I have been having a problem with my kitchenaid classic mixer. It seems that the beater is not mixing the cake up very well. I let it mix for about 5 minutes, long enough for me to get my work area cleaned and cleared off all the ingredients and then to get my pan ready. I mixed a cake up just a few minutes ago and when I was ready to put it in the pan there were still clumps of mix that was not mixed. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

maybe your mix is too clumpy..it happens to me sometimes...i sift it and it works out...

and maybe you should be scaping the sides and the bottom of the bowl after about a minute

have you done the "dime" test to see if height adjustment is ok?

if you go to the KitchenAid web site and go to the customer service area forums, they have specific instructions on this test (and lots of other neat info too)

Thanks. Do you think I should do something to adjust the mixer or not? It has always had a problem getting the mix at the bottom of the bowl. Thanks again.

Are you using a box mix? I know that box mixes tend to have large clumps that don't get mixed well in the stand mixers. Usually if I use a box mix, I'll sift the stuff first before mixing in the stand mixer.

If you're using a scratch recipe, I would make sure that the butter/sugar gets mixed up light and fluffy and make sure to scrape the bowl frequently after this step and after adding all other ingredients.

If not, you should also check the height at which the paddle is coming near the bottom of your bowl. Maybe the paddle is too far up and you may need to adjust the paddle height, which you would need to look up in the kitchenaid manual. I tried to cover all possible scenarios, so I hope one of these will help.

I've found at work that mixes do tend to settle and clump up.

What are you using the Paddle or the wisk attachment?

Sifting the mix will really help you out and should relieve the clumps

cakefairy18 has the right idea

I use DH box mixes with a wisk attachment and this seems to happen a lot. I scape it all down with a rubber sppatula halfway through and mix a little longer. The lumps are annoying, but they do not seem to affect the final outcome. I just ignore them unless they are huge.

I have a brand new Pro600 and didn't have a problem with anything at the bottom of the bowl getting mixed in well...until I used a cake mix. I first thought it might be that the beater mechanism needed adjusting, but I checked with the dime method and it was perfect. I sifted the next cake mix & had no problems. But, being your mixer is an older model, you still may need to adjust your beater. The directions for it are in the manual, if you still have it, or on their website, as Dough suggested. Good luck

I have a 4-1/2 qt KA 325 watt & I just scrape the bowl well after the first 30 sec. low mixing & again after the 2 min. on medium speed. That always takes care of any dry mix at the bottom of the bowl. Also, when I make the butter recipe yellow from DH that you have to beat on medium for 4 min., I sometimes stop & scrape the bowl after 2 min. Never have any problems with dry lumps in the finished cakes!

Thank you all for the information. I will try all of those to see if they help.