The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer accessories

Precaud's picture
Precaud

Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer accessories

Yesterday I was given a KA Artisan RRK150 mixer. Stickers on the bottom say it was made in 2003. The prior owner says it has never had any maintenance. It is noisy and turns slow, the symptoms of solidified grease in the gears, so I'm confident a little TLC will bring it back in service.

It came without any attachments/accessories, so at minimum I'll have to get a mixing bowl and dough hook.

Question 1: Can I assume that all of these 5-quart tilt-head KA's use the same ones?

Last night I read numerous posts in the TLF archives about the capabilities (or limitations) of this series for mixing/kneading bread dough. Around 2015 there was a lot of talk about the standard "C" dough hook versus a spiral one for the 6-qt models. The consensus then was: the spiral is superior but unavailable for the Artisan. But now in 2023 I see spirals on Amazon designed for the 5-qt tilt-head mixers, such as this one:

https://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-K45DH-Stainless-Durability-Uncoated/dp/B09XRCFYF1/ref=sr_1_46?keywords=kitchenaid+spiral+dough+hook&qid=1684844671&s...

The problem with these is that they do not have the flange that keeps dough from being pulled up into the planetary gear box.

Question 2: Is this a realistic concern?

What are your recommendations for a dough hook?

Any other advice/opinions are welcomed.

Rock's picture
Rock

There are several products on the market to keep dough from being pulled up into the KA head. Don't know if this one will work with yours (I don't own a KA) but if not a search will probably find one that does. https://kneadace.com/products/dough-hook-shield

I posted this in the wrong thread before, sorry!

Dave

Precaud's picture
Precaud

that mounts to the flange that is missing from the spiral hooks. But I suppose something similar could be jerry-rigged for them.

Precaud's picture
Precaud

Yesterday while in the back room of our local non-profit kitchen thrift shop, I asked if she had any KA Artisan accesssories. She pointed across the room to several shelves full of them. Got a 4.5 qt mixing bowl and a new standard KA dough hook, for very reasonable $$. This shop is such a great resource.

I was equally lucky with repairing the machine. A couple bolts holding the rear bearing had worked themselves loose over time, binding the drive shart in the bearing. Snugged them up, added a drop of machine oil to the bearing, and voila it works perfectly. If only everything were this easy to fix...