Back in the 1970s, the most common mixers in France were fork mixers, not planetary mixers. A fork mixer has a rotating tool with two curved rods that go into the dough bowl at an angle of 30-45 degrees, not vertically like in a planetary mixer. More recently a study was carried out at a German university that determined that horizonal or near horizontal mixers produce significantly better results than vertical mixers. In any event, the mixing together of an autolyse dough with a liquid sourdough is much easier with a fork mixer than it is with a planetary vertical mixer. Unfortunately, fork mixers have become less and less common and planetary mixers have almost replaced them. In Italy they still use two-arm mixers, which are also better and also make the mixing together of an autolyse dough with a liquid starter easier, in fact it is a snag with a two-arm mixer. There are still some manufacturers in Italy and France that make smaller table top fork mixers which are suitable for home use but they are rather expensive.

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