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8:36 am
March 21, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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I want to start making my own pasta so I'm wanting to get a pasta maker, but I don't know the first thing about them. Any input appreciated!
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10:15 am
March 21, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Have always heard/read that the roller types produce a superior product to the extruder type pasta maker. The roller type is the more traditional method.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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10:24 am
March 21, 2010
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CindyP
| | Hart, MI | |
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And they are!!! I have both…………….extruder type is a pain! If it's just not the right consistency, and I haven't found the right one!, it just doesn't come out or it comes out and forms a glump of stuff. Rolling out by hand and cutting with a knife was easier than using that thing.  But Mom had a roller one (very inexpensive) that she had bought quite a few years ago to use with polymer clay and never did, so I "borrowed" it! I can make spaghetti or flat noodles with it.
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“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.” ― Alfred Sheinwold
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10:24 am
March 21, 2010
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Rose H
| | Rural Staffordshire, UK. | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 244 | |
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I have the roller type, always good results – but a bit pricey (well they are in the UK) The only pain with it is the jaws of the clamp used to screw it to the worktop are too narrow, so I have to fix it to a chopping board which I then have to clamp on to the worktop! (Yes a bit Heath Robinson I know ,LOL)
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11:28 am
March 21, 2010
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mamawolf
| | Colorado Springs | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 458 | |
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I have the pasta attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I used it once and put it in the back of the cupboard! I agree with Cindy that the pasta comes out in a clump and trying to get fresh pasta apart so it still looks like spaghetti is next to impossible. Also had a roller type which was great but my daughter borrowed it and it went to South Carolina with her. Check thrift stores for one because that is where I got mine. Good luck. Homemade pasta is the best.
Mamawolf in Colorado
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Learn from the mistakes of others. Trust me…..you can't live long enough to make them all yourself!
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11:36 am
March 21, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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| posts 7135 |
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Okay, great! So I can narrow it down to the roller type. Any brand recommendations?
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12:00 pm
March 21, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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Not sure about brands, but you are looking for something with a variety of thicknesses – not so you can make different thicknesses of pasta, but so that you can roll it into increasingly thinner pieces of dough. Not sure, but am guessing THAT is the mechanism that makes the pasta makers so expensive.
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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4:28 pm
March 21, 2010
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rileysmom
| | Rural Montana | |
| Super Chicken | posts 711 | |
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Suzanne, I have an Italian branded one from The Viking Store that I've used for about 10 years trouble free. My DIL got an extra wide pasta maker from Overstock.com that was very reasonably priced and works well .
The only advice that I can really offer is this: don't make your 1st attempt at pasta on a humid day! I learned pasta while living in TN and humidity does place a part, but once you get the "feel" of the dough, you'll be fine. If you try to roll the dough too "wet", it will ball up your machine. You can let the dough "dry" a bit before continuing to cut the dough.
I'll be watching for your posts on pasta. Will you do ravioli and tortellini too?
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5:15 pm
March 21, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
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| posts 7135 |
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Thank you! I have some Viking pots and pans–bought back in my cushier suburban days, LOL. They are awesome. Expensive, though! Thanks for the humidity tip. I don't know re what exactly I'll make. Probably–everything, LOL. I've had a hankering to learn to make my own pasta for awhile and it's about time.
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6:39 pm
March 21, 2010
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rileysmom
| | Rural Montana | |
| Super Chicken | posts 711 | |
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Ahhh yes, the ol' suburban days….that's a good way to put it! I was fortunate enough to attend some cooking classes at the Viking Center(in the suburban days); it was Heaven to use the stoves, cookware, utensils.
I've made angel hair and fettucini; they can be hung to dry (don't bother with those cutesy pasta hanger thingys, either……a clean broomstick will work just as well), then stored. If you make ravioli, tortellini or a cannelloni, they can be individually frozen on a sheet then stored in a zip bag. 
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8:36 pm
March 22, 2010
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LauraP
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| Mighty Chicken | posts 110 | |
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I wore out two extruder type pasta makers while my kids were growing up — or actually, I wore out one, and the other was the victim of a tragic encounter with the dishwasher, courtesy of a 12-year-old. The trick with extruders is getting the dough just wet enough but not too wet. Takes practice, trial and error, and a bit of luck in the beginning. Well worth it though. I have the attachments now for the kitchenaide but haven't used them in years because the recipe I like best is too wet for the extruder. I'd rather just use the one recipe I like best and roll it out on the butcherblock and cut into noodles there. The dh found me an antique cutter with adjustable widths – love it. Love the noodles. Love having another good use for the duck eggs.
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10:04 am
March 23, 2010
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Joyce
| | Western WV | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 178 | |
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I have a Popeil Pasta Maker which is the extruder type (bought for $10 at the local flea market)mostly use it for spaghetti noodles, I use the angel hair dye as the regular spaghetti dye makes heavier noodles than we like. It is so easy once you have done it a couple of times to get the feel of the dough, I can make spaghetti noodles in about eight mins. I also have a hand crank pasta maker an Atlas Marcato it makes great spaghetti noodles because you can crank them as thin as you like, I like to use it for rolling out thin sheets of pasta for canneloni or lasagne, it also has an attachment for ravioli. For me the choice between the two types of machine has to do with time, eight mins for the extruder versus about 1 1/2 hours for the hand crank. After you make the dough for the hand crank machine it requires a rest period which is part of why it takes longer also it takes quite a few passes through the machine to get the thickness you want then has to be run through again to cut the noodles. I don't have a noodle dryer I have one of the wooden clothes racks and set it up on the counter partially unfolded and drape the noodles over it. The recipes I prefer for both machines contain egg so I keep any unused noodles in gallon bags in the freezer just in case.
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12:45 pm
March 23, 2010
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Cousin Sheryl
| | Walton, WV | |
| Big Chicken | posts 87 | |
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Suzanne said:
I want to start making my own pasta so I'm wanting to get a pasta maker, but I don't know the first thing about them. Any input appreciated!
Suzanne,
Georgia has a pasta-maker that I am sure she would let you borrow to try. I think it is a roller type. She hasn't used it in years.
 
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May the saddest day of your future be no worse than the happiest day of your past. – Irish Blessing
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6:27 pm
March 23, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn
| | Sassafras Farm in Roane County, WV | |
| Admin
| posts 7135 |
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Cousin Sheryl said:
Suzanne,
Georgia has a pasta-maker that I am sure she would let you borrow to try. I think it is a roller type. She hasn't used it in years.
Yay! I'll steal it from her. I can take her! 
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3:45 pm
March 24, 2010
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Picklepie103
| | West Virginia | |
| Banty | posts 10 | |
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I have had both types and way way way prefer the roler type. Just make sure you flour it before you put the dough through. Sticky dough is a real pain in the you know what. I have had two brands of roller makers, both bought at garage sales. One was a brand that started with a Z and I was told it was very enxensive. The other (that I still use) is an Atlas. I can't tell the difference in performance.
Good luck!
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5:19 pm
March 24, 2010
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rileysmom
| | Rural Montana | |
| Super Chicken | posts 711 | |
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I recently saw the Anthony Bourdain show where he was in Tuscany. He made pasta with some women using no equipment other than a rolling pin and a knife; not even a bowl! I guess it's a lot like making bread; once you know the consistency/feel of the dough, it can be pasta.
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6:05 pm
March 24, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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| posts 7875 | |
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That's how I was taught to make noodles – flour on the counter, drop an egg in the middle of it and start mixing!
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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10:53 am
March 25, 2010
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lavenderblue
| | WNY | |
| Mighty Chicken | posts 204 | |
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I have a pasta maker that my sil gave me for Christmas many years ago when my kids were small. I hadn't used it so took it out not too long ago. Because it was all dusty, I gave it a wash. Found out later that is a big no-no. It's a roller type with little gears and all. I let it dry really well and took a pencil and colored in all the gears and levers and whammy-diddles that wouldn't be touching the dough. It seems to still be working, but wish I hadn't washed it.
My mom always just used a rolling pin and a knife to make her noodle. With the pile of flour and eggs in the middle method. There's always a way without the fancy equipment, I guess.
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Progress might have been all right once, but it has gone on too long. Ogden Nash
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11:36 am
March 25, 2010
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Pete
| | WV | |
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| posts 7875 | |
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Probably easier/faster to do it by hand for a single meal. The rollers and cutters are a time and energy saver for making a quantity, maybe?
(True confession time here: I have the roller/cutter attachments for the KitchenAide mixer and have never used them! Some other priority always seems to get in the way. There are 3 – maybe 4? – big parts to it for cutting different sizes of noodle, I suppose. Need to get out that box again! And give it a try, theoretically…)
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Anulos qui animum ostendunt omnes gestemus!
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12:43 pm
March 25, 2010
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BuckeyeGirl
| | N.E. Ohio | |
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| posts 3992 | |
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I have a friend who burned out 3 of the fancy mix/extruder pasta machines, (first one she purchased, second a warranty replacement, thirds a gift) so she got the KitchenAide attachment and absolutely loves it. I don't have the KitchenAide in the first place so I can't say for sure, but she uses it a LOT… said it was annoying at first but once she got the hang of it she's totally happy with it. Said it took a few tries to get the dough consistency just right for putting it through the rollers so it didn't gum up.
Here I either make the squeeze noodles now (THANKS Dede!), or the roll out and cut kind like my mama made. I've only made actual pasta (as opposed to egg noodles for soup or side dish) a few times with the afore mentioned friend, and while it turned out great, I guess I'm lazy.
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If tomatoes are a fruit, then isn’t ketchup technically a
smoothie?
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