When it comes to pasta, I call it the "ham logic". The story goes, a lady called her mom to get her ham recipe that everyone loved. One of the steps was cutting off the back of the ham. "Why do you do that?" asked the lady. Her mom said, "I don't know, I always did it that way because that's how your grandmother did it." So she called her grandmother who said, "I cut the back of the ham off because it didn't fit in my oven." And thaaat's how pasta habits are passed down. I'm surprised at the number of English speaking professional chefs who don't understand pasta. Here's answers to the specific questions: Gluten content: High or low? High gluten, generally. It's important to hold it together. But if using an egg dough, you can get away with avg gluten. 2 cups semolina to 1 cup King Arthur a/p flour to 1 cup of water is a perfect ratio. I don't like egg pasta because it's far too sticky and frustrating to work with. Plus, it has to be rolled extremely thin or it's rubbery.Finely milled vs normal: It's a personal preference. The ratio above produces a perfect pasta that's identical to all the pasta I've eaten on trips ItalyWheat vs Semolina: See ratio above. (Unless you're asking about whole-wheat - which I don't think has any place in pasta!)Hydration levels: See ratio aboveLiquid composition: Answered above. Never put oil in your pasta dough, it coats the flour molecules and keeps it from absorbing the liquid causing huge variations in outcome. If you feel like the dough needs oil, there's a problem with the ratio.Kneading level & technique: Is there a difference between incorporating via hand vs stand mixer vs food processor? Is there a difference between kneading by hand vs mixer? Can you over knead the dough? The difference between methods is just the amount of effort and time. Even when using the dough hook, you should still knead for a few minutes. You cannot over-knead pasta. If your pasta is "tough", it's because it's cut too thick (this is a very common problem when using egg pastas which is why I don't like them.)Machine folding: Many recipes advise you to repeatedly put the dough through the machine at the widest setting. Some say 3 times, 5 times, 10 times etc. Does putting it through more times help the dough? hurt the dough? Is there a point of diminishing returns? It doesn't hurt the dough, but it's only necessary with egg pasta dough because it has to be rolled extremely thin due to swelling 3 times its size. To get it that thin, you have to do it in stages so that it doesn't tear. If using eggless dough (macaroni), you don't have to roll it as thin so you can just put it through at the desired setting. I always run mine through three times at the desired setting (folding like an envelope each time), but this is just as a precaution to make sure the dough is perfectly consistent. It really isn't necessary, sometimes I skip it and run it through just once when I'm in a hurry.Salt: Some doughs contain salt and others do not. How does salting the dough vs salting the cooking water affect seasoning? Never put salt in the dough. You can't taste it and if you use iodized salt it causes the dough to turn gray in a few hours. Omit the salt and you can store the eggless dough for several days in the fridge before letting come to room temp and using. Also, needing to boil 2 gallons of water is a huge myth. This is explained and demonstrated in the link below.There are only two types of pasta dough: noodle (with eggs) and macaroni (no eggs). Different parts of Italy are actually known for different shapes of pasta, not different dough. Authentic pasta uses the correct type of dough that makes sense for the shape. Since noodle dough contains egg proteins it can handle floating in liquid for long periods of time and is used for soups and similar dishes. It swells to about 3 times its size during cooking which makes it an extremely poor choice for tube pastas. Since macaroni dough does not contain eggs, it doesn't swell much during cooking and is used for tube pastas. (Google the history for macaroni and cheese in the US. It's kind of interesting. It was the first pasta to become popular in the US and we called it "macaroni" not understanding that the Italians were calling it by the dough, not the shape. Universally now though, everyone knows what you mean when you say macaroni.) As for oil in water during cooking, I've never heard anything but "ham logic" reasons for doing it. But as other readers have pointed out, there is definitely a reason not to do it - your sauce won't stick to the pasta. I did a pretty detailed blog post and video with all of this, plus debunking the myths about how to properly cook pasta: http://christophercooks.blogspot.com/2013/12/authentic-homemade-pasta.html
