Ughh! Why Is My New Kitchenaid Doing This???
Decorating By CAKESHERWAY Updated 7 Dec 2016 , 2:27pm by Jwinter81
I have the Pro 600 model with the bowl lift design. The bowl keeps leaving a grey residue in my icing and cake batter! I can see where the one side of the bottom center of the bowl is worn. Is this thing off and scraping too hard?? How or can I fix this??? I bought the display model and have no instructions! Help please!
Bummer!! I'm sorry you are having this problem. I recently acquired a 5 qt the ones that were on special at Lowes and have had no problems with it. It works great and I really love it. I use it on a daily basis. I hope someone can give you a better answer.
I think there is a way to raise the metal piece where the beater attaches to, but sorry, I've never had to do it. Have you tried looking under the Kitchenaid website? They must have a section on there that talks about how to adjust that. Gray film..that's really odd. It totally must be because it is scraping the bowl.
There is a way. There is a screw looking thing right behind where your bowl sits on the mixed itself. Turning it one way will raise the level of the lift, the other way lowers it. Now if I could just remember which way does what!
It should be in the owner's manual that came with your mixer.
There is a way to adjust. On the artisan (which I have) you turn a screw, but it'll be different (or at least in a different place) in a bowl-lift model. You should be able to get some instructions from the web site. Or maybe a CCer with that model will scan them for you. 
You can go onto the kitchen aid web site and request an owners manual and they will send it to you within a week. Just tell them the model number. My mom did that just recently and she was very happy with how quickly they sent the manual.
good luck.
ginger
ps. there is a way to screw or unscrew where your paddle attaches according to my artisan model, not sure on yours.
Call Kitchenaid at the 800 number and ask someone there.
My husband recently bought a KA for me and in the paperwork it said that if ANYTHING went wrong within the first year they would happily replace it.
So that might also be something you can do. Contact them so they can send you a replacement model.
The Kitchen Aid Folks don't want you using something that doesn't work right whether it was the "floor" model or not.
Hope that helps
Happy baking
Ronni 
I have recently aquired a Kitchen Aid from my mother in law and used it for the first time a week ago. I of course used it wrong at first and it was scraping the back side of the bowl with the mixer. It turned out that I was not completely snapping the bowl in place like it was ment to be so the bowl was tilted and not level, therefore causing the blade to hit. However before my brilliant moment when I discovered what was wrong I looked up in the instructions and sure enough there is a funny little screw that you can either twist clock wise or counter clock wise to raise and lower the mixer. The little screw on mine is located just behind where the blade attaches actually on the colored part of the mixer, not on the blade attachment itself. You kinda have to kink your neck out of shape to see it. I will warn you though, I tried to use a screw driver to adjust mine and it was so tight that I couldn't even turn it.
Hopefully yours will be easier. However if you bowl is not level then maybe you aren't pushing yours into that clip at the back of the bowl all the way like me.
Good luck
Larissa
Thanks everyone but I am certainly snapping into place like it's supposed to be. I line up both holes on each side of the bowl then push hard on the back until it snaps down under the back hook. We alos tried the screw and my hubby says it's down as far as it can go. I just finished baking a giant cake order for a new bank in town but after this weekends cakes are over I am going to call Kitchenaid for a replacement. Do you suppose I will need my receipt? Who knows where that's at though I am sure it's around here somewhere!
Thanks again everyone!
Another reason for the gray residue might be because you washed the bowl in the dishwasher? I put all of my attachments into the dishwasher and when they came out I almost had a heart attack. The finish came completely off and when I touched the attachments, gray residue came off in my hands. I had to get all new attachments.
Something similar happened to me the other day. My mom gave me her KA handmixer last week. I'm pretty sure it was fairly new. I noticed black/grey stuff in my cake batter ( a double batch I ended up throwing out. 
) It turns out it was coming from one of the beaters out of a metal part. I called KA and they had never heard of that. Sure 
I still like my KA stand mixer but I'm getting another Black and decker handmixer.
Have you checked to see if it's coming from the paddle part? Try calling KA and see what they say.
Another reason for the gray residue might be because you washed the bowl in the dishwasher? I put all of my attachments into the dishwasher and when they came out I almost had a heart attack. The finish came completely off and when I touched the attachments, gray residue came off in my hands. I had to get all new attachments.
I was thinking alont the same lines as this. More than it was the actual beater than the bowl. I don't have a dishwasher, but if I let my beat soak in water too long it would have the gray residue that came off in my icing. They do now make the 6q beater in the plastic coating and I have since replaced mine with it.
I had a problem with my KA back when it was new, I called customer service, gave them the numbers off the mixer and they wanted to listen to it (it was making a funny noise) and they sent me a brand new one and told me to send the other one back in that box- free shipping both ways. I had it withing the week as well. They didn't ask anything else, and I didn't have to send them my receipt or anything like that. They are awesome when it comes to customer service!
the grey is from the paddle not the bowl... do not ever let that paddle soak in any water and wipe it very well before using.... I hate that paddle.. I will be buying a replacement one that is coated but why do they include this one when it turns things grey
ewwww
I have never used my paddle...I only use my beater, wash it off in hot water in the sink and dry it with a towel. Do you think I am going to have the same problem or does it only happen with the paddle?
I wouldn't want to poison anyone with "grey" stuff. 
I have no idea then I thought the beater/wisk looked like stainless I have never used mine I use only the paddle for buttercream and cakes... I don't do egg whites I guess I have never used the bread hook either.....
When I first used mine I though ther was some oil on the place wher it hooks on so I wiped it well and keep it clean I was sure it was dripping in my frosting or the frosting was getting up on it.
Cakesherway....I am having the same problem. The first time I used my KA mixer, I made buttercream frosting and the frosting turned gray. I was major bummed out. I have been wanting a KA mixer practically my entire adult life. I was using the 'whisk-looking' attachment. I found this video on YouTube on how to raise your beaters just slightly (which I have done), but I have been afraid to use the whisk attachment for fear of having it ruin whatever it is I'm making. I guess I just need to break down and try mixing some potatoes or something like that. Apparently, we are not alone. If you Google "Kitchen Aid Gray Residue", there are many, many other complaints.
The solution that worked for me was scrubbing the bowl with baking soda paste as recommended by the KitchenAid website.
The original post is now quite old, but there was activity about a year ago and the problem has certainly not gone away, which does not speak well of KitchenAid's ability to resolve issues of quality control. My brand new KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart model KSM150PS, purchased in the past week (in March 2016), had the same problem of grey residue around the bowl. It
ruined my very first recipe, a batch of lovingly prepared yeast waffle
dough, when I started mixing. At first I thought it was grease that had
dripped from the motor into the food, then I realized the
contamination was coming from the bowl, which I had washed once before
use. (The imprint on the bottom of the bowl indicates it is made
in India.) After throwing away my ingredients, I re-washed twice with a
Scotch-Brite scrubby sponge and hot water and detergent, and then twice
more scrubbing extremely vigorously with Comet cleanser, then rinsing
thoroughly. But still wiping the inside of the bowl with a white kitchen
towel left a grey residue!
After further research I found a page on the KitchenAid
site that describes this problem. You can find it if you Google "KitchenAid
remove residue from stainless bowls" The article says the residue is
from polishing in the factory and cannot be removed in the dishwasher or
by ordinary hand washing. It recommends 1) Bar Keeper's Friend, or 2) a
mixture of lemon juice and salt, or 3) baking soda paste.
I purchased the Bar Keeper's Friend, but I wanted to try the other steps first, in case it can help anyone else reading this who would not prefer to make a special trip for Bar Keeper's Friend. After a thorough scrubbing with lemon juice and salt, there was still a slight residue coming off on a towel. After the baking soda scrubbing there was no longer any residue and I did not have to use the Bar Keeper's Friend. Then I successfully redid my recipe and had no problems with residue.
WAFFLE-LOVER: Thank you for your reply and suggestion. That was me who left the comment last March 2015. I have used my mixer only once due to the gray residue issue and, for the past THREE YEARS (maybe longer), it has been nothing more than a dust collector (and I cook a lot!). I will definitely try your baking soda suggestion. Also, I wasn't sure if the gray residue was from the bowl, or from the 'whisk-looking' beater attachment. I will treat that too. I guess I need to make a test batch of something "white-looking" (mashed potatoes would be inexpensive) and I'll see if the gray residue is still there. I really was hoping it would be my extra set of hands in the kitchen. I will post an update since you were nice enough to reply. Thanks again!
This has just happened to me! Chucked two lots of cookie dough out - please can you send the cleaning method with the baking soda?? Much appreciated!
i just googled, "kitchen aid baking soda cleaning" and i got so many choices i didn't know which one to pick --
but my observation is don't put your paddle or dough hook in your dishwashers -- those harsh chemicals will kill it and can make the products gray out too -- the whips are usually stainless steel but i hand wash all that stuff anyway -- well my husband does :)
I just used my 5 qt professional today for the first time! Same problem!! I washed it several times, and there still seems to be a slight residue coming off!!
I remember having a horrible time with that grey residue. Then someone recommended replacing it with the beater blade - I haven't had a problem since.
Here is a link: http://www.target.com/p/beaterblade-for-kitchenaid-bowl-lift-mixers-white-6-quart/-/A-12061615?lnk=rec|pdp|related_prods_vv|pdpv1
Okay. I've had a professional 5.5 bowl lift model for quite some time and have never had the silver residue problem. With that said, I just acquired a 6qt bowl and beater blade attachment -- Just to have a second bowl. Made my first batch this morning and I was watching for it so as not to destroy and entire recipe. Sure enough after creaming butter and sugar I noticed it was grey. I don't know if it is the bowl or the attachment. Will clean the bowl real good with bar keepers friend to see if it is the bowl.
Will let you know the results.
@kristykgs - when you say "beater blade attachment", are you talking about the one with the flexible rubber wings or the all metal one? I ask, because both are referred to as "beaters", but one leaves the residue and the other doesn't. The one with the rubber wings is the one that I have had success with.
Looking forward to your results.
Nancylou - I'm talking about the one with the rubber wings and that is the one that gave the residue.
UPDATE ON PREVIOUS POST: I cleaned it twice (once myself and hubby with his strength did it) with bar keepers friend - keep it under the sink. I did NOT have any residue, but I didn't use the blade with the rubber, I used my regular paddle attachment. I did put some tester butter in the bowl and mixed with the rubber blade, and didn't see any residue, but the blade just doesn't seem to fit right.
I did adjust the screw, but it just doesn't seem to fit right. It's okay, I will continue to use my metal paddle. But the bar keepers friend worked.
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