Pasta Makers

[Zilla]

Does anybody have one?

Are there ones I should avoid?

We don't have kitchen gadget type stores around anymore. All that is left and close is Bed and Bath. Walmart has some stuff, but no pasta makers that I'm aware of.

I don't know if Kitchen Aid makes one, but if they did, that would be sweet as I have one of their stand mixers.

[fo fish]

Kitchenaid has, I believe, several different types. They have a basic roller, which is similar to the classic Atlas model. I have one, and it works very well. Makes all the standard flat pastas: lasagna, fettucini, spagghetini, etc.

They also have an extrusion-type (like the old Play Doh machines) attachment. I haven't tried it, but I imagine it works well. I have heard though that roller types are preferred over extrusion types.

I think they also have recently (not sure how recent) come out with a new roller type that can make things like rottelle. I haven't tried it, but I'm awfully tempted since I like rottelle.

If you need to order on line, you can always check out Sur La Table ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]), Williams and Sonoma ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]), or the old standby Amazon ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]).

Good luck.

fo fish

[Zilla]

Excellent! Thank you for the .02 and the links.

My food allgeries have been in a dither for the past few weeks so it's time once again to get away from foods that comes out of a box or bag depending on what it is.

If homemade pasta is anything like homemade bread ( Yum!) spending extra time in the kitchen should be tolerable, if not pleasant.

[WhiteDevil]

Some of my family members can still make pasta by hand, they dont own machines so I cant say for sure but Ive got quite a few kitchenaid countertop appliances and wouldnt trade them for the world, from the bread machine to the professional mixing bowl.

You cant go wrong with kitchenaid. But you do get what you pay for so cheap=break soon

[fo fish]

If homemade pasta is anything like homemade bread ( Yum!) spending extra time in the kitchen should be tolerable, if not pleasant.

I'm not a huge pasta fan, but the homemade egg pasta is very simple, easy, quick, and tastes excellent (at least to my unsophisticated palate). The recipe is in the kitchenaid cookbook that came with my mixer. Not sure if it was part of a set, or if my wife bought it for me when she bought me the mixer. Let me know if you want the recipe and I'll look it up and post it (assuming that doesn't break any forum rules).

As for making it by hand, I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard. After all, the pasta machine is really just an automated rolling pin and set of cutters. But the amount of effort, or more correctly, practice that would be required to get the pasta to a consistent thickness, and cut the pasta to consistent widths, is more than I've got in me. If you can make pasta by hand, more power to you - I'll stick with my kitchenaid, thank you very much.

Good luck,

fo fish

[rothenb1]

Growing up, my parents had this kitchen gadget that did practically everything. It was one large piece and then you added small, inexpensive attachments to it. It was a mixer, pasta maker, ice cream maker, and a bunch of other makers. My mother still has it, (it must be 25 years old) and I think it still works. I imagine it isn't made anymore though, because now companies want you to buy a different product for each thing you want to make (the almighty dollar at work). I believe it was an Oster or a Cuisinart.

Anyway I have rather fond memories of making homemade spaghetti with my father. We used semolina dough and it was an extractor machine. Really fun stuff.

[Zilla]

That's one of the cool things about Kitchen Aid (other than the fact that they are solid and last forever) is alot of their attachments can go right onto the mixer itself so one doesn't end up with cabinets overflowing with every gadget under the sun.

I admit that such gadgets are addicting, but I only buy what I know I'm going to use. I found what I was looking for via one of the link fo fish provided. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]*/brand/kitchenaid/n/4294967005.do?sortby=ourPicks

It attaches right to the hub on the front of my mixer so the only thing I need to store is the roller itself. I found one other thing on there that I want, but I'm going to have to save some coin for it.

[fo fish]

That's one of the cool things about Kitchen Aid (other than the fact that they are solid and last forever) is alot of their attachments can go right onto the mixer itself so one doesn't end up with cabinets overflowing with every gadget under the sun.

I admit that such gadgets are addicting, but I only buy what I know I'm going to use. I found what I was looking for via one of the link fo fish provided. [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]*/brand/kitchenaid/n/4294967005.do?sortby=ourPicks

It attaches right to the hub on the front of my mixer so the only thing I need to store is the roller itself. I found one other thing on there that I want, but I'm going to have to save some coin for it.



Yup. That's the same one I have. I can attest to it being a quality piece of equipment. It's solid steel, and not very light. but since you already have a kitchenaid, you know what I'm talking about.

All this talk about pasta is making me want to haul out the roller and cook up a batch of homemade lasagna. Need to talk my wife into making her sauce for it though. Maybe this weekend.

[fish00053]

Hi Zilla, have you looked on the Internet. Do you actually make your own pasta? If so, very impressive!!! Not many of those ladies left.

[Zilla]

Hi Zilla, have you looked on the Internet. Do you actually make your own pasta? If so, very impressive!!! Not many of those ladies left.

Yes, I found the gadget I was looking for. LOL

No, not yet, but I'm working on it. I love making bread so pasta shouldn't be too far out of my league.

[BirdOfPray]

I've never tried a pasta maker, but you'll have to let us know how it turns out! I've made pasta by hand a few times before but it came out too thick and it sat in the stomach pretty heavily. Wasn't really a savings money-wise, and we don't have allergy issues, so I decided that's one food we'll just buy pre-made.

I'm sort of toying with the idea of trying to shift more toward homemade bread, though. Do you make your own sandwich type bread? If that's what you meant, care to share some of your experience? And have you ever analyzed the cost? I'm trying to move us away from pre-packaged foods as much as is reasonable, for a combination of reasons including health, frugality, and just plain old principle.

[Zilla]

I've never tried a pasta maker, but you'll have to let us know how it turns out! I've made pasta by hand a few times before but it came out too thick and it sat in the stomach pretty heavily. Wasn't really a savings money-wise, and we don't have allergy issues, so I decided that's one food we'll just buy pre-made.

I'm sort of toying with the idea of trying to shift more toward homemade bread, though. Do you make your own sandwich type bread? If that's what you meant, care to share some of your experience? And have you ever analyzed the cost? I'm trying to move us away from pre-packaged foods as much as is reasonable, for a combination of reasons including health, frugality, and just plain old principle.

I won't be ordering the roller until either right before or after Mother's Day, but I will let you know. We don't go out to eat due to the food allergy issues ( my son has them as well) so this seemed like a good thing to have around the house even though we don't eat alot of pasta. Once a week is usually the limit.

I talked to hubby about it last night even though the only thing he won't eat is brussel sprouts. The man has the stomach of a goat, but I wanted his opinion anyway as he was in the military and has eaten all kinds of things.

Oddly, homemade pasta is one thing he has never had. He liked the idea, then told me that if I'm going to make pasta from scratch, that means the sauce should be made from scratch as well. LOL I can't stand Ragu or the cheaper pasta sauces and the one we do buy isn't bad, but he made a good point as homemade pasta sauces have a much cleaner flavor to them and are just better over all and it's void of all the nasties that can induce yet more food allergies.

Along with the host of things I'm allergic to, egg is also on the list but in small amounts such as what is in pasta, I can get away with eating it once a week. I just can't have a plate full of scrambled eggs or something. That would be really bad.

I've never figured out the savings with making my own bread, but it certainly doesn't come out to be $2.00-$3.00 a loaf. A regular sized bag of bread flour can make several 1 1/2 pound loaves and the ingredients are really basic for a simple loaf of white bread. Bread flour, salt, olive oil, sugar ( 4 teaspoons to feed the yeast), yeast and milk. Aside from the allergy thing, store bought bread has a funny chemical after taste to it that's really nasty. I never noticed it until I started making my own and now it leaps out at me.

We shop at BJ's Wholesale. We can get 2 loaves of bread for under $3.00 and we do as The Boy likes Wonder Bread for the mush factor. Somehow making "bread balls" is a big deal, but when there is homemade stuff in the house, the cheap Kids Wonder Bread in the fridge seems to hang around alot longer than it normally would. I've never called him on this observation, but I find it amusing. I'm not always the brightest Crayola in the box, but I'm not stupid either. LOL