I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
it.

I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
me some pointers.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:
> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> it.
>
> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> me some pointers.
>

I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.

FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
it's ready to go.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:13:25 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

> sf wrote:
> > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > it.
> >
> > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > me some pointers.
> >
>
> I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
> it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.

Thanks! I was taken aback by that instruction. Good to know it's
universal and not just my unit.
>
> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> it's ready to go.

I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.

In any case, I didn't break the bank buying this machine so if I make
fresh pasta a couple of times I've recouped what I spent on it.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:

> Thanks! I was taken aback by that instruction. Good to know it's
> universal and not just my unit.
>> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
>> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
>> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
>> it's ready to go.
>
> I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.

So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a
couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I
have used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good,
but holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> sf wrote:
>
> > Thanks! I was taken aback by that instruction. Good to know it's
> > universal and not just my unit.
> >> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> >> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> >> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> >> it's ready to go.
> >
> > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a
> couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I
> have used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good,
> but holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.

That's the problem, you tried making two servings of pasta. In the same
amount of time you could have made 20 servings of pasta and stored the
rest of the fresh pasta in the refrigerator to use over a couple weeks.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:45:17 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

> sf wrote:
> >
> > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a
> couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I
> have used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good,
> but holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.
>

I hear ya. That's why I didn't spend a fortune on the unit.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> sf wrote:
>
> > Thanks! I was taken aback by that instruction. Good to know it's
> > universal and not just my unit.
> >> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> >> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> >> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> >> it's ready to go.
> >
> > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a
> couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I
> have used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good,
> but holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.


Why did you only make two servings? Make a larger batch and dry it or
freeze it. That's what we do.

It's not complicated and it isn't a lot of work.

Arri London wrote:

>>> I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
>>> but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
>>> cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>> So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a
>> couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I
>> have used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good,
>> but holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.
>
>
> Why did you only make two servings? Make a larger batch and dry it or
> freeze it. That's what we do.
>
> It's not complicated and it isn't a lot of work.


There's only two of us. My wife doesn't eat much hi carb food and I
don't eat a lot of tomato sauce. Besides, I was following the
directions from an online video and used two eggs in a well of flour,
adding a little more flour in the process, and that is how much we ended
up with.

"Dave Smith" > ha scritto nel messaggio >
> So long as you know what you are getting into. I have used my machine a >
> couple times. Actually, I bought it for my wife for Christmas and I have
> used it while she watched. The results were..... hey. this is good, > but
> holy shit it was a lot of work for a two servings of pasta.

It's because you have no experience. Once you know what you're doing, it
takes no time at all. I can make 100 grams worth of flour into pasta in 10
minutes, obviously it takes more time for larger amounts, but not multiples
of that 10 minutes.

sf wrote:
>
> On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:13:25 -0400, Dave Smith
> > wrote:
>
> > sf wrote:
> > > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> > > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > > sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > > it.
> > >
> > > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > > me some pointers.
> > >
> >
> > I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
> > it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.
>
> Thanks! I was taken aback by that instruction. Good to know it's
> universal and not just my unit.
> >
> > FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> > savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> > make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> > it's ready to go.
>
> I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> In any case, I didn't break the bank buying this machine so if I make
> fresh pasta a couple of times I've recouped what I spent on it.

Yes it takes some time to make fresh pasta, however the amount of time
is fairly constant over a wide range of batch sizes. This means that you
can make a batch of fresh pasta on the weekend and store that fresh
pasta in the refrigerator for use throughout the week, even a two week
span if you want, so it doesn't require a lot of time overall.

"sf" > wrote in message
...

> I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.

I made ravioli one time and it was a huge time waster and didn't turn out
any better than what you can get in the refrigerator section. The only good
thing is that you can control what's stuffed. So do pasta makers do
ravioli? I rolled mine out by hand but then again, it was in the '80s.

Cheryl wrote:
>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> I made ravioli one time and it was a huge time waster and didn't turn out
> any better than what you can get in the refrigerator section. The only good
> thing is that you can control what's stuffed. So do pasta makers do
> ravioli? I rolled mine out by hand but then again, it was in the '80s.

Lidia Bastianich uses a machine, and watching her show
made me want to get one.

On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 19:52:34 -0400, "Cheryl" >
wrote:

> "sf" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
>
> I made ravioli one time and it was a huge time waster and didn't turn out
> any better than what you can get in the refrigerator section. The only good
> thing is that you can control what's stuffed. So do pasta makers do
> ravioli? I rolled mine out by hand but then again, it was in the '80s.
>
>
What I'd like to do this time is cut out circles, fill it, fold the
circle in half and seal.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:
>
> On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 19:52:34 -0400, "Cheryl" >
> wrote:
>
> > "sf" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> > > I'm not trying to save money and I guess time improves with practice,
> > > but I'm not looking at that (although the cost of "fresh" isn't
> > > cheap)... I just want to make ravioli.
> >
> > I made ravioli one time and it was a huge time waster and didn't turn out
> > any better than what you can get in the refrigerator section. The only good
> > thing is that you can control what's stuffed. So do pasta makers do
> > ravioli? I rolled mine out by hand but then again, it was in the '80s.
> >
> >
> What I'd like to do this time is cut out circles, fill it, fold the
> circle in half and seal.

A word of warning - Pasta that you intend to fold or layer and seal is a
*lot* more tricky to make than regular slice and dice pasta. The exact
moisture content and texture become critical, it needs to be soft and
moist enough to seal together, which is generally softer than you want
when you're going to run the pasta through the cutter rollers.

There are a bunch of ways to do ravioli and a bunch of gadgets for it,
but all the methods are a fair amount of work, so make the filling worth
it.

There are ravioli mold trays that look a bit like ice cube trays. You
put a sheet of past over them, push it down into the molds, fill each
cavity, put another sheet of pasta on top, and then run a rolling pin
across the top which crimps and perforates the ravioli on the top
pattern of the tray.

There are ravioli stamps that work a bit like the trays, only you put a
sheet of pasta down, put drops of filling, another sheet of pasta on
top, and then stamp around each drop with the stamp.

There is a ravioli attachment that goes on the pasta roller machine like
the cutter rolls. This machine takes two strips of pasta in from two
sides and you drop the filling in the middle. As you crank, it pulls the
pasta and filling through crimping and cutting with a rotary mold.

You can also do the cut and hand fold method, if you do that and don't
want the half moon empanada / turnover style, try cutting 2:1 rectangles
with a pizza cutter and then fold those in half around the filling. The
square / rectangle method also means less gathering and re-rolling of
pasta scraps.

"sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio

> What I'd like to do this time is cut out circles, fill it, fold the>
> circle in half and seal.

Those are mezzolune or agnolotti. Stuffed pastas can be a sort of zen
thing. There IS a difference from homemade to storebought.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> it's ready to go.

I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
One of these day I'll get around to it.

Mark Thorson wrote:
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
> >
> > FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> > savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> > make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> > it's ready to go.
>
> I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
> but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
> One of these day I'll get around to it.

You need to compare fresh homemade pasta with the fresh refrigerated
pasta in the grocery store when comparing the cost, not with dried
pasta. Comparing fresh pasta with dried pasta is a bit like comparing a
steak with a hamburger.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:41:02 -0700, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
> but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
> One of these day I'll get around to it.

Uh, oh.... that *could* be me! I need to do it at least once before a
week is gone.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:
>
> On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:41:02 -0700, Mark Thorson >
> wrote:
>
> > I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
> > but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
> > One of these days I'll get around to it.
>
> Uh, oh.... that *could* be me! I need to do it at least once before a
> week is gone.

No, it'll always be there. You can let it slide
to next week. Or the week after. Or 2011 or 2012.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:32:40 -0700, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> sf wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:41:02 -0700, Mark Thorson >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
> > > but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
> > > One of these days I'll get around to it.
> >
> > Uh, oh.... that *could* be me! I need to do it at least once before a
> > week is gone.
>
> No, it'll always be there. You can let it slide
> to next week. Or the week after. Or 2011 or 2012.

<grin> I see why you're the king of procrastination!

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

"Mark Thorson" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
>> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
>> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
>> it's ready to go.
>
> I agree plain pasta would be a waste of time,
> but I bought my machine for making ravioli.
> One of these day I'll get around to it.

Bite your tongue! Y'all are just a bunch of slow motion amateurs and once
you have some experience you can make egg pasta without problems in a flash.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> sf wrote:
> > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > it.
> >
> > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > me some pointers.
> >
>
> I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
> it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.
>
> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> it's ready to go.


Store-bought pasta isn't fresh pasta. Even the refrigerated stuff has
been sitting around for days. With practise, it goes fairly quickly. The
pasta can be made while the sauce is cooking and the water is brought to
the boil. It also freezes well, when wrapped properly.

It's not always about the cost.

On 8/4/2010 8:20 PM, Arri London wrote:
>
>
> Dave Smith wrote:
>>
>> sf wrote:
>>> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
>>> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
>>> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
>>> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
>>> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
>>> it.
>>>
>>> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
>>> me some pointers.
>>>
>>
>> I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
>> it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.
>>
>> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
>> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
>> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
>> it's ready to go.
>
>
> Store-bought pasta isn't fresh pasta. Even the refrigerated stuff has
> been sitting around for days. With practise, it goes fairly quickly. The
> pasta can be made while the sauce is cooking and the water is brought to
> the boil. It also freezes well, when wrapped properly.
>
> It's not always about the cost.

But can someone identify which is which in a double-blind test?

"J. Clarke" wrote:
>
> On 8/4/2010 8:20 PM, Arri London wrote:
> >
> >
> > Dave Smith wrote:
> >>
> >> sf wrote:
> >>> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> >>> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> >>> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> >>> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> >>> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> >>> it.
> >>>
> >>> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> >>> me some pointers.
> >>>
> >>
> >> I was surprised to see that in the instructions for my machine too, bu
> >> it wasn't a problem. It cleaned up easily.
> >>
> >> FWIW..... store bought pasta is a bargain. There is no great financial
> >> savings to making your own pasta and you're looking at 45 minutes to
> >> make a small batch of pasta. You can probably more pasta for less, and
> >> it's ready to go.
> >
> >
> > Store-bought pasta isn't fresh pasta. Even the refrigerated stuff has
> > been sitting around for days. With practise, it goes fairly quickly. The
> > pasta can be made while the sauce is cooking and the water is brought to
> > the boil. It also freezes well, when wrapped properly.
> >
> > It's not always about the cost.
>
> But can someone identify which is which in a double-blind test?


Would think so. Most people can tell fresh from stale.

Arri London > wrote:

>"J. Clarke" wrote:

>> On 8/4/2010 8:20 PM, Arri London wrote:

>> > Store-bought pasta isn't fresh pasta. Even the refrigerated stuff has
>> > been sitting around for days. With practise, it goes fairly quickly. The
>> > pasta can be made while the sauce is cooking and the water is brought to
>> > the boil. It also freezes well, when wrapped properly.

>> > It's not always about the cost.

>> But can someone identify which is which in a double-blind test?

>Would think so. Most people can tell fresh from stale.

In my lexicon, anything that isn't dried pasta is fresh pasta
unless it has gone stale. Different fresh pastas have different
shelf lives. If you buy is direct from a pastificio it's
about as fresh as you can get. You're right that some grocery
store types are verging on dried but they should not be stale.
They are simply less moist.

Among fresh pasta, there are also major distinction between egg
and eggless, and extruded vs. flat-sheet. I can buy any of the
above locally. Egg-free, whole-wheat, yet fresh penne rigate
is one of my favorites, and I have yet to run across anyone
who has figured out how to make it at home.

The bottom line is you can roll your own but specialist shops
exist for a reason. Home-made pasta is not automatically better
than what is available retail. Depending on location of course;
in my area, only particularly skillful home pasta-makers are able
to outperform what one can readily buy retail.


Steve

"Arri London" > ha scritto nel messaggio >
>
> "J. Clarke" wrote:

>> But can someone identify which is which in a double-blind test?
>
>
> Would think so. Most people can tell fresh from stale.

Of course I can. I can even tell Amelia's homemade from Olga's homemade,
although they use the same technique.

sf wrote:
>
> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> it.
>
> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> me some pointers.
>
> --
>
> Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

Correct, use absolutely no water on the roller type pasta machines (as
opposed to extruder type), or they will rust badly. The machine is
provided with a brush to brush the crumbs off after they have dried.
Occasionally you may need to use a butter knife or similar to dislodge a
digger crumb stuck at the edge of the rollers.

You add flour to the dough as you work it, so it should never be
particularly soft or sticky and stick to the rollers. Your pasta dough
should not be a soft cohesive dough when you go to roll it, if it is it
has way too much liquid in it. The dough should start out clumpy and
crumbly and after a few passes through the rollers at their widest
setting it should begin to hold together. Roll and fold repeatedly,
dusting with flour as the outside starts to get tacky and the dough will
begin to smooth out. Take the dough down a few steps towards the final
thickness, dusting with flour as needed and then let it rest a little
while to relax. Roll to final thickness after resting and then run
through the cutter rollers, manually cut, or use in full sheets for
lasagna as needed.

It helps to have a second set of hands available to crank the machine
and handle the dough. The Kitchenaid pasta roller accessory for the
mixer is very handy if working solo. FYI, the Kitchenaid accessory is
made in Italy as is the Atlas manual machine.

On Aug 4, 1:34*pm, "Pete C." > wrote:
> sf wrote:
>
> > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. *OK, I can understand
> > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > sink. *Is this normal? *I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > it.
>
> > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > me some pointers.
>
> > --
>
> > Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.
>
> Correct, use absolutely no water on the roller type pasta machines (as
> opposed to extruder type), or they will rust badly. The machine is
> provided with a brush to brush the crumbs off after they have dried.
> Occasionally you may need to use a butter knife or similar to dislodge a
> digger crumb stuck at the edge of the rollers.
>
> You add flour to the dough as you work it, so it should never be
> particularly soft or sticky and stick to the rollers. Your pasta dough
> should not be a soft cohesive dough when you go to roll it, if it is it
> has way too much liquid in it. The dough should start out clumpy and
> crumbly and after a few passes through the rollers at their widest
> setting it should begin to hold together. Roll and fold repeatedly,
> dusting with flour as the outside starts to get tacky and the dough will
> begin to smooth out. Take the dough down a few steps towards the final
> thickness, dusting with flour as needed and then let it rest a little
> while to relax. Roll to final thickness after resting and then run
> through the cutter rollers, manually cut, or use in full sheets for
> lasagna as needed.
>
> It helps to have a second set of hands available to crank the machine
> and handle the dough. The Kitchenaid pasta roller accessory for the
> mixer is very handy if working solo. FYI, the Kitchenaid accessory is
> made in Italy as is the Atlas manual machine.

You can also run a sheet of paper through the cutter if something is
stuck in there.

In a previous house, I used to use my pasta machine regularly. In the
place I'm in now, there's no easy place to set it up in the kitchen,
so I don't use it as often.

That said, I mixed up the dough, kneaded it, and let it rest. Then I
started rolling. There was never any clumpy or crumbly parts if it's
properly kneaded. You do need to use a lot of extra flour.

Susan B.

On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 14:40:17 -0700 (PDT), sueb >
wrote:

> On Aug 4, 1:34*pm, "Pete C." > wrote:
> > sf wrote:
> >
> > > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. *OK, I can understand
> > > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > > sink. *Is this normal? *I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > > it.
> >
> > > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > > me some pointers.
> >
> >
> > Correct, use absolutely no water on the roller type pasta machines (as
> > opposed to extruder type), or they will rust badly. The machine is
> > provided with a brush to brush the crumbs off after they have dried.
> > Occasionally you may need to use a butter knife or similar to dislodge a
> > digger crumb stuck at the edge of the rollers.

My pasta machine is a cheap one, so no brush. I have a pointy one
that I can use though. Thanks for the tip.
> >
> > You add flour to the dough as you work it, so it should never be
> > particularly soft or sticky and stick to the rollers. Your pasta dough
> > should not be a soft cohesive dough when you go to roll it, if it is it
> > has way too much liquid in it. The dough should start out clumpy and
> > crumbly and after a few passes through the rollers at their widest
> > setting it should begin to hold together. Roll and fold repeatedly,
> > dusting with flour as the outside starts to get tacky and the dough will
> > begin to smooth out. Take the dough down a few steps towards the final
> > thickness, dusting with flour as needed and then let it rest a little
> > while to relax. Roll to final thickness after resting and then run
> > through the cutter rollers, manually cut, or use in full sheets for
> > lasagna as needed.
> >
> > It helps to have a second set of hands available to crank the machine
> > and handle the dough. The Kitchenaid pasta roller accessory for the
> > mixer is very handy if working solo. FYI, the Kitchenaid accessory is
> > made in Italy as is the Atlas manual machine.
>
> You can also run a sheet of paper through the cutter if something is
> stuck in there.
>
> In a previous house, I used to use my pasta machine regularly. In the
> place I'm in now, there's no easy place to set it up in the kitchen,
> so I don't use it as often.
>
> That said, I mixed up the dough, kneaded it, and let it rest. Then I
> started rolling. There was never any clumpy or crumbly parts if it's
> properly kneaded. You do need to use a lot of extra flour.
>

Thanks to both of you! Did you use semolina or stick with all purpose
flour?


--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:
>
> On Wed, 4 Aug 2010 14:40:17 -0700 (PDT), sueb >
> wrote:
>
> > On Aug 4, 1:34 pm, "Pete C." > wrote:
> > > sf wrote:
> > >
> > > > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > > > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > > > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> > > > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > > > sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > > > it.
> > >
> > > > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > > > me some pointers.
> > >
> > >
> > > Correct, use absolutely no water on the roller type pasta machines (as
> > > opposed to extruder type), or they will rust badly. The machine is
> > > provided with a brush to brush the crumbs off after they have dried.
> > > Occasionally you may need to use a butter knife or similar to dislodge a
> > > digger crumb stuck at the edge of the rollers.
>
> My pasta machine is a cheap one, so no brush. I have a pointy one
> that I can use though. Thanks for the tip.
> > >
> > > You add flour to the dough as you work it, so it should never be
> > > particularly soft or sticky and stick to the rollers. Your pasta dough
> > > should not be a soft cohesive dough when you go to roll it, if it is it
> > > has way too much liquid in it. The dough should start out clumpy and
> > > crumbly and after a few passes through the rollers at their widest
> > > setting it should begin to hold together. Roll and fold repeatedly,
> > > dusting with flour as the outside starts to get tacky and the dough will
> > > begin to smooth out. Take the dough down a few steps towards the final
> > > thickness, dusting with flour as needed and then let it rest a little
> > > while to relax. Roll to final thickness after resting and then run
> > > through the cutter rollers, manually cut, or use in full sheets for
> > > lasagna as needed.
> > >
> > > It helps to have a second set of hands available to crank the machine
> > > and handle the dough. The Kitchenaid pasta roller accessory for the
> > > mixer is very handy if working solo. FYI, the Kitchenaid accessory is
> > > made in Italy as is the Atlas manual machine.
> >
> > You can also run a sheet of paper through the cutter if something is
> > stuck in there.
> >
> > In a previous house, I used to use my pasta machine regularly. In the
> > place I'm in now, there's no easy place to set it up in the kitchen,
> > so I don't use it as often.
> >
> > That said, I mixed up the dough, kneaded it, and let it rest. Then I
> > started rolling. There was never any clumpy or crumbly parts if it's
> > properly kneaded. You do need to use a lot of extra flour.
> >
>
> Thanks to both of you! Did you use semolina or stick with all purpose
> flour?

I use all purpose. I tried semolina a few times, but didn't find enough
difference to bother restocking when the small bag ran out.

What's more fun is to add stuff like spinach or sun dried tomatoes to
the pasta to get both color and flavor. In the dried color pasta there
isn't really any flavor, just color, but with fresh made you can
actually get some flavor too.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:01:19 -0500, "Pete C." >
wrote:

> I use all purpose. I tried semolina a few times, but didn't find enough
> difference to bother restocking when the small bag ran out.

OK, thanks... I won't hold off until I buy semolina then.
>
> What's more fun is to add stuff like spinach or sun dried tomatoes to
> the pasta to get both color and flavor. In the dried color pasta there
> isn't really any flavor, just color, but with fresh made you can
> actually get some flavor too.

My first dough will be plain, but I want to branch out after that.
Thanks.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

"sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio > On Wed, 4 Aug 2010
14:40:17 -0700 (PDT),

Did you use semolina or stick with all purpose
> flour?

I use all purpose type for egg pasta and semolina for no egg pasta. I
recommend you wait on no egg until you can make egg pasta in a flash.

On Thu, 5 Aug 2010 16:04:05 +0200, "Giusi" > wrote:

>
> "sf" > ha scritto nel messaggio > On Wed, 4 Aug 2010
> 14:40:17 -0700 (PDT),
>
> Did you use semolina or stick with all purpose
> > flour?
>
> I use all purpose type for egg pasta and semolina for no egg pasta. I
> recommend you wait on no egg until you can make egg pasta in a flash.
>
No problem! My intention was to make the egg type anyway. At
least now I know when using semolina is appropriate.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On 8/4/2010 10:08 AM, sf wrote:
>
> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> it.
>
> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> me some pointers.
>

I bought one recently at Ross for about $12. I used to be into making
pasta years ago and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane. I must
be too old because I found it tedious and not a whole lot of fun.
Anyway, don't worry about washing as mostly, it just gets flour on the
unit that you can just dust off or wipe with a dry towel. It's probably
the easiest kitchen tool to clean after using that will look good for
many years - unless you get it wet.

dsi1 wrote:
>
> On 8/4/2010 10:08 AM, sf wrote:
> >
> > I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> > it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> > me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> > not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> > sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> > it.
> >
> > I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> > me some pointers.
> >
>
> I bought one recently at Ross for about $12. I used to be into making
> pasta years ago and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane. I must
> be too old because I found it tedious and not a whole lot of fun.
> Anyway, don't worry about washing as mostly, it just gets flour on the
> unit that you can just dust off or wipe with a dry towel. It's probably
> the easiest kitchen tool to clean after using that will look good for
> many years - unless you get it wet.

I've had an Atlas Pasta Queen hand crank machine for a long time, and
I'd dig it out when I needed to make lasagna or something for company.
More recently I ended up with the Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment set
(freebie from work) and it's so much easier having both hands free to
handle the pasta that I use it more frequently. If you have a helper to
crank the other machine it probably doesn't matter much.

I'll also put in a plug for the Villaware BeeBo Cavatelli maker, it
sounds like an infomercial thing, but it works beautifully. If you can
find one get it, you'll love it.

On 8/4/2010 2:06 PM, Pete C. wrote:
>
> dsi1 wrote:
>>
>> On 8/4/2010 10:08 AM, sf wrote:
>>>
>>> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
>>> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
>>> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
>>> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
>>> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
>>> it.
>>>
>>> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
>>> me some pointers.
>>>
>>
>> I bought one recently at Ross for about $12. I used to be into making
>> pasta years ago and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane. I must
>> be too old because I found it tedious and not a whole lot of fun.
>> Anyway, don't worry about washing as mostly, it just gets flour on the
>> unit that you can just dust off or wipe with a dry towel. It's probably
>> the easiest kitchen tool to clean after using that will look good for
>> many years - unless you get it wet.
>
> I've had an Atlas Pasta Queen hand crank machine for a long time, and
> I'd dig it out when I needed to make lasagna or something for company.
> More recently I ended up with the Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment set
> (freebie from work) and it's so much easier having both hands free to
> handle the pasta that I use it more frequently. If you have a helper to
> crank the other machine it probably doesn't matter much.
>
> I'll also put in a plug for the Villaware BeeBo Cavatelli maker, it
> sounds like an infomercial thing, but it works beautifully. If you can
> find one get it, you'll love it.

Sounds good, I'll have get the pasta machine out and make ravioli - I'm
thinking something with anchovies in it. OTOH, I could just roll out
pizza dough and make thin pizza squares with anchovies - that could be
tasty. :-)

dsi1 wrote:
>
> On 8/4/2010 2:06 PM, Pete C. wrote:
> >
> > dsi1 wrote:
> >>
> >> On 8/4/2010 10:08 AM, sf wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> >>> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> >>> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> >>> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> >>> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> >>> it.
> >>>
> >>> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> >>> me some pointers.
> >>>
> >>
> >> I bought one recently at Ross for about $12. I used to be into making
> >> pasta years ago and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane. I must
> >> be too old because I found it tedious and not a whole lot of fun.
> >> Anyway, don't worry about washing as mostly, it just gets flour on the
> >> unit that you can just dust off or wipe with a dry towel. It's probably
> >> the easiest kitchen tool to clean after using that will look good for
> >> many years - unless you get it wet.
> >
> > I've had an Atlas Pasta Queen hand crank machine for a long time, and
> > I'd dig it out when I needed to make lasagna or something for company.
> > More recently I ended up with the Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment set
> > (freebie from work) and it's so much easier having both hands free to
> > handle the pasta that I use it more frequently. If you have a helper to
> > crank the other machine it probably doesn't matter much.
> >
> > I'll also put in a plug for the Villaware BeeBo Cavatelli maker, it
> > sounds like an infomercial thing, but it works beautifully. If you can
> > find one get it, you'll love it.
>
> Sounds good, I'll have get the pasta machine out and make ravioli - I'm
> thinking something with anchovies in it. OTOH, I could just roll out
> pizza dough and make thin pizza squares with anchovies - that could be
> tasty. :-)

Pizza dough run through the wide fettucini cutter would probably make
nice thin breadsticks if you gave it a few min to rise after cutting and
before baking.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:06:50 -0500, "Pete C." >
wrote:

> I'll also put in a plug for the Villaware BeeBo Cavatelli maker, it
> sounds like an infomercial thing, but it works beautifully. If you can
> find one get it, you'll love it.

I like that pasta when I buy it dried.

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:10:51 -1000, dsi1 > wrote:

> I bought one recently at Ross for about $12.

Wow! Either you hit a good sale or you saved a lot on postage from
China. Mine cost more than that.

> I used to be into making
> pasta years ago and thought I'd take a stroll down memory lane. I must
> be too old because I found it tedious and not a whole lot of fun.

I'm hoping if nothing else, it will be a fun thing to do a few times
with my grandson.

> Anyway, don't worry about washing as mostly, it just gets flour on the
> unit that you can just dust off or wipe with a dry towel. It's probably
> the easiest kitchen tool to clean after using that will look good for
> many years - unless you get it wet.

Thanks for the reassurance!

--

Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

sf wrote:
>
> I found one at a good price at Ross (baby steps - find out if I like
> it before making an investment), but the instruction manual surprised
> me by saying not to use any water on the unit. OK, I can understand
> not putting it in the dishwasher, but not even hand washing in the
> sink. Is this normal? I can't visualize pasta dough not sticking to
> it.
>
> I'm sure my dough will not be perfect to begin with, but JL is giving
> me some pointers.
>
>

Our pasta machine also says no water. Wipe it down with a damp paper
towel and wipe dry. Brush any crumbs out of it the next time it's used.
A *slight* dusting of flour on the dough will help with sticking.

Don't know why one can't be designed to come apart for real cleaning.