Our 1993 ProLine KSM5 5 qt. KitchenAid mixer has been a workhorse for 29 years, happily kneading, whipping, grinding, shredding, etc. away. A month ago while doing a large batch of bread dough the mixer sounded strained as it labored to finish the job. Oh boy, I wasn’t looking forward to getting a new machine. So it was off to the interwebs for some research, which led me to YouTube and three videos (the Mr. Mixer series) that tutored me on how to take apart the machine, remove the old gear grease, and repack the unit with fresh grease. I note that our KitchenAid, apart from being thoroughly cleaned after each use, seemingly never needed servicing – which means that the 29 y/o gear grease, original to the unit, was long overdue for replacing. (Some sources during my research recommended regreasing mixers every 10 years.)
So I ordered and received a can of new food grade grease, picked up a set of punches from the hardware store, and in front of the TV set up a worktable with newspaper / a roll of paper towels / box of Qtips / screwdriver with various bits including a Phillips #3 / hammer / miscellaneous picks / some plastic gloves (highly recommended!) / a small trash can. About 2.5 hours later I was done. I found the videos to be straightforward. The hardest task for me was getting the pin out to free the planetary; the next hardest was removing all the old grease. Gear disassembly was painless; upon inspection, I was happy to see that all the metal gears and the gear worm were still in great condition.
The results were telling. Our Kitchenaid is working effortlessly and running cooler on all its tasks. Bread and cookie doughs mix easily, even the tricky sticky variants. The shredding attachments continue to breeze through veggies and cheese, albeit more quickly and quietly.
Interestingly the regrease has caused me to reflect on KitchenAid’s grinder attachment. I’m not the grinders biggest fan, nor do I expect it to keep up with a heavy duty dedicated meat grinder. However, we only grind up to 5-7 lbs. of meat at a time so it’s been a sufficient attachment. I got to use the grinder post-regrease: it quickly processed a 5 lb. portion of pork shoulder, working through it much faster and quieter than before. Winner winner dumpling dinner!