Is there any sense in the pasta maker?

[petty]

I am trying to decide if I need this kitchen device or not(
Does it save your family budget? For example, my family like pasta very much and I cook different dishes with pasta every other day(

I read a lot of positive reviews about the Philips pasta maker, but it is a little bit expensive for me. My budget is about 150$. Share your experience, please!

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by petty (log)

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, petty said:

I am trying to decide if I need this kitchen gadget or not(

I read a lot of positive reviews about Philips pasta maker, but it is a little bit expensive for me. My budget is about 150$. Share your experience, please!

 

 Without a little bit more information I'm not sure that anyone can give you useful information.   Are you making pasta occasionally for your family? Then it seems a little bit of overkill. Are you running a restaurant? That requires a different answer.  

[petty]

No

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Without a little bit more information I'm not sure that anyone can give you useful information.   Are you making pasta occasionally for your family? Then it seems a little bit of overkill. Are you running a restaurant? That requires a different answer.  

I added some information to my question)
No, it's only for my family needs)

Now i think that my family is a little bit crazy)))

Edited March 21, 2016 by petty (log)

[Deryn]

I have one but can't really give you a decent review. It is, in fact, still waiting to be used (after being purchased a few months ago). Got caught up in trying to figure out what to add (kansui-wise) to make fresh ramen noodles in it and never actually got around to making them. I am however fairly sure that for some people under some family circumstances, it is a decent machine. What I mean by that is if you have early teen kids and they want to have fun making their own noodles (I think it is fairly fast and foolproof) or if you want to have your own fresh noodles regularly but don't want the mess of doing all that on the counter, etc. It certainly is solidly constructed.

 

I decided I also need the other set of disks though - and I am worried that ramen noodles may not work that well because one cannot rest the dough between mixing and extruding. And I am fairly sure that one must follow the recipes/instructions pretty closely as the texture depends on exact measurements. For me, that may not be ideal (though at the time I bought it I thought perhaps I could mend my ways in that respect).

 

Will let you know if I actually use it, what I really think about it.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Deryn (log)

[gfweb]

If cost savings are the goal, I don't think that this will net you much in the way of savings.

And its more work and messy.

 

But if you like fooling around with cooking, you can have some fun with it.

 

You can probably find one cheap at a second hand shop or garage sale.

 

And pasta can be made with a $10 rolling pin and a knife, just like every Italian grandmother does.

Edited March 21, 2016 by gfweb (log)

[rotuts]

if you like fresh pasta, and enjoy that as a hobby, then the crank models are very nice.  I noted there is an atlas

 

w a detachable motor.  that might be in your budget.  if its well reviewed, think of the motor as your third hand.

 

I used to make 'crank' fresh pasta on the weekends as a hobby and enjoyed it.  I also made all sorts of ravioli w the flat sheets.

 

then a  fresh pasta place near me opened and it was a clone from the same family that had the same shop in the Boston North End that I used

 

to frequent so my home made fresh pasta became bought.

 

so  its more of a 'Calling' that you enjoy, and can expand upon which you cannot do with purchased pastas.

 

spinach pastas, etc.

[Tere]

I am not sure I would bother with automated, personally. But then hubby and I quite like the teamwork. I make the pasta dough (and freeze in small batches, enough for two people). He likes rolling the pasta out and usually gets on with that while I'm fiddling about with the sauce.

 

I have this http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12417/Pasta-Machine?gclid=CIu5tO-i0ssCFcSRGwod-UEHNg&src=gpkit&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!110071140851!e!!g!!lakeland%20pasta%20machine&ef_id=Vt8pDgAAALE9iRM7:20160321171054:s and the manual ones are IMO very easy to use. It's probably worth our while having that rather than using the rolling pin I think.

[Tri2Cook]

I have an Atlas hand-cranked model. I keep saying I'm going to invest in a motor for it, it's a bit of a pain to do some things with the hand-cranked version without an extra pair of hands, but then I tell myself I really don't use it that often and put it off. The next time I decide to use it, I grumble and grump about getting a motor for it the entire time I'm using it and the circle continues.

[rotuts]

if you got the motor, and had a convenient place for it all

 

Im sure you would use it more often

 

I would

[Lisa Shock]

I rarely pull out my Atlas. I wind up using my rolling pin, or other tools, to make non-machine shapes.

[kbjesq]

The funny thing is that when I moved from New England to Florida many years ago, only the hand crank of my Atlas pasta maker seemed to make the trip. So since then, I've used my grandmother's rolling pin and haven't missed the machine at all.  I still wonder what happened to it between here and New Hampshire, though.

[mgaretz]

If you have a KA mixer, get the pasta set for it.  I love mine.  Makes it very easy to make fresh pasta.  Having the motor lets you feed the dough with one hand and catch it with the other.  And unlike the motorized versions of the hand crank machines, the KA is up much higher and makes it easier to catch longer pieces.

 

 I do everything with the KA - mix the dough and make the noodles.  I can go from nothing to fresh pasta for two to four in 15 minutes or less, and that includes weighing the flour and cleaning up.

[rotuts]

I forgot all about the KA attachment  

 

Bravo !

[Barrytm]

Petty,  it is a shame that the phrase pasta machine means two entirely different things.  One use, which is the Phillips machine, you dump in flour and eggs, the machine mixes and kneads the dough, then extrudes it through a set of dies into different shapes.   I had one, it was very heavy, pretty loud, some of the dough would be left behind in the machine and not get extruded and took quite a bit of time to clean, so I gave it to a charity. Purists will say that unless you get one with metal dies, which cost a lot more money, the results will not be very good, though I thought the results were definitely satisfactory.  If you don't have that type of machine, you can mix the dough in a regular mixer, like the Kitchen Aid or better yet a food processor  ( extremely quick to make in a food processor ) and then you let it rest 20 or 30 minutes, and then you roll it out and cut it into the desired shape.  For the rolling out,  you can use a regular rolling pin -  and some semolina flour for dusting the board, and that works pretty quickly.  The other option is to buy what is referred to as a pasta machine or pasta maker -  Atlas and Imperia are two well known brands.  The machines are not as heavy as an extruder, but are very sturdy, and you clamp it to a surface, and run the dough through the machine a number of times, each time you adjust the rollers closer so the pasta gets thinner.  Then you put on an attachment which cuts the pasta into fettuccine, or spaghetti ,  or if you have different attachments, some other size.  The Atlas or Imperia can be fitted with an electric motor,  I have one and it does make the process much easier,  you can keep two hands free to feed the pasta through the rollers and retrieve it.  If you used a rolling pin to flatten the pasta into a big sheet,  it is pretty easy to cut into fettucine sizes, I haven't tried cutting it into spaghetti.   Even though I have the Atlas with the electric roller, I more commonly use a rolling pin, it takes about the same amount of time to roll it out, but a lot less time taking the machine out of a cabinet and putting it away when I am done.  Here is clip from Jamie Oliver making pasta with a food processor and a pasta roller machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upi5SkWXeBM

 

My advice is to ask around and see if someone you know has a pasta roller machine and ask to borrow it and try it a few times to see if you like it.  I am not a fan of an extruder machine for the reasons above.  If you don't have a food processor, your money would be better spent on that, because it can make pasta dough, dough for bread, and many other things.  BTW,  after you finish resting the pasta, warm it up in a microwave for a minute or so, it makes it much easier to roll out.  

 

[daveb]

Making homemade pasta to save money would be a lot like going fishing to save money.  It would take some funny math to make it work.  But if you like it.....

 

I've used both the KA attachment and the Atlas in home use, demonstrations and commercially for a restaurant.

 

In my experience the KA attachment is adequate for occasional home use.  Make the dough in the mixer, let it rest then roll it.  Best suited for laz  sized noodles.  The rav attachment is pitifully  undersized.  Noodle attachments are ok.   The one I used in demos and the one in restaurant  both broke with the sizing knob failing to lock in place.

 

The Atlas is considerably more robust.  16 students will use 4 motorized units every other week and they've  not killed one yet.  In the restaurant a motorized unit replaced the KA attachment and is still going strong knocking out approx 10 Kg of pasta/week.

 

If I were buying one for myself I would go for the Atlas.  With motor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lisa Shock]

There have been two extruder attachments for Kenwood mixers. I use mine occasionally. It's good for producing pasta quickly and in large volume.

[rotuts]

"""   Making homemade pasta to save money would be a lot like going fishing to save money ""

 

Enjoying making pasta is the key.  If you eat fresh pasta often, you will indeed save money over store bought fresh pasta.  its relatively expensive.

 

but without the enjoyment of the process, you'll do better over time with an Index Fund at a discount broker, like Vanguard.