Pasta Maker - Electric or Manual?

We use the KitchenAid stand mixer with the pasta roller attachment. The electric motor allows you to
feed with one hand and catch with the other. An experienced pasta maker can feed and crank, or catch
and crank successfully, but for a beginer you can't beat the motor. And, you don't get tired so you
do roll the pasta out adequately.

And, you can make the dough in the mixer first.

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Louis Cohen Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"

Bah! Humbug!

"contrapositive" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
berlin.de...

Quoted message said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm

not

Quoted message said:

finding as much information as I thought I could. I'm wondering,

primarily,

Quoted message said:

which is more practical: electric or manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any
features or attachments I should look for?

Avoid?

Quoted message said:

Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance.

-jk

Quite a few years back I received an electric pasta maker as a gift. I know it was not a cheap unit
because I returned it for a cash refund the day after its first use. We didn't even get a single
batch of pasta out of it. After we added the flour and water and turned the unit on it started to
knead the firm pasta dough. The firmness of the dough strained the gearing and within a couple of
minutes the unit stopped turning. When I opened up the case to look inside I was chagrined to see
that the entire drive train was composed of cheap plastic gears, one of which had stripped itself of
teeth and was now spinning freely. Certainly not worth repairing as it would only strip again in a
short time. I suppose this problem could be minimized by only making less dense doughs, but who
wants to worry if their dough is going to cost them a lot of dough when it breaks their machine?

I now hand knead my pasta dough and use an atlas hand crank machine for rolling and cutting it.

--Brian

"contrapositive" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
berlin.de...

Quoted message said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm

not

Quoted message said:

finding as much information as I thought I could. I'm wondering,

primarily,

Quoted message said:

which is more practical: electric or manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any
features or attachments I should look for?

Avoid?

Quoted message said:

Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance.

-jk

contrapositive said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm not finding as much
information as I thought I could. I'm wondering, primarily, which is more practical: electric
or manual.

Another vote for manual (Atlas style). I had an all-in-one electric and the performance was
substandard. With the powered extrusion machines you've got to watch the dough carefully - too
moist and you get glop, too dry and you get crumbles and will probably strip the gears as someone
else noted.

If you've got kids they'll help crank or catch, it's like a big playdoh fun factory.

Quoted message said:

What are the advantages of each?

AFAICT the consumer extrustion machines suck majorly and have no benefits.

The manual machines allow you to create a variety of pastas, especially wide noodles like lasagne,
or filled pasta like raviolis. Or different thicknesses.

Also, the electric mix-n-press aren't very forgiving on the dough and you can't make spinach,
garlic, or other types of noodles.

Also also you can buy a motor attachment for about $70 which replaces the handcrank. The few I've
looked at appear to have good (non-plastic) gear boxes.

Quoted message said:

Also, are there any features or attachments I should look for? Avoid?

Meh. My Atlas came with the ravioli press. It works, sorta, and it was free. If it hadn't of been I
don't think I'd have bought it. I'd say a basic Atlas with the noodle cutters (fettucine, linguine,
spaghetti and angel hair) is all you really need. You can buy aftermarket ravioli molds and if
you're into other types of filled pasta you'll be doing it by hand anway.

Quoted message said:

Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Atlas/Mercato(sp?) are the ones I've seen around here. I wouldn't bother going upscale, they're good
value, $30-40.

Best,

Marc

contrapositive said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm not finding as much
information as I thought I could. I'm wondering, primarily, which is more practical: electric or
manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any features or attachments I should look
for? Avoid? Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Another vote for the manual. They're pretty much all the same 'Atlas Marcato' style. Absent a
disaster, cleaning just involves dusting off. They come with a dual cutter for narrow or wide pasta,
and other cutters are available. As someone else has posted, you can buy an electric motor to do the
cranking. Manual operation doesn't exactly *require* 3 hands, but the extra one is helpful. I've
never used an extrusion machine, but have heard plenty of horror stories. Consider getting a drying
rack of some sort as a frill. I've been drying mine on a broomstick on 2 chair backs, but just got a
sort of 'spacesaver' thing like a mini-clothes drying pole which will be a lot easier than dodging
the chairs. :-)

contrapositive said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm not finding as much
information as I thought I could. I'm wondering, primarily, which is more practical: electric or
manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any features or attachments I should look
for? Avoid? Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance.

I have both types, an electric extruder and a manual roller-type, with an attachable motor.

The electric extruder s a Cuisinart, heavy in the extreme, and is definitely up to the task of
mixing and kneading stiff pasta dough. You can't go cheap with the extruder type and expect it to
knead the dough well or to last. I recently received it because the previous owners are moving; they
used to make really lovely spaghetti with it and I hope to do so as well, plus other types of pasta
with the many extruder dies.

If you only have one, the roller type is probably the best option. It's cheaper, it's simpler,
versatile, and better for small batches of pasta. I finally bought a motor for it about a year ago
and that is definitely the way to go. Not only does it free up both hands, but it eliminates the
need to clamp the machine to a surface. Because of the limited counter space I've had in all of my
kitchens, I could never find a secure and convenient place to clamp it.

Sue(tm) Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

"contrapositive" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm

not

Quoted message said:

finding as much information as I thought I could. I'm wondering,

primarily,

Quoted message said:

which is more practical: electric or manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any
features or attachments I should look for?

Avoid?

Quoted message said:

Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance.

-jk

The manual is fine if you are working with someone else. THe electric is better for working alone
because it leaves both hands free to handle the dough.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

This is all excellent info. Manual (Atlas) seems to be the way to go. Thanks!

"contrapositive" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
berlin.de...

Quoted message said:

Hi. Thinking of purchasing a pasta maker for my wife for Christmas. I'm

not

Quoted message said:

finding as much information as I thought I could. I'm wondering,

primarily,

Quoted message said:

which is more practical: electric or manual. What are the advantages of each? Also, are there any
features or attachments I should look for?

Avoid?

Quoted message said:

Any particular brands to look for or avoid?

Thanks in advance.

-jk

Brian said:

I now hand knead my pasta dough and use an atlas hand crank machine for rolling and cutting it.

--Brian

"contrapositive" <[email hidden]> wrote in message -"]news:[email hidden]-
berlin.de...

Quoted message said:

way to go brian! even if i still prefer hand made for the texture and i end up using often the hand
crank machine because is faster.

see this on my website. annamariavolpi.compage28.htmlOpen ↗

ciao, anna maria

www.annamariavolpi.com

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I now hand knead my pasta dough and use an atlas hand crank machine for rolling and cutting it.

--Brian

I got a motor for my Atlas hand crank. I find it way easier to make pasta. I can feed and catch the
dough easier and don't have to clamp the machine down. Previously I felt like I needed 3 hands for
pasta making.

--
And the beet goes on! (or under) -me just a while ago