Cob: Machine mixing methods.

[Shawn Antaya]

Ryan,

FYI - I've used a plaster mixer with great success.  The batches have a 
little extra water but this proves acceptable in the dry Taos, NM climate.  
The rubber blades on this mixer scrape the sticky cob off the walls of the 
mixer to get a consistent blend of clay, sand, straw and water.  A bread 
mixer (to my memory) does not scrape the walls.  I've found that cob sticks 
to everything while bread dough tends to stick to itself.  A thick cob 
mixture may not mix properly, a thin mixture may mix well but be too thin.  
Good luck.  :-)

Sincerely,
Shawn Antaya


----Original Message Follows----
From: Ryan Auge <ryan_auge at yahoo.ca>
Reply-To: Ryan Auge <ryan_auge at yahoo.ca>
To: coblist at deatech.com
Subject: Cob: Machine mixing methods.
Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 13:07:09 -0400 (EDT)

Hi there,
    I've read some of the messages relating to mixing cob with machines, and 
was
noticing that a lot of the conversation leads towards cement mixers.  I was
wondering if anyone had ever experimented with using a commercial grade 
dough
mixer, like those used in bakeries and restaurant kitchens, to mix cob.  
Cement
mixers tend to basically scrape the contents of the mixer along and up the
outside edges of the container, then let gravity pull the contents back down
into itself.  Dough mixers rely on the motion of the mixing arm to more
consistantly kneed the contents of the container into itself.  I would think
this would allow a pretty good cob mix, straw and all, considering the 
quality
of doughs that come out of commercial mixers even when all the ingredients 
are
just tossed straight into the bowl while the machine is running.  If you 
have
tried, or can try, why not let everyone know.

Ryan Auge

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