"Restoration" Posts

“I’ve always wanted a blue mixer…”

It’s easy enough to buy a cobalt-blue KitchenAid mixer these days, but the color is really hard to find in older models. The KSM90 “Ultra Power” tilt-head was the first of the cobalt-blue machines; it was made as an “exclusive” for Williams-Sonoma. They’re findable on eBay, but frequently command a premium, even when sold “for parts or repair”. Even harder to find is the cobalt-blue bowl-lift model (K5SS). Seller-refurbished ones are selling on eBay for close to $500 (roughly the…    more →“I’ve always wanted a blue mixer…”

Hard Luck Cases

“Rusty” was another Goodwill find, a Hobart-era K5SS (bowl-lift, solid state speed control, 5qt bowl). This classic needed almost as much work as I’ve ever put into a mixer. Most of the time spent was just on getting through the layers of crud so that I could disassemble it and perform the necessary service. (I also learned a valuable lesson along the way, but that’s a story for another time.) On top of the wear consistent with many years of…    more →Hard Luck Cases

We Can Do It!

This is about Rosie. She’s a 4C, one of the final iterations of the design before Hobart went to the now-familiar K4 silhouette and internal architecture. We got this one cheap on eBay, and it came with the glass “beehive” bowl and combo beater/whisk. (The 4C did not support a flat beater or dough hook.) Just getting one with a glass bowl is quite a coup. She arrived in pretty sad shape; lots of ancient batter residue caked here and…    more →We Can Do It!