So you finally bit the bullet and bought a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, and man is it great. You have been using it for a month and made everything from butter cookies to bread. Now what?
I don't mean to be a "Kill Joy" but just about half the large stand mixers out there go unused for months at a time. Some of them only get used for the holidays and some don't get used for a year or two.
That's the problem.
The gear grease inside your mixer is a food grade vegetable based lubricant not a petroleum based Lube, that way if it drips out on your food no one is going to get sick. And, if you only get a drop or two in your food the recipe won't even taste different. BUT!!! You bought a Kitchenaid and they are supposed to last for years. well yes they will and so will the gear grease ... if you use your mixer regularly.
If you don't here's what happens. The gear grease because it is vegetable based breaks down with lack of use. the liquid actually separates from the solids and leaks out for two reasons. The first, liquids will find a way to get into anything even past a gasket. The second because the gasket has been torqued down by the motor hear and screws the gasket over time compresses and nobody ever goes in and tightens the head screws down again. the liquid now has a way to run out.
So what to do??
Well first a no cost trick. Get a towel from the bathroom, fold it a couple times and turn your mixer upside down on the towel. You will have to hold it as it will fall over if you let it go. Get some one to plug the mixer inand turn it on to speed 2, let it run for a little while and then start moving through the speeds at about 30 seconds for each speed. Takes about 2 minutes to do. Then shut off the mixer and then unplug it just to be safe because you are going to turn it right side up and there is no reason to get caught up in the cord and dropping the mixer so unplugg it every time. Now that the mixer is right side up again plug it back in and do it again going through all the gears for about 30 seconds. Repeat the process at least 3 times. the last time you do it let the high gears or speeds go a little longer and especially when the unit is upside down. Trying to get the gear grease a little hot.
Why all the shinnanagans?? Well simply you are remixing the grease in your mixer. Yep! that's one nice thing about vegetable grease, is that you can remix it and it will be good as new and last for a couple more years. That's the positive. Whats the negatives? Well if you haven't used your mixer in a few years then your grease may be to separated and the liquids have run out along any path way in the mixer and no where near the grease solids that now look like black celery pulp. If you have used your mixer a couple times during the non use times as the liquids separate the mixer will now get a little warm from it's occasional use and the liquids will evaporate. remember that this is vegetable based grease so the liquids are water not petroleum. Now you are left with a gooey sticky mess everywhere in your mixer. That take about half a day to clean along with about 2 rolls of paper towels and a box of "Q Tips" and a couple skinned knuckles. Then you will need to acquire the proper grease to re-pack your unit and a new gasket.
If you are not inclined to do it yourself then you need an after warranty technician to do it or send it to a factory authorized service center. If you use factory authorized you need to spend from $90.00 to $125.00 plus one way shipping.
The moral is if you are not going to use your mixer for extended periods of time the at least twice a year pull it out and mix the grease by the above mentioned method. It really really works.
if after the mixing process you still have leaks or you see a dirty edge running around you trim ring or band then you probably need to re-pack the insides.
Oh!! you really have to clean everything inside too. Why?? because if you have poor grease, then you may have been grinding gears and you may have metal shavings floating around and if you just re-pack then you still have metal shavings which are not good for the insides of you mixer.
USE YOUR MIXER!!!!!
There are only two places where Food Grade Grease is used: In the
Transmission Housing (normally installed with a gasket) and in the Planetary
Assembly (Agitator gear). Over times, the grease will get hot and turn into liquid.
The Beater shaft has an O-ring to prevent oil from leaking down, but there is
nothing to prevent oil from the Planetary from making its way down your mix.
Depending which model you have, it's time to open up your mixer, clean out
all the oil and replace it with fresh Kitchenaid Food Grade Grease.
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