If you're starting to make pasta at home and don't already have a pasta maker, you're going to start pining for one soon, we guarantee! With price tags often over the $100 mark, basic pasta makers can feel like a pretty big investment to most of us. Here are a few thoughts and bits of advice for when you (inevitably) start looking...
Kitchen Equipment: Choosing a Pasta Maker
The vast majority of pasta makers on the market are hand-crank models that clamp onto your table or counter top with a vice. The crank arm slips into a socket on the side of the machine and you turn it by hand to make the rollers do their thing. The distance between the rollers (and thus the thickness of your pasta) can be adjusted using a knob on the side of the machine.
Look for models that have stainless steel and all-metal parts, and that also have at least five different thickness settings. If you can, take the machine out of the box and try inserting the crank arm. It should fit snugly and the arm should be easy to turn. You should feel some resistance while turning, but it shouldn't take huge muscles or feel like the rollers are free-wheeling inside. Also, make sure you have a counter with a few inches of lip or a stable table where you will be able to set up the pasta maker.
There are dozens of hand-crank models on the market ranging in price from $25 to $150, which makes picking the "best" one feel like an impossible task. Atlas and Imperia models tend to get good reviews, though we haven't had the opportunity to try them ourselves. We personally own an older model Ampia Pasta Maker, which has worked great so far! Really, as long as you buy your model from a reputed dealer like Williams Sonoma or Sur la Table, you can feel pretty safe that you're buying a decent product.
In culinary school, we also had the pleasure of using the KitchenAid pasta attachment. If you already own a KitchenAid mixer and plan on making a lot of pasta in your future, we think this attachment is well worth the investment. The attachment fits right into the head of the mixer and the mixer's motor turns the pasta rollers, allowing you to use both hands when working with the pasta. As judged by the antics of novice chefs, it's very easy to use and can withstand extended use without jamming or breaking.
We don't know much about other mechanized counter top pasta rollers. Truthfully, a lot of the ones we've seen don't really impress us. They seem more geared toward selling an easy-to-use, touch-button product than making quality pasta.
What kind of pasta maker do you have...or wish you had?
• Atlas Pasta Machine (hand-cranked), $77.99 on Amazon.com
• KitchenAid Pasta Roller Attachments, $142.46 on Amazon.com
(Images: Flickr members kiloindiatango and -djd- licensed under Creative Commons)
Comments (12)
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I've been making ravioli this week by hand...but I have great plans to steal my mother's pasta maker next time I visit. I wonder what brand it is...
view Hanna's profile
Those prices seem high. I have the standard Imperia hand crank pasta maker and I paid $30-ish at Crate and Barrel for it. I bought the ravioli attachment at BB&B for under $20. It's a great machine. You really don't need to have the motor unless the pasta sheet gets really long and, if it does, you can always cut it.
Another great tip is to have a brush (clean paint brush or sauce brush) around to clean the pasta maker with. I've never actually submerged mine in water. I just use the brush to dust off the flower and then put it back in its box.
view caw261's profile
Okay, so here's my question. Should one happen to lose the vice portion that locks it onto the counter in a move, for example, where might that person procure a new one?
I am really tired of hand rolling.
view seidhr's profile
After using a kitchenaid attachment at my brother's house, my girlfriend and I wanted our own. Instead of waiting to find a good deal on a mixer and an attachment, we decided to look at craigslist. We picked up a hand-crank model (the same as in these pictures, I think) for $10 and it works like a charm. The knob to adjust thickness settings isn't indexed, so the pasta tends to push it open wider, but since making pasta is almost always a two person job it's not trouble to have one person hold the knob in place and crank while the other feeds the pasta through.
view ppolischuk's profile
siedhr -
Try this link. Scroll down to the "Altas Replacement Clamp". This place has it for 10.99 but you can prob get a better price on ebay.
http://www.fantes.com/pasta-makers.html
view caw261's profile
I only make noodles once in a blue moon, and my kitchen is already overflowing... but I might get a noodle cutter one day. It's a little tool like a pizza cutter but with several cutting wheels parallel. I found my Mom one in a thrift shop, but haven't yet landed one for me. I guess it's kind of esoteric.
view whytephoenix's profile
i have, on more than one occasion, found hand-crank models at Ross or TJ Maxx for $18 or less! thankfully, though, i have a Kitchen Aid attachment now and l-o-v-e it. :)
view amber77's profile
seidhr - you might also check in with a hardware store. They probably sell vices small enough for pasta makers for pretty cheap!
view EmmaC's profile
Try Ebay - I got an atlas with every attachment you could want for $50. I adore it and it works perfect.
view luv2cook's profile
I lucked up last month when I found an Atlas pasta machine at a thrift store for only $5! The box was total 70's complete with orange and yellow graphics and a thick layer of dust, but the pasta machine is in pristine condition. It looks like it has never been used.
I haven't made any pasta yet, but I'm extremely motivated to do so after all of these homemade pasta posts.
view Torrie's profile
I have a hand-cranked "Jumbo Handy Machine" (it's a Chinese version of the Atlas or Imperia style) that I've been using for years and it's great. It's all metal (except for a plastic grip on the handle and clamp) and quite hefty. It has 7 settings for thickness and 2 cutters (linguine, angel hair).
view angorian's profile
Hand cranked pasta is a very fun activity to do with house guests and kids.
view Charlotte's profile