Hand cranked pasta machine vs Kitchenaid attachment?

[catdaddy]

I've used both the hand-cranked Atlas and KA attachment in both home and professional kitchens. After a couple years of use the KA attachment broke in both places. Hand power is still in use at work (we make raviolis and fettucine every other day). Attachment hasn't been replaced because of the expense.

Personally I bought a new one for myself and the Atlas remains in the basement ready to use at a moments notice.

[Emily_R]

I love the KA attachment. And for situations where I really think the pasta benefits from irregularity (to me, this winds up being almost exclusively the noodles in chicken noodle soup), I just hand-roll them with a rolling pin.

[nickrey]

There are also a number of posts relevant to this discussion in this topic.

[ericthered]

I use both frequently, the KA at my house in town, the Atlas at my ski house. Pasta is the same from both (very good). The only differences are (1) noise (the KA is noisier than the hand cranked Atlast) and (2) time (the KA is much faster).

[Shalmanese]

I ended up getting just the kitchenaid roller (KPSA). I never liked the cutters on any machine I've owned and it's not that hard to cut by hand. I figure, if I really still want a cutter, it'd be cheaper to buy a hand cranked pasta machine just for the cutters than the KA attachment.

[Shalmanese]

After owning the Kitchenaid rollers for a few months, I have to say it's a great purchase. It's turned fresh pasta from an special occasion thing to an everyday ingredient. I've found myself not really using dried pasta anymore as fresh is almost as easy. I just form a fairly stiff dough sometime early in the day without kneading and let it hydrate, then run it through the rollers a couple of times to get it soft and supple.

[Mano]

For years, I've been extremely happy with the KA 3 roller set (tried hand cranked) but does anyone have experience with the KitchenAid KPEXTA Pasta Extruder? It's expensive and the great deals on ebay appear to be long gone.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Mano (log)

[mgaretz]

I saw a demo at Williams Sonoma. Pass.

[JAZ]

I haven't heard many positive reviews of the extruder.

[qrn]

I use the atlas for forming and three eggsand some salt and two cups of flour in the FP,to make the dough,then to the atlas,,(with the motor)

Bud