Topic: Pasta machines

[sally_cinnamon]

Hi all,

Prepare for a rant...


I got a pasta machine for Christmas and I was all excited about using it, made the dough (which turned out great - huge surprise for me!) got it to go through the machine and made a batch of spaghetti - marvellous I thought!  Took me a while to get the hang of it but got there in the end.  Anyway, decided to make another batch (holiday boredom!) and only got part way through the process and the machine broke, the handle just wouldn't turn.  So, I returned it to the shop and got a replacement.  Got it home and started to make more to test it out and the same thing happened.  Mechanically minded OH took the machine apart and found that the problem was the cogs - looked like they had come out of a cracker!  Really cheap aluminium cast, and the teeth had bent on one cog so wouldn't connect with the other cog.  The machine cost £30 - I wasn't thinking it would be solid gold or anything for that price but I expected it to be made of a bit better stuff abd at least last more than two goes!  Took that one back as well and ended up having to get a different brand because there were none of the other left.  Had friends coming round and had to decided to make fresh pasta for spag bol, got half way throught the process and would you believe it the bl**dy machine broke!  >:(  OH took this one apart as well and found a different problem (nuts and bolts slipping or something).  I know its not the dough because it is just as they describe it should be in the brochures - smooth, elastic and pliable.  And I've followed the instruction to the letter.  So now I am looking to buy ANOTHER machine.  I will be paying a bit more, maybe up to £50, so wondered if anyone has had similar problems with their pasta machines, and if anyone can recommend a brand?  The ones I've had are Typhoon (x2) and Kitchen Craft (I think).

HELP!

(rant over.  ::))

[daninlondon]

We too once bought a pasta maker which broke on the first attempt. The teeth on the gears had been bent and squashed. We took it back.

Funny they should be so flimsy. I hope they don't make aircraft engines.

I was going to buy another one, but then I read that in Italy people use rolling pins.

[sally_cinnamon]

Yes, I told one of my friends and she unsympathetically informed me that a rolling pin would do just as good a job!  ::) But not quite so much fun!  I have looked on the internet and there is a company called "Imperia" and they give a 12 month guarantee.  Would be nice to read a review or hear good feedback first though before I splash the cash.

[daisymay]

I have an Imperia pasta machine..... or at least I used to anyway, not seen it for about 10 years! it was good as far as I remember, used to use it quite a bit and never remember having any problems. Nightmare to clean though, but guess they all are?!


 just the hassle of making the stuff put me off in the end - alot of mess and hassle for a quick meal! (IMHO anyway....) especially as fresh pasta is so cheap and easy to buy now ........ i'll get my coat  ;D

[sally_cinnamon]

alot of mess and hassle for a quick meal! (IMHO anyway....) especially as fresh pasta is so cheap and easy to buy now

You're right - my OH was moaning ..."...cost of eggs.... all that flour... only takes five minutes from a packet..." yadda yadda...  And I agree - BUT - I like making mess and spending ages fiddling around in the kitchen so I don't mind!  Wouldn't do it all the time though, the main thing I fancied doing was making my own huge ravioli parcels.  If I ever manage to get one that works for more than five minutes that is!

[tim]

Our "Atlas" (£25ish) is fine.

But, as said, you've got to be feeling very cookie to use it!!

[supersprout]

I have owned a stainless steel Imperia for years sally, and love it.

Mostly for making sheets of pasta - for artichoke (globe!) or 'de la casa' lasagne, ravioli, canneloni and so on - or use it fresh in pappardelle in Winter with hare, or cut into wideish noodles and eaten with a simple tomato sauce (from our toms). One of these days I'll get a truffle to shave over them :o

There seem to be two types of machine - those that work by extrusion (like play-doh shapers) and those that compress, knead and stretch the dough before gradually thinning it out through a decreasingly wide pair of rollers. The latter is the one to go for, and Imperia have been making them for years. It's a quality machine-tool standard stainless steel product, and will last you forever.

If you love the 'hands on' approach to cooking - it sounds like you do - IMO it's no more hassle to make fresh pasta than to buy, and it takes only four or five minutes to cook. I rarely use the cutting blades now, and the idea of the ravioli maker with the trough thingy would frighten me to death, but I wouldn't be without the basic machine to make fresh pasta whenever we want. Pasta is also a way to use up e.g. egg yolks after the whites have gone into Christmas cake icing. We're lucky enough to have an Italian deli here which sells wheat semolina flour for pasta machines. With fresh organic eggs, fresh pasta is a delicacy, not just the 'starch' blob on the plate :D. You can make pasta in batches too, I usually have a couple of bags of home made ravioli in the freezer.

Like you, I've made pasta with a rolling pin, but find the texture of pasta made with the machine superior (just hate to say that!). The preliminary repeated stretching through the rollers makes a silky texture which 'holds' sauce well and brings out the gluten for a satisfying 'bite', and it's nice to have even sheets - hand cutting adds 'rusticness'!  I've used the machine a good deal more in my new kitchen, as
a) there's a table to screw the thing down to, and
b) I have a long clear counter along which the finished sheets of pasta can be laid to be cut.
Those two make a huge difference to the convenience of using a pasta machine.

Fresh pasta made at home has a light, delicate quality quite unlike extruded pasta. Do you need to buy new? There may be machines which have lost their attachments which could be found cheaply? There seemed to be loads  for sale on eBay (although postage is expensive), possibly available on Freecycle as people find they don't use them? If you needed instructions, I could photocopy the instruction book for you. Oh, just wait til you make your first lasagne with full sheets of egg pasta, folded over the edge of the dish and folded back on top ... so classy, that ;D

SSx

PS I keep a toothbrush in the box with the machine to clean it :)

[tim]

Brilliant exposition - as usual!!

1. Yes - long counter.
2. Yes - delicious.
3. Great for the grandchildren - just breaking eggs into a mound of flour. Who doesn't love a mess?
4. My greatest difficulty is in drying it for storage.

[supersprout]

Thank you tim. Concise, as always! ;) ;D
I use the old laundry airer above the sink for drying pasta - wooden poles on an iron frame that you raise or lower on a pulley ::)
Prefer to freeze it now, and cook from frozen - more convenient in small shapes.

the main thing I fancied doing was making my own huge ravioli parcels

That reminds me of the time I tried to impress prospective M and FIL with culinary prowess. The first time I'd made ravioli (d'oh), didn't realise they swelled up so much. Each person got a huge ravioli pillow on their plate :-X

[mc55]

 :-[ I'm ashamed to say that I was given a pasta machine 10 years ago, and I've never used it - not even taken it out of its box to have a look ... and I had so many plans for pasta this, pasta that.

Wonder if the makers assume majority of people get one cos they need it, but in reality it lives in the cupboard like mine.

[OliveOil]

Gosh I'm worried now... having bought a Typhoon for BIL for xmas, my mum bought a typhoon for my dad for xmas and a kitchencraft (made by typhoon) for my OH... Dont know that any of us kept receipts.

Also in response to cleaning - are you supposed to clean them as such? I Was told to just run some pasta dough at the start and discard to clean it and just wipe over with a dry tea towel!

[supersprout]

Cleaning now ... having left the pasta machine uncleaned once, never again :-X - I broggle with the toothbrush, whack it on the counter to dislodge loose bits, and wipe with the ever-present damp teatowel before putting it away. I run a small amount of dough through at the start to clean it too, but always resent losing the little dough ball  :-\

Time to haul out your machine and give it a test run OO? ::)

[sally_cinnamon]

Gosh I'm worried now...

Yikes - hope you don't have the same trouble as me OO, I suppose I could have just been really unlucky?

SS - so you recommend the Imperia?  I will keep it in mind as I also read a couple of good reviews on a website, got four stars (out of five, presumably - hopefully!).  I also have an Italian deli nearby. had even thought about popping in and asking the guy if he knew where to get a decent machine from - he's a bona fide Italian, and all Italians make homemade pasta, right?  (stereotyping or what!!).  So, yes I also enjoy the homemade-ness of food, and whilst I'm certain that buying fresh pasta from the shops makes it a simple procedure once at home, I will do almost anything to avoid the trauma of the "super"market with their stupid quick checkout tills, where you do it yourself (I wondered whether I would get a discount on the bill as I had saved using a checkout person?) and whoever called them quick needs to actually use one and then rename it "don't bother if you're in a hurry-till".
I am also fortunate enough to have a long counter in the kitchen (when it's not full of junk and bags and gloves and post and stuff) which would definately come in handy for the long sheets that I so wanted to make.  I will take a peek at Freecycle and eBayfor a machine, as newness is not essential for me.  As long as it works I'm happy!

Tim - yes I had a problem with the drying, the only batch that I managed to make I decided to immortalise so I could look longingly at it in a pretty glass jar, until the day comes when I can make more and actually eat it rather than have it as a keepsake.  Anyway, I digress.  To dry it, I rigged up a rolling-pin-across-half-open-cupboard-doors with the pasta-draped-over-the-top scenario.  Managed to get the pin precariously balanced and also managed to dodge round it all evening and not knock into it, and more miraculously, OH didn't knock it either!  In a moment of perfectionist (and slightly OCD) madness I started to straighten all the lengths of pasta so they were all even (so they'd stand equally in the jar) and spaced out evenly.  Finished doing said job and as I stood up, yes, I nudged the door and the whole lot came crashing down.  Pah.  Ended up with a few odd shapes, but they sit in their jar wonderfully even-lengthed.

 :)

[ACE]

Imperia is the one we got years ago. She even bungs it in the dishwasher.

Can't stand pasta myself, but the rest of the family seem to like it.

[supersprout]

oh Sally, there goes another keyboard splfffff ;D ;D ;D

I once asked a new (Italian) friend where real Eye-talian families got their pasta. She gave me a withering look and said 'at the supermarket like everyone else' :-X Our local Italian deli - family-owned - is a never-ending source of great ingredients and advice, I'm sure yours will be glad to answer your questions. We're on borlotti-swapping terms here 8)

Yes, it's the Imperia.

[katynewbie]

::)
 
My pasta machine is a Debenhams special, Xmas pressie a few years ago. It has performed perfectly! My problem has been drying it, I have short work surfaces. Struck upon the brill idea of hanging it in the spare room on...

Coat Hangers

It works!!

 :-\

[triffid]

It's been a long day, katy... which is why I sat there for five minutes wondering how you can dry a pasta machine on a coat hanger  ??? ::) ;D

[valmarg]

Our hand cranked version is a Marcato Atlas, made in Italy , which is very 'robust', and has lasted for years.

When I bought the KitchenAid, a pasta rolling/cutting set was included in the price.
OH has used it once, but having read this site, shall have to dust it off and give it a thorough testing.

The hand cranked version is going spare, if there is anyone in this area wants one.
Very reasonable price!!

valmarg

[katynewbie]

 ;D

Sorry triff!! Been a long day here too, wish written english came to me easily when I am tired!!

 ;)

[Obelixx]

I have an Imperia too bought in a local market for about £30 several years ago.  It's very good but can take ages to hand crank a decent amount of pasta if we have guests coming so now I also have an electric motor for it but haven't tried that yet as my kitchen is being remodelled and all but the essentials have been stashed away.