Dough hook for KitchenAid artisan mini 3.5qt?

I bought the mini for the smaller jobs that my big 6qt one seemed too large for. The big one has also has a C hook, which I think works fine. I have used the big one for 15 years and have no trouble kneading dough. I tried kneading dough in the mini a few times, using recipes that have about 3 cups/ 360 grams (or less), and it was a struggle. The motor should be big enough for the job (it’s the same as the K45), but the bowl and hook are both just too small, I think. That’s just my experience. So the mini is now delegated to smallish cake batters, whipping cream, egg whites, small batch cookie dough, etc. As to how the C hook differs from a spiral  in how it affects the gluten development, I can’t answer to that because I don’t have a spiral hook. But I have no problems making great bread with the C hook in the 6qt. 

*Edit to add that I decided to order an after-market spiral hook for my pro— because everyone says they are better. You don’t know what you don’t know! I looked for one for mini and didn’t find anything either. 

I found this unacceptable for bread kneading.  The motor is under powered and struggled to knead without getting very hot.  I gave it away to a neighbor and bought a Pro 600 model which works wonderfully.  I had the Artisan for a number of years and it was fine for cakes and cookies.

Any mixer will have a range of dough weights that can be mixed but the hydration, speed, and dough weight all have to be "in the zone" so to speak for it to work and the zone is small for small mixers. The small planetary mixers are actually better than the larger ones in terms of getting rid of the heat, though the motors are nororiously inefficient at low speed and the fan runs at motor shaft speed it too is much less efficient at movng cooling air as the speed goes down. So the combination of low electrical efficiency and low fan efficiency make low speeds a place to avoid.  I don't know if it is still true but Kitchenaid used to caution not to run any of their mixers for more than 5 minutes at speed 2 (I always thought it was for exactly that reason).  I found that my K4A would work much better at speed 4  - until I finally got a Magic Mill/Electrolux/Ankarsrum/Assistent and left the KA for egg whites and small batch cakes and cookies.  At one point there was an aftermarket spiral dough hook for the K4A but I don't know about the Artisan.  You might try Ebay, sometimes things show up over there that are not otherwise available.

I had significant issues when I first started making high hydration doughs with my K4A and never managed to get the C-hook to work for me.  I eventually went back to using the paddle and cranking the speed up to 4 but only when I was mixing dough at 75% hydration or higher.  Mixing at high speed is definitely a learning experience and you have to be prepared to hold on to the mixer as it will tend to walk on the counter if you don't.

I am personally not a big fan of the Pro600 line ( yes I had one but I ordered a rebuilt model and returned it twice - first because it was dropping metal shavings off the drive bushing into the dough, and the second one had clearly never been touched by a competent mechanic as it went to speed 10 as soon as I turned it on and never slowed down). The third one I kept but resented the amount of noise it made until I sold it.  Whenever I used it I had to wear my shooting ear protectors and my wife would leave the kitchen until I was done. So it got used once a year to make Liege waffles for the grandkids and only because I didn't have a good alternative (for the mixer not the kids).

A friend got the newer KA model that has a DC drive I think it is the Pro 6000 (probably a BLDC configuration)  and she loves it as it runs cool and quiet as well, so if you are going to upgrade go all in.  My replacement for the Pro600 was an Ankarsrum Assistent (which has had a long series of name changes) and which I used for 10 years before upgrading to a Famag IM-5 about two years ago.  It is a major re-learning experience every time you change mixers as your old process sheets are suddenly worthless.  I suspect that is true at a commercial bakery as well.