If you’ve been disassembling your kitchen mixer to manually scrap off unmixed ingredients at the bottom of the bowl every time you bake, you may be making the same mistake as this TikToker.
In a video with over 1.2 million views, @working.for.tacos says she received a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas seven years ago. But she noticed the bowl she used with it—which didn’t come with the appliance—was too deep for the paddle, which mixes the ingredients.
“You have to make sure you scrape the bottom because the paddle doesn’t go all the way down to the bottom,” she says. At least, that was what she thought until she was browsing on Reddit.
On the r/KitchenAid subreddit, she says she noticed several mentions of the “dime test,” which can help you determine if the paddle will reach the bottom of the bowl.
What is the ‘dime test’ for KitchenAid mixers?
“Apparently, you put a dime in your bowl with your flat paddle. If it doesn’t reach the dime, then it is too high,” the TikToker explains. “Mine was definitely too high. It never reaches the bottom.”
But on the same thread, another KitchenAid owner drops a bombshell: You can adjust the height of your mixer.
“If you put the paddle on and it reaches the dime, it’s at the right height,” she continues. “I’m sorry, what? So there’s a way you can adjust this? I didn’t know this.”
She points to a small screw on the neck of the mixer.
“You take a flathead screwdriver and adjust it to the right to make it lower or to the left to make it higher,” she reveals.
As she reveals two unbaked loaves of bread on a baking sheet, she remarks it would have been “useful” if she had read the tip before making the dough.
“Anyways, if you have a stand mixer, there’s an adjustment. Freaking mind-blowing,” she says at the end of the clip.
The caption reads, “Did you know this??? And why didn’t you tell me??? 7 FREAKING YEARS!!!!!!”
Bakers react
In the comments of the TikTok, other bakers say they struggled with the same issue for decades.
“GIRL!! When you said you have to scrape the bottom, I was confidently like, ‘Yeah, duh, because it doesn’t reach.’ I always hated this about my mixer,” one shares.
“I got mine as a gift for my 40th bday. I’m 57, just learned this today!” another remarks.
“Whaaatttt???? I’ve had mine wayyy longer than 7 years, and I am always scraping the bottom…. Headed to do the dime test,” a third says.
“I’ve had mine 38 years and never knew this! My biggest pet peeve has now been solved,” a fourth adds.
Other bakers who were shocked by the TikTok poke fun at themselves for not reading the user manual.
@working.for.tacos Did you know this??? And why didn’t you tell me??? 7 FREAKING YEARS!!!!!! #kitchenaid #kitchenaidmixer #hack #baking @KitchenAid #dimetest ♬ original sound – Not my circus 🤡
“And yet none of us ever read the user manual,” one jokes.
“Thank you for sharing this secret information,” another says.
“Thank you, did not know this, and yep, guilty of not reading the manual,” a third adds.
The Daily Dot reached out to @working.for.tacos via TikTok direct message and comment. We also contacted KitchenAid for further comment.
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