the same and will knead dough the same (mostly). Since I did encounter a pretty annoying setback requiring several service calls, I really can’t endorse it as the ultra-reliable machine I expected when I bought it. Also, the price of the Hobart is really, really high if you are only using it for casual home-use. As a result, I would give the N50 a 4-star rating.
If I had to do it all over again, I would buy a high-quality spiral mixer for dough (see my review of the Famag Mixer here) and a cheap KitchenAid mixer for everything else.
Have questions or comments? I would love to get your feedback below. Please join the discussion!
Hi,
thank you very much for that nice review. I also bought a used Hobart N50 but there was only the beater with it. Neither a whip nor a hook was delivered.
Could you tell me please weather the KitchenAid hook and whip work with the N50? The advantage is, that they are much cheaper and easier to buy in Germany. Are the Hobart N50 attachments lager, than the KitchenAid ones for 5 qt. machines, like the heavy duty?
Best regards
Peter
Hallo Peter. Wie geht es dir? I am no expert, but Hobart originally designed the KitchenAid stand mixer before it was purchased by the Whirlpool company. So a 5Qt KitchenAid and 5Qt Hobart are essentially the same when it comes to accessories. I have a meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid which I use on my N50 all the time with no issue. I am quite sure a KitchenAid hook/whip designed for a 5Qt bowl will work on your Hobart just fine. Please write back if you can confirm that for others to learn too!
no the attachments aren’t interchangeable. the beater from current ka is much wider than hobart, and spiral is shorter than hobart. i also have ancient k5a, the beater is narrow but is not tall enough, same for spiral
If the KA bowl was 5Qt then the attachments that went with it will work on the Hobart. You are most likely referring to attachments for a KA of a different size. I am not sure what you mean by “ancient” but this doesn’t apply to something from 5 decades ago. We are talking about reasonably modern appliances.
Oh, and yes, the Hobart attachments are better quality, but that doesn’t change their size and compatibility with the KitchenAid.
I bought a used n50 and the old k5ss beaters are too ahort for the n50. The 6.9 liter beater and whisk are too wide for thw bowl and the dough hooh is too short. I ordered them recently and theyre coming this week.
Maybe it should be clarified that while KitchenAid attachments are fully compatible with the Hobart N50, the attachment needs to be appropriate for a 5Qt bowl. A KitchenAid 6Qt or 7Qt bowl attachment will not fit the Hobart (too wide), and I suspect that’s what you got BravoBaker.
The only kitchen aid attachments that work with the n50 (other than the accessories run off the front hub) are from the kitchen aid model G from the late 20s through the 40s, which was the precursor to the Hobart n50. On the kitchen aids after model G, the bowl height is different than the n50, so they won’t work. Too bad, because the hobart attachments are significantly more expensive. That’s why people can still get $50 on ebay for a decades old n50 beater.
Hi! So you don’t think there’s any difference in mix quality? I’ve heard a couple people say the Hobart mixed things better and I had one person tell me it was worse than a kitchenaid. Thanks!
I personally don’t think there is any difference in mix quality. You’d also have to start by defining what “quality” mixing means. For breads it would mean better gluten development. For that, neither is great – that’s what spiral mixers excel at. If you’re talking about pastries it would mean something totally different, like how well it mixed a batter, whipped creams or eggs, etc.. Both the Hobart and KA are planetary mixers using identically proportioned attachments and bowls. Even the motion is identical. The difference is in the quality of components and strength of the motor, things that don’t… Read more »
Thank you for such a thorough explanation. My old KitchenAid mixer was made with Hobart specs and it still runs like it did when I bought it in the 1980s. I don’t think I would buy another one, though, not when I see so many one-star ratings and complaints about burn-outs. Regarding the changing of speeds on the N50, what would happen if someone were to change the speed, without stopping the mixer? Glad your N50 is working fine, but it’s a bit of a concern to think that something was loose when it was assembled in the factory.
You can’t change speeds while the motor is running, it just won’t work. If you forced it, you would cause damage to the gears. It is a concern that something wasn’t quite right from the factory, but it is nice to know Hobart stood behind their product and got it fixed.
OK, thank you for replying. I often wondered if someone could easily change the speed setting, resulting in damage. Most of us are so used to just sliding the KitchenAid lever. Glad to know the mixer is fixed and working fine now.
I have an n50 that was purchased in 1960. You can mix concrete with them. It still runs like a champ. I broke the original dough hook with a rye bread dough. Other than that it is a tough machine
Ik zou graag wat meer informatie over mijn hobart mixer willen en wat de waarde is ik wil hem verkopen
Het spijt me, maar ik weet niet wat uw Hobart waard is. Probeer een andere website.
AFAIK, N50 originated design from KA G Model from 1920s.