Vent: My stand mixer threw a gear right in the middle of a triple batch of cookie dough

I was making cookie dough for a church bake sale last Saturday, about 4 pounds of dough total, and my KitchenAid started making this grinding noise mid-way through. Then it just stopped. The motor was running but the paddle wasn't moving. I had to finish mixing that dough by hand - took like 20 minutes and my arm was dead. Now I'm looking online and seeing that the worm gear is supposedly a 'sacrificial' part on purpose, meant to break before the motor burns out. But I've also heard you can buy metal replacement gears that never break. So which is better - the plastic gear that saves the motor or a metal one that might trash the whole thing if something goes wrong? Has anyone switched to metal gears and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

gray_nelson1mo ago

How old was that mixer when it happened? I'm curious if this was a newer model or one of the older ones like I have from the 80s.

cooper.nathan1mo agoTop Commenter

Was it the plastic gear models that started failing or the older metal ones? I keep seeing people say the newer stuff breaks way faster than the vintage gear. Wondering if that holds up in your experience.