My 2 KA Mixers

[Pennino]

 I have 2 KA stand mixers. K45SSWH and a KM25GOXWH (Classic and Commercial). I know that there is better mixers on the market. But I have just under $100 in both, you can't beat that. The Classic was given to me with a stripped gear, which I repaired for just under $20. The Commercial, I bought at a thrift store for $20 without a bowl and paddles. I picked up all the missing pieces from yard sales and flea markets. The most expensive part for the Commercial (the bowl), I got as a present. I know the limited power on the Classic, so I treat it accordingly.
 The Commercial will do anything I have mixed, and I do a lot of pasta which is hard on a mixer (there is no way to over-knead pasta dough, the more the better). When it seems like it is laboring hard with the spiral dough hook, I just lower the bowl a little.
 The Classic is a 1999 model, and the Commercial is a 2005 model. I believe them to be built before KA started using outsourced, inferior parts (granted still not as bulletproof as the Hobart built ones).
 My elderly mother has a late model, 600 model, I think. And it makes more noise than a hay bailer. Both of mine working at the same time (and I've used them both on several occasions), don't make as much noise as hers.

[Meatballs]

wow, what a weird coincidence, below are my two KA mixers in black.  Wife's is the tip-up model and mine is the professional model.  Bought the wife's at regular price as a gift years ago and found mine new marked down for a hundred bucks.  Most people find it rather curious that we have two, but, I figure everybody here would understand fully.  If you cook a lot you need two, even have two bowls for each.

Ron

[dmcavanagh]

Well, I may not have two, but the one I have is a Hobart and I wouldn't trade it even up for all 4 of these. Hobart made Kitchen Aid mixers until 1986 when they sold the name to Whirlpool. Somewhere along the line the mixers were cheapened up to the point where they are no longer considered the "cadillac" of stand mixers. Enjoy your mixers gentlemen, I'm confident my Hobart will still be running after all four of these are dead and buried.

[dmcavanagh]

BTW, they're not really great tools for mixing pizza dough, especially if you have the "C" hook. The damned dough climbs the hook and sticks to it and you constantly have to push it down off the hook to get good kneading action. A real PIA!

[Meatballs]

tsk, tsk, mixer envy.  Bet you have to fight the significant other for mixer time...

ron

[dmcavanagh]

Even better, no significant other to fight at all, solved that problem a few years ago!

[dmcavanagh]

And I kept the mixer!

[pizzaneer]

Gents, forgive my ignorance, but I have never had or used a stand mixer.  Do they run in reverse?  If so, the C hook would work.  I use an electric drill & hand mixer dough hook in reverse to very good effect.

[dmcavanagh]

They  only run in one direction and I'm guessing it's clockwise. Maybe they run in the other direction south of the equator.

[pizzaneer]

Then I don't feel quite so pathetic.  At least my dough isn't climbing. 

[dmcavanagh]

Maybe there's something scientific going on here that needs to be further explored. I wonder if anyone knows how to reverse the running direction of a KA mixer!

[Pennino]

wow, what a weird coincidence, below are my two KA mixers in black.  Wife's is the tip-up model and mine is the professional model.  Bought the wife's at regular price as a gift years ago and found mine new marked down for a hundred bucks.  Most people find it rather curious that we have two, but, I figure everybody here would understand fully.  If you cook a lot you need two, even have two bowls for each.

Ron

Too cool!
 The second bowl for the Commercial, I had to modify. It seems to be for an obsolete Hobart/KA (very well used, and no markings). The ear holes that rest on the lift pins were too narrow. When I elongated the holes, it fit like a charm. It is a slightly narrower bowl, and slightly shallower. And the spiral dough hook fits it deeper, which makes it great for making fresh pasta for one person. And the whisk gently touches the bottom and sides of the bowl. I have whipped a quarter of an egg white just to see if it would do it, and it did.

[Pennino]

Gents, forgive my ignorance, but I have never had or used a stand mixer.  Do they run in reverse?  If so, the C hook would work.  I use an electric drill & hand mixer dough hook in reverse to very good effect.

  They turn counterclockwise, viewing it from above the planetary/motor. And the planetary turns the same direction.

[pizzaneer]

Then the same idea applies... can it be made to turn in the other direction?  It's odd that my hand mixer dough hook when used with the "tighten" direction of the electric drill would make the dough climb, but when used with the opposite direction, causes the dough to mix down instead of up.  Maybe I am using (through a lucky accident) either the left or right dough hook.  I think they have opposing twists.

Not to hijack this thread... sorry if it's off topic.  Just wondering if anyone else has had this experience.

[Pennino]

 I have found that the C-hook works well for a light dough, but not a heavy dough. Southern style biscuits, or a single or double loaf light bread dough, work great with the C-hook. Even then, the dough may climb the dough hook. All you gotta do if that happens is lower the bowl and bump up the speed for alittle while. Or with a tilt head, just increase the speed for a few seconds to sling the dough back at the sides of the bowl.

[Meatballs]

Really, this whole dough climbing thing is so overblown as to be ridiculous. Obviously, I use these mixers quite a bit and while some doughs will tend to climb the hook, all you have to do is punch it back down and continue. You really shouldn't be running such a machine unattended, no matter the make or action.

For home machines, these are powerful and effective and, also, very popular.  I think that is probably the biggest problem with them, If grandma uses it, it can't be the best.  I'm sure that the spirals are easier to use and maybe even work a little faster, they are, after all, newer technology.  For home use, the c-hook works just fine, I wouldn't base a business on one, but then again, as an auxiliary machine they are definitely of adequate quality.  They are also more versatile than a dedicated dough machine being capable of whipping, mixing, and even have a power take off for accessories.  I would never have bought the second machine if I wasn't perfectly happy with the first one.

Very cool on the bowl modification...

The second bowl for the Commercial, I had to modify. It seems to be for an obsolete Hobart/KA (very well used, and no markings). The ear holes that rest on the lift pins were too narrow. When I elongated the holes, it fit like a charm.

This sort of thing is only possible with popular machines, finding parts for a specialty mixer at the flea market is a slim proposition.

Ron