OT - Pasta Making Machine

Spring Chicken

Spring Hen is thinking about a Pasta machine. She has the huge Kitchen Aid mixer and we could buy the pasta attachment. Or we could just buy a stand alone pasta maker.

Any input either way would be appreciated.

Or maybe tjv can come up with something...

Spring "Viva la Pasta" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Scotty's Inferno

The Kitchen Aid attachment is as good and reliable as you'd expect. I'm not sure what is out there as a stand alone, but the attachment gets er dun. Scott

PS-Homade pasta is special!

AZRP

Leroy,get the stainless attachment for the KA, they really work great. Stay away from the extruded attachment the pasta is not the same. -RP

BENTE

get the attachment!!!!!


i have it and love it!!

it will do all you want it to do.....


email me if you need more insperation {sp} :laugh:

mkc

I have the pasta rollers and cutters for the KitchenAid and like them for the occasional time I want to make tagliatelle, pappardelle, or other unique widths or home-made ravioli. I've had an extrusion machine for shapes (elbows, etc.) and it was OK but took up a lot more cabinet space especially considering how much I didn't use it.

I do have the extrusion dies for the KitchenAid which I have yet to use, but to be honest I love the Barilla and DeCecco pasta that I can buy in the regular grocery or Central Market so I haven't bothered to try them.

Michelle

Zippylip

Definitely the KA attachments are a great choice, & they are very well made, I had the extruder type before & could never get good results with it

Tripmaker

I have a stand alone pasta machine that has rollers and cutters for linguini. A motor is a must because you can't crank and handle the pasta at the same time. Does the KA attachment have cutters?

Zippylip

Yes, there are 3 attachments in total, one adjustable roller & 2 cutters (thin for spaghetti, linguine, angle hair... & wide for fettucine, see pic):

Charleston Dave

My review on Amazon of the KA pastamaker attachment is here.

The roller is used to turn dough into a sheet of pasta, and then gradually calender the sheet to the desired thickness. Then, swap out the roller set for the cutter matching whichever pasta width you desire. KA also makes four pasta cutter widths. They also make a manual ravioli stuffer that I've seen used but have not played with.

KA sells various combinations. The full set (KPEX, or KitchenAid Pasta Excellence) has the rollers, all 4 cutters, and the ravioli maker and goes for $247.49 on the KA website, but you can buy subsets for much less. The KPRA set (roller and 2 cutters) is a good starter set choice. I got mine last year when eBay was doing coupons and it ended up running around $100.

Racks are very handy but if you don't want to buy them right away, plastic clothes hangers are a tolerable substitute. I've been known to have plastic clothes hangers hanging from kitchen cabinet knobs, filled with pasta.

Remember that fresh pasta cooks in just a minute or two, much faster than dried pasta. The fresh pasta you make at home tastes ridiculously better than the frozen or dried stuff at the store. You can also wind it into nests and freeze it.

You can use the uncut rolled sheets to make lasagna, of course, and not deal with the cutting into noodles. I like making flavored/colored pasta with lemon zest, pepper, carrot, spinach, etc. Haven't tried a squid ink black pasta yet but someday soon.

Hand-cranked machines takes a little more skill. It always seemed to me using these that they needed 3 hands to do it right. You can also get motors that attach to the side of the hand-cranked machine, but if you already have the KitchenAid using their pasta rollers/cutters makes more sense. I typically make the pasta dough in the stand mixer, let it rest while I'm making my sauce, and by then the dough is ready to roll out and cut into noodles.

Only disadvantage I can see is that the KA attachments absolutely cannot be put in water. KA does include in the box a brush for cleaning.

Avoid all extrusion-style pasta machines.

Tripmaker

I have to agree with your thoughts on fresh pasta. I make butternut squash ravioli (a Wolfgang Puck recipe)that can't be beat and also can't be found in most markets. Fresh linguini & spagetti are also a must.