Stand Mixers 2002 – 2011

[paulraphael]

One thing about the early KAs that I miss on the "modern" models is the "cutting" paddle - great for cutting fats into dry ingredients.  I wrote to KA several years ago and inquired why it was not offered and was told "there is no market for it."  I thought that was a bit odd as it seems to me that more people are baking in the home than have been for the previous three decades........

←

I've seen pictures of that thing and it looks fantastic. I think food processors do a better job at making most pastry doughs than mixers, but are no good at small quantities. That cutting blade would likely dethrone the food processor.

I believe hobart used to make them for the huge mixers.

It seems like something that a machine shop could make out of an old dough hook or flat beater and some springy stainless steel. It would also be a great after market product for someone like beaterblade.

[AmbrosiaFood]

I think you guys are referring to the pastry knife attachment for the Hobart N50 and the Kitchenaid model G mixers.

They are like the ones for the big Hobart mixers.

You can occasionally find them on Ebay. I have 3 or 4 of them.

[andiesenji]

I think you guys are referring to the pastry knife attachment for the Hobart N50 and the Kitchenaid model G mixers. 

They are like the ones for the big Hobart mixers.

You can occasionally find them on Ebay.  I have 3 or 4 of them.

←

That's correct. I have a couple that came with model Gs and also still have one for an ancient 10 qt Hobart that I sold a few years ago. Couldn't find it when I sold it and when I later called the buyer he said he didn't have any use for it, although I used it a lot when I was catering and doing contract baking. I think it saved me a lot of time when I was making big batches of scones and especially with pie crust and shortbread.

[AmbrosiaFood]

That's correct.  I have  a couple that came with model Gs and also still have one for an ancient 10 qt Hobart that I sold a few years ago.  Couldn't find it when I sold it and when I later called the buyer he said he didn't have any use for it, although I used it a lot when I was catering and doing contract baking.  I think it saved me a lot of time when I was making big batches of scones and especially with pie crust and shortbread.

←

Andie! I have been looking all over for a pastry knife for a 10qt Hobart!

You wouldn't want to sell it would you? The church I loaned the mixer to would LOVE to have it.

[andiesenji]

That's correct.  I have  a couple that came with model Gs and also still have one for an ancient 10 qt Hobart that I sold a few years ago.  Couldn't find it when I sold it and when I later called the buyer he said he didn't have any use for it, although I used it a lot when I was catering and doing contract baking.  I think it saved me a lot of time when I was making big batches of scones and especially with pie crust and shortbread.

←

Andie! I have been looking all over for a pastry knife for a 10qt Hobart!

You wouldn't want to sell it would you? The church I loaned the mixer to would LOVE to have it.

←

I'll be happy to donate it to them. I certainly don't need it. However, I will have to search through the mass of junk in my storage building. I don't recall offhand just where I stuck it when I noticed it. For awhile I had it hanging on a big pegboard in my pantry but I moved it when I was rearranging stuff last spring. After I saw your post I went out and looked through the area where I thought it might be but didn't find it. My yard helper is due on Tuesday and I will ask him to look for it. He can move things that are too heavy for me.

[AmbrosiaFood]

I'll be happy to donate it to them.  I certainly don't need it.  However, I will have to search through the mass of junk in my storage building.  I don't recall offhand just where I stuck it when I noticed it.  For awhile I had it hanging on a big pegboard in my pantry but I moved it when I was rearranging stuff last spring.  After I saw your post I went out and looked through the area where I thought it might be but didn't find it.  My yard helper is due on Tuesday and I will ask him to look for it.  He can move things that are too heavy for me.

←

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!

PM me when you find it and I will give you my address....They will be so very pleased when I tell them!

[Chad]

My Kitchenaid Professional 600 died a screaching death yesterday. Doing a little digging I discovered that until 2006 the Professional 600 models, touted as heavy duty mixers designed specifically for the needs of bread bakers, had a flimsy plastic gear case. The same gear case as in the smaller, less powerful mixers. When the mixer heats up the gear case flexes, pulling the gears out of alignment, leading to broken gear teeth, cracked gear case and cracked worm gear. Kitchenaid customer service was not helpful. My mixer is past its one-year warranty but I argued that a known design flaw -- which Kitchenaid acknowledged when it redesigned the mixer in 2006 -- should be treated as a recall item and repaired for free. She did not agree. The only option is to spend $34 to ship the mixer to them to have them "diagnose the problem" and repair it for a couple of hundred dollars. There is no diagnosis necessary. It's a known problem. From what I can find, all pre-2006 Professional 600 mixers will break if used regularly to mix bread dough. Kitchenaid counted on the fact that bread bakers are a small percentage of their customer base. Most buyers will use their mixers for cakes, cookies, meringues, etc. and only occasionally bake bread or pizza dough. I'm going to continue to push for a free repair (and upgrade to the metal gear box). I'm not hopeful.

Anybody else had this problem? Any luck resolving it? What did you replace yours with and are you happy with it?

thanks,

Chad

[paulraphael]

Chad, a lot of people have had this problem. There are also people banging out bread and pizza every week with the plastic gear case who have no problem. But anyway, the failure rate for the old style mixer seems to be unacceptably high--among people who actually use the thing hard.

This last point, as you suspected, explains why KA (and Delonghi, and Viking, and Cuisinart, and Kenwood ... all the consumer mixer companies) get away with crap quality control. Since so few of their customers actually use the things, especially for anything heavy duty, it's cheaper to spend money on waranty service than on quality control up front.

At least the new gear case is a big improvement.

I wouldn't spend $200+ for repairs. That's nuts, considering you can get a factory refurb of the same mixer for $240.

If you're handy with tools, parts are widely available, along with diagrams of the innards. You could probably replace any broken gears, put on a new metal transmission cover, and pack it up with fresh grease for well under $100.

Let me know if you need the info ... I have it around here somewhere.

There are also some helpful people in the forums on KA's site. The KA employees tend to be every bit as sweet, clueless, and annoying as you've experienced, but some of the customers there understand the engineering and have a good grasp of common sense.

Edited February 23, 2009 by paulraphael (log)

[mukki]

I've had varying experiences with KA customer support depending on who I talked to, so, if I were you, I'd call back and discuss it with someone else (and/or ask to speak to a manager). I had to really push one rep to send me a new machine when a 1" chunk of metal fell out of the bottom. Since the mixer technically still worked, she didn't want to help. I ended up getting it replaced, though.

[Chad]

If you're handy with tools, parts are widely available, along with diagrams of the innards. You could probably replace any broken gears, put on a new metal transmission cover, and pack it up with fresh grease for well under $100.

Let me know if you need the info ... I have it around here somewhere.

←

That would be great. I'd appreciate the info. I'm not particularly handy with tools but I like the idea of making the repair myself if the parts are available.

Thanks,

Chad

[Renn]

I've had the exact same issue...and yes, I can confirm that KA's pretty much washed their hands of it. I've dropped of the mixer at a local, authorized repair shop, and expect to be relieved of some cash in the next week or so. It's been around a 3 week process thus far.

While it may be too late for me, I would've loved to have had the info to make the repairs myself....I'm no engineer, but I don't think that the mixer would've proved too much of a challenge in retrospect.

[paulraphael]

Here's a good source for parts.

I haven't been able to find an actual service manual, but if you give me your email I can send you the KA parts list, which has an exploded view of the thing ... it should help you figure out how it comes apart and goes together.

Be sure to get the KA grease with whatever you buy. And some degreaser from the hardware store so you can clean out the transmission. I believe a replacement gasket comes with the new transmission housing, but it's worth asking. That needs to be replaced.

If you get the thing working again, it would make a great photo essay.

←

Edited February 23, 2009 by paulraphael (log)

[dougal]

Here's a good source for parts.

I haven't been able to find an actual service manual, but if you give me your email I can send you the KA parts list, which has an exploded view of the thing ... it should help you figure out how it comes apart and goes together.

...

I've posted a link previously (on this thread) to a different page on that same site, which emphatically DOES have a PDF download of a 32-page illustrated KA "service manual" of some sort. (I've no idea of specific relevance to particular models, but it does look useful.)

http://www.mendingshed.com/kitaidparts.html

Hope that helps! (Download re-checked today.)

Chad, for routine domestic (and domestic+) doughmaking, (and other tasks too), check out the DLX.

Edited February 24, 2009 by dougal (log)

[paulraphael]

I've posted a link previously (on this thread) to a different page on that same site, which emphatically DOES have a PDF download of a 32-page illustrated KA "service manual" of some sort. (I've no idea of specific relevance to particular models, but it does look useful.)

I looked at the PDF on the site ... it's for the older style mixers where everything is built in to the chasis of the mixer itself. Totally different construction. Good news is that the newer models are so much more simply laid out that you can probably figure it out on your own. The old ones ... good luck!

[Chad]

I'm in love! Dig this custom painted 20qt Hobart mixer. It's worth the price as a conversation piece alone.

Chad

[mhjoseph]

I've had varying experiences with KA customer support depending on who I talked to, so, if I were you, I'd call back and discuss it with someone else (and/or ask to speak to a manager). I had to really push one rep to send me a new machine when a 1" chunk of metal fell out of the bottom. Since the mixer technically still worked, she didn't want to help. I ended up getting it replaced, though.

←

I too agree that it depends on who you speak to. I have a refurbished Pro 600. Refurbs come with a 6 month warranty and mine was almost two years old when this happened. I don't know the name of the part but the whole shaft assembly came out in December. I called customer service and told them that I never exceeded the flour capacity or speed 2 for mixing bread dough (which is true) and I feel that an expensive machine like this should last for more than two years even if it's refurbished. They promised to send me out a replacement refurb as soon as they had one in stock.

Anyhow, a month went by, then two months and still no replacement. After several more calls they sent me out a brand new mixer. Even though it took a while I'm a happy customer now.

[Darienne]

I'm in love! Dig this custom painted 20qt Hobart mixer. It's worth the price as a conversation piece alone. 

Chad

←

Thanks for that link. Laurie, the new baker at the local Village Market, will love to see that photo! What a hoot!

[ChristinaM]

I bought a Delonghi 7 qt mixer a few months ago, and the tines on the whip attachment are breaking at an alarming rate.  I mostly make marshmallows and nougat, which I know are hard work for the whip, but I'd love to avoid having to buy a new whip every couple months.  Does anyone know if there's a way to reinforce the tines so that they don't break, or to re-attach them if they do?

Thank you!

←

Hello! I can't think of a way to reinforce them but you could get in touch with Kenwood UK (maybe via email), they should be able to provide you with the professional grade equivalent. Or they will know someone who can. ebay is often a good place to get them. try Ebay UK and search for 'Kenwood major'. I get most of my attachments that way as it is so much cheaper, ie stainless steel spare bowl £20 instead of £60 and glass blender £15 instead of £40!

I love my Major, it is so reliable and powerful. I bought it about 10 years ago to replace a Kenwood Chef that was just too small/not powerful enough. I passed the Chef on to a friend who replaced a couple of parts and it's still going strong.

For anyone having trouble with a Kenwood/Delonghi in Europe, Partmaster sell every possible spare (bushes, motors, switches etc), if you can find out which bit you need any competent mechanic/electrician should be able to fix it for you.

My mother was given a Chef as a wedding present in 1963, it finally 'died' last year, I had a job stopping her giving it a funeral with full military honours

PS. I have just ordered the new flexiblade thingy for my Major, can't wait!

[OliverB]

I don't own a stand mixer but I'm getting more into breads etc and am thinking about one. I have a braun kitchen machine that has dough hook etc, but I'm afraid I'll fry it if I use it for heavy dough and I use it as a food processor mostly.

Is it true that KA finally redesigned their gear box on the pro model(s)? I read somewhere that it's still the same plastic cover that goes on. I get the feeling that they think they're selling kitchen sculptures rather than kitchen tools.

King Arthur Flower doesn't even sell them, they have Cuisinart and Viking models only, and AFAIK they do some extensive testing on things before they put them on their site to sell. Of course, my wallet just screamed and ran away with the circus once I saw the prices for some of those mixers, but if I buy one, I want to buy one that I'll have for once and for ever. I'd rather not buy something that I'll throw through the kitchen window eventually, that really gets expensive ;-)

And I could not care less about the color/finish, as long as it works. I can always paint it myself :-)

[carlux]

As another glowing recommendation for Kenwood has just come up, I thought I would provide an update on my Kenwood experience. I live in France, and had had a Kenwood for many years, but needed to use it with a converter here, and felt it was time for a new one after about 30 years! I considered KitchenAid, but they are 2-3 times the price in North America, and didn’t seem as robust. I ordered the Kenwood Chef Titanium, also expensive (over 400 Euros), and when it came it looked so much more solid, with cast stainless beaters and the flexible blade. Since it was a British company (even though now owned by De Longhi) I thought service would probably be better than the KitchenAid also.)

I loved the machine for 3 weeks, and then had a major problem. Nowhere in the instructions does it say that the head will turn when you use the blender (I should have known from my old one, but something had broken on the blender a long time ago, and I hadn’t used it for years). Or that you shouldn’t store the beaters in the bowl and then try to use the blender. The head picked up one of the very strong beater blades, rammed it into the bowl, dented the bowl, and broke the main gear.

I knew I had the 1 year guarantee from Kenwood, and a 2 year guarantee I purchased from the online vendor. Took the machine to the recommended repair shop – if he had said that the machine was not guaranteed against stupidity, I probably would have understood, and paid up. But neither he, nor anyone anywhere along the line ever said that.

It’s a long complicated story, involving no one receiving parts from Italy for over a year, the repair shop recommending replacement, and sending, supposedly, the serial number plate from my machine to the vendor so they could replace the machine. It was never received. Then everything stopped.

From what I can understand, the repair people and someone from Kenwood were in dispute for 8 months. It was never clear to me what the problem was, but as I kept trying to point out to various ‘customer service’ representatives over the months, I was a very unhappy customer and no one was doing anything for me. They had taken my machine, and not repaired it – in fact had probably rendered it valueless without the plate. I sent emails and phoned the vendor, Kenwood France, and even Kenwood Head office in England. The really irritating people were at Kenwood France, who just kept saying – please tell your vendor to re-apply, as we have no record of any problem. I pointed out that maybe THEY could get in touch, as after 8 months I felt I had done enough. Again nothing happened.

Having assured me that I once things were settled I could have a refund or replacement, the online vendor finally took matters into their own hands and sent the replacement with no notice, and without asking me what I wanted. And the icing on the cake was that they sent it when I was out of the country, and the courier just left it in an outbuilding. Friends who were staying at our house found a slip with a cryptic comment scrawled across it, and several days later found the machine, wrappings quite damp, but otherwise unharmed. When they wrote to say was I expecting a package, I had them open it to check – otherwise it could easily have stayed there for the rest of the month that we were away with no one knowing.

I have to say by now I never want to have anything to do with Kenwood again. I still think the machine is strong, well designed and attractive, and I hope will continue to work for many years. Now I just have to remember all the things I intended to make with it 8 months ago!

[andiesenji]

I don't own a stand mixer but I'm getting more into breads etc and am thinking about one. I have a braun kitchen machine that has dough hook etc, but I'm afraid I'll fry it if I use it for heavy dough and I use it as a food processor mostly.

Is it true that KA finally redesigned their gear box on the pro model(s)? I read somewhere that it's still the same plastic cover that goes on. I get the feeling that they think they're selling kitchen sculptures rather than kitchen tools.

King Arthur Flower doesn't even sell them, they have Cuisinart and Viking models only, and AFAIK they do some extensive testing on things before they put them on their site to sell. Of course, my wallet just screamed and ran away with the circus once I saw the prices for some of those mixers, but if I buy one, I want to buy one that I'll have for once and for ever. I'd rather not buy something that I'll throw through the kitchen window eventually, that really gets expensive ;-)

And I could not care less about the color/finish, as long as it works. I can always paint it myself :-)

←

I have one of the new 6-qt. KAs but I have never used it for bread dough. I burnt out two of the previous type (Whirlpool) 5-qt bowl lift KAs (supposedly "Heavy Duty") and got replacements and still have the third one.

I have one of the Electrolux mixers, (AKA = AEG, Magic Mill 2000, DLX 2000) made especially for bread dough and with a much larger capacity than the KA. I have written about it in earlier posts in this thread.

I simply gave up on using the KA for bread dough, except for very small batches and very "slack" or wet dough.

The DLX is expensive but if you bake a lot of bread, it will save you a lot of grief in the long run.

I particularly like the fact that it has an integral timer that shuts the machine off at the end of the kneading time and the bowl is large enough that I can leave the dough in it for the first rise unless I have an exceptionally large batch.

I recommend the online vendor Pleasant Hill Grain because they have super customer service and if you have ANY question you can call their 800 number and they are very gracious about answering even the most inane questions (I have asked a few!) patiently and with good humor. Their prices are very competitive and they include things that are extra with other vendors.

[RDCollins]

Is it true that KA finally redesigned their gear box on the pro model(s)? I read somewhere that it's still the same plastic cover that goes on. I get the feeling that they think they're selling kitchen sculptures rather than kitchen tools.

Yes, or at least that's so on the Pro 600. The gears and the gearbox are all metal, according to KA. In addition, the transmission is direct-drive, and there is new commercial-style motor protection to prevent overheating and burnout. I also seem to recall that there's an electronic speed control that helps the mixer maintain a constant speed at any setting. KA Pro 600 Features

Edited March 21, 2009 by RDCollins (log)

[ChristinaM]

Carlux, I am not surprised you are really hacked off, that is totally dreadful. I am disgusted by the way you have been treated. The only real problem I've had has been with attachments, particularly the grater. The grating drums themselves are fine, good, strong metal but they are attached with a stupid plastic ring. long story cut short I used mine for grating frozen beef heart for my fish and the ring just shattered and flew across the kitchen! Kenwood Uk's reaction was to tell me it wasn't designed for grating frozen meat, so I pointed out to them that there was nothing in the instruction booklet that said I couldn't so they sent me a new one. I also had a blender disintegrate once but they replaced that very quickly. I then bought the glass one instaed as it seemed more hygienic.

As i said in my previous post Partmaster UK carry a great range of parts and I would be more than happy to send anything needed to european Kenwood users who are otherwise stuck. I don't know what Partmaster's polices are for sending outwith the UK, but I'm here to help if needed!

I've actually had far mor problems with my Magimix food processor, the bowls crack all the bloody time and they wanted £65 for a new one! Scandalous! The newer one is 'only' £35, just as well as mine has just cracked again....Oh well, time to get creative with the duct tape I suppose.

[Chad]

Here's the latest on the dead Kitchenaid Professional 600 front . . .

If you own a pre-2006 Kitchenaid Professional 600, be aware that it will probably come to a grinding, screeching halt if you make a lot of bread. When it crashes you will be assaulted by one of the most painful and soul-crushing sounds you are likely to hear in a kitchen. Your beautiful mixer is dead. What is worse, Kitchenaid just doesn’t give a damn.

My Professional 600 was a gift from my wife, who thought she was buying her bread-crazy husband the biggest, baddest mixer on the block. It is certainly marketed that way.

The overachiever of the stand mixer family, it has a Flour Power rating of 14 cups. That means it can mix enough dough for 8 loaves of bread or 13 dozen cookies in a single bowl …. Powerfully churns through yeast bread dough and triple batches of cookie dough.

So why did my 8-cup soft sandwich bread recipe kill it? As it turns out, the Professional 600 mixers made before August of 2006 have a plastic gear housing that is completely inadequate for the size of the motor. Put a strain on the mixing head — bread dough, for instance — and the housing flexes, throwing the whole gear train out of alignment. When that happens every gear strips, locking up the whole assembly and causing an ear splitting shriek that will be etched in your memory forever. It is a horrible sound. Kitchenaid redesigned the gear housing in 2006, replacing it with a metal housing capable of taking the load put out by the motor. They repaired the Professional 600s that died under warranty but didn’t put out a service bulletin or recall notice for the others. We were left on our own. You see, the mixer doesn’t self destruct the first time you use it, the problem is cumulative. The flex gets worse with time until one day the gearbox flexes just far enough to cause a train wreck. It happened often enough that the Kitchenaid engineers built a new gearbox. They just didn’t tell the rest of us. It took an engineer with a dead mixer to find out why the gears stripped the way they did.

My mixer is out of warranty so I wanted to see what my options were. I did a little research and found dozens of other Professional 600 owners who experienced exaclty the symptoms and mixer death. One of them was an engineer who took his mixer apart. It was he who discovered why the gears stripped the way they did. There was a detailed analysis with photos on his website, but it is no longer available. Given that this was a known design flaw — one that Kitchenaid admitted when redesigning the gearbox — I asked them to cover the repair of my mixer. They refused, charging me $150 to replace the gears and gearbox housing. Their customer service representative claimed A) that mixing 8 cups of flour for seven minutes, rather than the recommended five, was responsible for the lockup that killed the mixer, and B) that while the gearbox did indeed crack, the gears stripped first, so the gearbox couldn’t have been the problem. I pointed out that the gearbox flexes, causing the gears to strip before the housing cracks but she didn’t want to hear it. The problem was obviously my fault, and her tone suggested that I was probably lying about only mixing 8 cups of flour. It was an infuriating conversation. In short, Kitchenaid markets the Professional 600 as a heavy duty mixer designed to knead bread dough knowing that 90% of their customers are going to be making cakes, cookies and meringues, which put no strain on the motor. It’s the 10% of us who do bake bread (or use the meat grinder) on a regular basis who are fucked because Kitchenaid won’t stand behind its products.

Chad

[Darienne]

Here's the latest on the dead Kitchenaid Professional 600 front . . .

Chad

←

No advice I can give you, but only to say that I read your post and you have my sympathy.