Kitchenaid Food Grinder attachment does not seem to fit my machine

[JoanNYC]

Been wanting this for quite some time. However, I have the original Kitchenaid stand mixer.. model K5A. This has been a great machine. Never had a drop of trouble and is quite a workhorse. KA states that this attachment fits ALL mixers. However, I can not get it to fit all the way into mixer. I get it to "fit" but it is not totally secure. Was wondering if I should return it to store and give up or if I possibly have a defective attachment OR it just is not made for these older models. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I had planned to use it today. Will just have to do the grinding in food processor which was not my preference. Thanks. Joan

[JoanNYC]

I am replying to my own original post which probably no one will ever read but I wanted to "update". I pretty much had given up and lost interest. Put it back in box and decided that being I had tried using it with meat I did not return.

There was an ATK episode yesterday about meat grinding and it gave me the interest to open up grinder again

Seems I was doing a very stupid obvious thing that I did not realize I was doing. I had assembled the whole thing BEFORE attaching it to mixer. In my case, this did not work. Yesterday I attached housing alone which fit perfectly. I THEN assembled rest of grinder while housing was already mounted. Problem solved.. one year later

[dcrb]

Enjoy!

[Dave_in_PA]

I've never had to do that.

Try assembling the whole grinder again, then as suggested above, rotate the whole grinder back & forth to set the square end of the shaft into the socket in the accessory drive.

[JoanNYC]

For some reason it didn't work for me. Had tried all suggestions when I originally purchased grinder Could be that I have an old model. However, this is fine and it is working. Glad I found a solution and just had to post it!!!

[ttoommyy]

Now that you have it working properly, do you like it JoanNYC? I too saw that ATK episode yesterday and it got me thinking I might want to buy a KA food grinder attachment. Thanks.

[JoanNYC]

Actually I cannot answer question YET. Got it to fit which is what the problem was in my case. Just came back from store with a small amount of beef round to experiment with later. I will let you know

[ttoommyy]

After I posted I thought maybe I was asking too soon. I look forward to you answer JoanNYC. Thanks!

[JoanNYC]

You were only asking a little too soon :) I bought 2 small bottom round steaks. Froze them for about 1/2 hour.. cut into strips. Worked great. Meat went into freezer as I have nothing to do with it right now but couldn't wait to try it. Can't believe I have this for over a year and finally figured out how to get it to work for me. So many possibilities. ALSO I am pretty sure it is dishwasher safe... Only a smidgen of meat left on blade

[JoanNYC]

AND.... I did not encounter the "gray ooze" issue that I read about here. Of course, I only did a little under a lb of meat (which I trimmed of excess fat). I don't intend to grind much more than that at a time anyway

[ttoommyy]

Thanks! I think I will be purchasing one of these soon.

[shussey]

same thing happened to me. I purchased my k/a mixer on sale at Walmart. and just got some attachments today for fathers day. the attachments would not go all the way in either, it seemed to me like the hole in the k/a was not large enough. So, I did what anybody would do...lol. Took it out into my garage and made the hole bigger with my pneumatic die grinder. Fits way better. Before making the modification the set screw on the side would not line up with the indentation on the attachment............problem solved...........warranty VOID.....oh well.

[horseshoe]

I had an older model that i bought around 1980, wore out the motor on and I have a new proffesional model and the original attatchment works with the pro model fine.

[justanotherpenguin]

FWIW: our original kitchenaid was one that we inherited from in-laws and was purchased in the mid 50's. three years ago we purchased a new machine. the meat grinder attachment was purchased about 25 years ago and has always worked well with both machines.

the screw goes into an indentation on the grinder. it sometimes does requiring some wiggling to get it to fit right, but has never been a major pain. if this is not working, maybe you should take it back to the store and have the people there try it.

btw: original 50yr+ machine (green) is still going strong with niece.

[Tinker]

Which model KA mixer did you purchase, John E? Hoping the Artisan will work great with the vintage type meat grinders or the new type more plastic without burning up the motor on it.

[John E.]

I just noticed this thread again, sorry don't know how I missed it. Our's is a KA KSM-90 Ultra Power with 300 watts. Either meat grinder should work with an artisan. The trick is to work in batches and let the machine rest if it seems to be getting too hot. I don't know how much it helps, but when grinding meat I have started to put a ziplock bag filled with ice cubes on top of the machine.

[JoanNYC]

AHA..... Another question

Is the screw (on mixer) supposed to fit thru the whole on the attachment? If that is the case the hole on attachment does not go all the way thru. This will help me find out if it is defective or its just a major pain the rear :) Thanks again

[John E.]

The screw on the side is a 'set' screw and is only there to keep the grinder in place. There is a notch on the mixer and a nub(?) on the grinder that fits into the notch. Sometimes you have to wiggle it depending on where the orbital thing underneath is positioned (that's the part that the blade/ hook/whip attaches to).

[JoanNYC]

I have been fiddling and fiddling :) I am going to play with it some more before I take it back. I took the screw (one on mixer) off altogether and then tried screwing it back in. Thanks. I am going to go over to CI board as per your suggestion

[John E.]

There is a guy over on the Cook's Illustrated bulletin board site that seems to know everything about KA stand mixers. You should ask this question over there. It might not help you for today's cooking, but might save you a return. The guy's user name is jim262 (he might even be here under another name, who know's?)

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/ibb/c...

[DiningDiva]

I have a Kitchenaide 5 Professional (which I've never had any problems with) and occasionally I have a hard time getting the attachment to fit. Uncle Bob is right, you've got to fiddle with the screw to get it to fit. I've found with my attachements if I take the screw all the way out and then fit in the attachment then replace the screw and tighten, it'll fit just fine. Try that, and if that doesn't work, return the attachment, it may be defective.

[Uncle Bob]

Make sure the screw is backed out enough....Turn the attachment left or right as you insert it in the machine...Other than that?....No clue