Mixer is dying... Get Cooking Discuss Mixer is dying... in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; I'm sure the electrolux is great, but with the metal innards, the KAs are spectacular workhorses. Mine is from some ...

[Modthyrth]

I'm sure the electrolux is great, but with the metal innards, the KAs are spectacular workhorses. Mine is from some time in the 50s or 60s, did a stint as my grandmother's main machine for 10 years (a professional cake decorator, she switched KAs every 10 years, and regulated the old ones and stuck them in the basement as backups). I got it when I was 18, and have been pushing it hard for the last 15 years. We make a couple hundred gingerbread houses each year, I make homemade fondant, etc. Every few years I have to take it apart and put it back together to get the gears realigned nicely, but I don't think this thing will ever stop.

[Les]

Originally Posted by Modthyrth

Every few years I have to take it apart and put it back together to get the gears realigned nicely, but I don't think this thing will ever stop.

Wow! I have yet to cook a thing, let alone break a mixer - I think you are way above my pay grade. I did re-build my chain saw

Les...

[Wiley]

Loren, When you say it is dying just what do you mean? Perhaps it just needs new brushes, or a dissassembly and re lube of the gears. If it's an older model and made to last (and you are happy with it before it started to die) I would expect that it is repairable or at least worth the look.
Wiley

[Loren]

The old Kitchenaid mixers are workhorses as is my old Braun; however I think I would like to switch to a spiral mixer after reading Jim's elaborate post on mixers. He explains how a planetary hook style mixer with a fixed bowl risks overworking the dough. The Kitchenaid, Braun, Viking and Globe are all planetary mixers, I have used one for years but I think I will try something new. I will only be making pizza dough and bread dough so the Electrolux should be a good choice for me.

My old Braun has a plastic bowl with a ring gear built in to it. That is what turns the bowl. It is a bit under powered for dough, it struggles quite a bit. The main problem with it is the latch that releases the arm so you can remove the hook and bowl is not functioning. If I push it any harder to try and release it I know it will snap off. So it makes clean up a pain in the butt. I have to wash it all as one unit, and removing the dough is quite comical. It takes two people, one to turn the mixer upside-down and the other to dig the dough off the hook and out of the bowl.

When that started happening I was going to buy a Kitchenaid and started reading bad reports on Amazon. That was the start and here I am now…

I would really like the SP5 but at $1300 that is a lot of dough for me at the moment. I have a feeling as soon as the new mixer arrives the latch on the Braun will start working again!

Loren

[Ken524]

So far so good on my new (refurbished) Kitchenaid Pro600. I really haven't stressed it out yet. Only single 750gr batches. Big party in mid September. I'll let you know what happens!

As Les mentioned, I think the new gear boxes came out after April '07.