You can get various degree of thickness but possible type of noodle setting is only two kind. Linguini flat wide and spaghetti round. If you want more variety then you’ve got to buy their extra component which they promptly tout in the brochure that come together.
Tip:
before you flat them out knead very well and always start with the thickest set. That makes dough much smoother and also makes lot easier for you.
After you flat the dough, before you put it through the grid, make sure you put ‘a lot of’ flour on the dough. They tend to stick together when they come out. If you get a bunch of stuck together noodles, what’s the point, right?
It’s not machine’s fault, though.
One complaint : the handle tend to fall out and hammer your toe very easily. I don’t know how to improve it. They could’ve made it stayed more firmly but then wouldn’t that have made it difficult to put it(the handle) in and out?
This machine is already heavy enough so if you are making just a little noodle and don’t want to bother you don’t need to use the attach gear.
I’d say you’ll get what you want for the resonable price.
Can’t Clean It Rating:3 out of 5 stars It certainly made pasta pretty good, but you can’t clean it. The instructions say do not wash with water. After the first use, inevitably there was pasta stuck inside the machine – even though we used flour and everything to keep it from sticking. Those pieces dried and upon the next use they would mess up the new pasta going in. Some pieces were impossible to get out.
Finally, about the 3rd day we owned it we noticed that it started to rust on the blades of the cutters. So we returned it and are looking for one that is cleanable.
In addition, as noted by others, the handle doesn’t fit very securely and it does keep falling out. It wasn’t a deal-breaker though.
Nice pasta rolling machine Rating:4 out of 5 stars I haven’t had this very long but I’ve already used it to make flat pasta for home made ravioli. It worked well…rolling the pasta out as thin or thick as I wanted it. I haven’t used it yet for fettucini but the flat sheets came out great for ravioli. Since I have an old kitchen with an old counter, I wasn’t able to attach it to the counter. I had to use my kitchen table. No problem…it still works, but I’d rather use it on the counter.
MOST Excellent! Rating:5 out of 5 stars This pasta machine is easy to use – clean up is a snap and the price was right – what more could you ask for?? Oh, I have yet to have a problem with the handle falling out – it works great!
you get what you pay for Rating:2 out of 5 stars I spent a number of hours looking over what pasta maker I wanted, but ended up going with this one basically for the price and the few good reviews. I figured the bad reviews were just people who had flukes. I was wrong. This machine looks like most any other pasta maker, but the fettuccini and spaghetti attachment is flimsy and broke the second time I used it. Fortunately, I’m good with putting things back together and was able to figure out what broke and put it all back together. However, it shouldn’t have broken in the first place. The biggest problem is that it’s only held together with 2 screws.
Be sure to run a batch of pasta through it multiple times before your first true use to get all the grease out. I’m glad I knew enough to do that. There was plenty of grease.
The rollers on my machine aren’t lined up properly. The side closest to the thickness dial is closer than the side closest to the handle so it rolls the sheets of pasta out unevenly.
Be sure that your coat your pasta with a thin layer of flour so it rolls nicely. Also, the cutter doesn’t cut all the way through, so I spent a long time separating the individual noodles from each other.
All said and done, it was a pain to do, but the end result was a very yummy dinner, even though it took me two tries to get it right.
Great Machine Rating:5 out of 5 stars I don’t ordinarily write reviews but I felt compelled to share my experience with this machine with anyone looking to purchase a manual pasta machine. First off I am a Chef and restaurant owner and in years past have worked with a couple of pasta machines. In my opinion this little machine for the money is GREAT!. So far I’ve made approximately 10lbs of pasta and the finished product has been amazing. I’m looking forward to creating many more Specials with this machine.
You’re kidding, right? Rating:1 out of 5 stars I will be brief, and brutally honest. This machine was purchased to resolve an illness/handicap with my mother. Her arthritis has gotten worse in her hands/elbow and I felt that a machine could help her with the custom holiday cooking.
From the pictures, the machine is actually tiny. Ofcourse it mentions “6 inches”, but I would have imagined a more ‘robust” appliance. It is built cheaply, and I am not sure if shipping made it slanted (like it was hit slightly).
I took others recommendations here to get the motor attachment (noisy, confusing instructions to attach, and wobbles like the gearing inside isn’t aligned).
I am afraid to allow my 80+ yr old mother to try this machine so like a good son, I will make the dough and pasta for her. Atleast when this machine breaks (and it will), it was not more than $50 (with attachment and motor). For this holiday, my brother and father went ahead without her help and made the traditional ethnic foods.
I would love to see something heavier duty, wider (we all don’t just make noodles) and durable. And hey, you do get what you pay for.
(Kudos to Amazon Customer Service for taking back a duplicate order!)
Works good for the home chef Rating:4 out of 5 stars This machine works well. The price is GREAT (compared to the Atlas). Most important thing to remember, no matter what machine you are using, the dough must not be sticky. Yes, the handle does fall out when you are not paying attention, however I don’t know of any model that doesn’t fall out (even my mom’s 70′s era Atlas machine does that)
Good Product Rating:4 out of 5 stars I’m new to the pasta machine and I’m using it for polymer clay. Other than the handle falling off easily, it’s worked out quite well for what I need. The price is really good and it sure beats trying to roll by hand!!
cheap gears Rating:1 out of 5 stars I stripped the gears (for the rollers, not cutters) on this on the 3rd use. Total waste of my money. I know how to make pasta and use a pasta machine, if wimpy arms like mine can strip the gears, so can you. In good faith I called Pragotrade/ Weston to see if I could order new a gear but they will not sell them separately (I like fixing things instead of throwing them out).
Lesson: save the receipt or buy a more reputable brand, these are cheaply constructed.
Big improvement over doing it all by hand Rating:5 out of 5 stars I had made pasta a number of times in the past – rolled it out and cut it by hand. I didn’t think that a pasta machine would make much difference. I was so wrong. It is so much easier and also tastes better. I think the taste improvement is because the strands are now all standard and so everything gets done at the same time.
I did have a small problem with the pasta sticking together as it came out of the machine – which is easily solved by simply dropping some flour through the machine.
One problem is that it is a bit difficult to find a place to clamp the machine – the ledge on my kitchen counter just isn’t wide enough. I ended up clamping it to the kitchen table – a compromise I’m not entirely happy with.
I’m considering buying the lasagna add-on because 101 cookbooks has a recipe that sounds wonderful for completely homemade lasagna. Although, I suppose, I could just run the dough through the machine to the correct thinness and then cut it myself – but I really don’t like the cutting part, nor am I any good at it.
I glanced at the recipes that came with the machine – but then promptly misplaced it. So, I use whole wheat flour (1/2 cup or so), 1 egg and then add flour or water depending on which it needs. shrug – easy enough for one serving.
Good, dependable and wish I had other attachments Rating:5 out of 5 stars This product is quite nice. I used it as directed and made fettucine with absolute success. It would be lovely to have semolina flour but in my town no one carries it (and I am NOT ordering that via the Internet – freight is higher than the flour!). So, I used all-purpose (AP) flour. It workes lovely. Used the egg as well. I was sort of “Mr. Fumble Fingers” but it got easier as time went by. Hardest part was catching the cut fettucine.
If you are pondering buying this Italian made unit, go ahead. It is great value for the money. You should not regret the purchase. Makes lovely fettucine. One day I’ll try spaghetti.
Good, dependable and wish I had other attachments Rating:5 out of 5 stars This product is quite nice. I used it as directed and made fettucine with absolute success. It would be lovely to have semolina flour but in my town no one carries it (and I am NOT ordering that via the Internet – freight is higher than the flour!). So, I used all-purpose (AP) flour. It workes lovely. Used the egg as well. I was sort of “Mr. Fumble Fingers” but it got easier as time went by. Hardest part was catching the cut fettucine.
If you are pondering buying this Italian made unit, go ahead. It is great value for the money. You should not regret the purchase. Makes lovely fettucine. One day I’ll try spaghetti.
Great purchase. Rating:5 out of 5 stars I just bought one of these at a local store (it was the only model they carried) since I didn’t want to wait for shipping. I’ve used it twice now. Here are my impressions:
It’s built solid, and seems like a great value.
The clamp (which is removable) does its job very well. However, you may have to be creative in finding a place where you can actually clamp the thing and still use it. I clamped it to my slide-out cutting board.
It’s easy to adjust the thickness of the pasta. You just pull out the knob on the side, and turn it to the desired position (there are 8 settings, and they each “click” in to place).
The recipe/instruction book that comes with it really isn’t very good (at least from my 1 time trying a recipe from it). I followed the pasta recipe on there once and it turned out horribly (though it may have been because I was just using it for the first time). I found some great videos on youtube that demonstrate how to make pasta and had much better luck the second time around.
I made a batch of fresh spaghetti tonight, and it was absolutely to-die-for. Easily the best spaghetti I’ve ever had. The difference with fresh pasta is incredible. It’s like comparing stale bread to home-baked fresh bread. No comparison.
All in all I feel that this is a terrific purchase that met and exceeded my expectations. I’d easily buy this again and see no need to buy a more expensive model — this does the job perfectly.
pretty good
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It works.
You can get various degree of thickness but possible type of noodle setting is only two kind. Linguini flat wide and spaghetti round. If you want more variety then you’ve got to buy their extra component which they promptly tout in the brochure that come together.
Tip:
before you flat them out knead very well and always start with the thickest set. That makes dough much smoother and also makes lot easier for you.
After you flat the dough, before you put it through the grid, make sure you put ‘a lot of’ flour on the dough. They tend to stick together when they come out. If you get a bunch of stuck together noodles, what’s the point, right?
It’s not machine’s fault, though.
One complaint : the handle tend to fall out and hammer your toe very easily. I don’t know how to improve it. They could’ve made it stayed more firmly but then wouldn’t that have made it difficult to put it(the handle) in and out?
This machine is already heavy enough so if you are making just a little noodle and don’t want to bother you don’t need to use the attach gear.
I’d say you’ll get what you want for the resonable price.
Can’t Clean It
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It certainly made pasta pretty good, but you can’t clean it. The instructions say do not wash with water. After the first use, inevitably there was pasta stuck inside the machine – even though we used flour and everything to keep it from sticking. Those pieces dried and upon the next use they would mess up the new pasta going in. Some pieces were impossible to get out.
Finally, about the 3rd day we owned it we noticed that it started to rust on the blades of the cutters. So we returned it and are looking for one that is cleanable.
In addition, as noted by others, the handle doesn’t fit very securely and it does keep falling out. It wasn’t a deal-breaker though.
Nice pasta rolling machine
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I haven’t had this very long but I’ve already used it to make flat pasta for home made ravioli. It worked well…rolling the pasta out as thin or thick as I wanted it. I haven’t used it yet for fettucini but the flat sheets came out great for ravioli. Since I have an old kitchen with an old counter, I wasn’t able to attach it to the counter. I had to use my kitchen table. No problem…it still works, but I’d rather use it on the counter.
MOST Excellent!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This pasta machine is easy to use – clean up is a snap and the price was right – what more could you ask for?? Oh, I have yet to have a problem with the handle falling out – it works great!
you get what you pay for
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I spent a number of hours looking over what pasta maker I wanted, but ended up going with this one basically for the price and the few good reviews. I figured the bad reviews were just people who had flukes. I was wrong. This machine looks like most any other pasta maker, but the fettuccini and spaghetti attachment is flimsy and broke the second time I used it. Fortunately, I’m good with putting things back together and was able to figure out what broke and put it all back together. However, it shouldn’t have broken in the first place. The biggest problem is that it’s only held together with 2 screws.
Be sure to run a batch of pasta through it multiple times before your first true use to get all the grease out. I’m glad I knew enough to do that. There was plenty of grease.
The rollers on my machine aren’t lined up properly. The side closest to the thickness dial is closer than the side closest to the handle so it rolls the sheets of pasta out unevenly.
Be sure that your coat your pasta with a thin layer of flour so it rolls nicely. Also, the cutter doesn’t cut all the way through, so I spent a long time separating the individual noodles from each other.
All said and done, it was a pain to do, but the end result was a very yummy dinner, even though it took me two tries to get it right.
Great Machine
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I don’t ordinarily write reviews but I felt compelled to share my experience with this machine with anyone looking to purchase a manual pasta machine. First off I am a Chef and restaurant owner and in years past have worked with a couple of pasta machines. In my opinion this little machine for the money is GREAT!. So far I’ve made approximately 10lbs of pasta and the finished product has been amazing. I’m looking forward to creating many more Specials with this machine.
Wayne B Lyons
President
Soul Flavors Inc.
[...]
You’re kidding, right?
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I will be brief, and brutally honest. This machine was purchased to resolve an illness/handicap with my mother. Her arthritis has gotten worse in her hands/elbow and I felt that a machine could help her with the custom holiday cooking.
From the pictures, the machine is actually tiny. Ofcourse it mentions “6 inches”, but I would have imagined a more ‘robust” appliance. It is built cheaply, and I am not sure if shipping made it slanted (like it was hit slightly).
I took others recommendations here to get the motor attachment (noisy, confusing instructions to attach, and wobbles like the gearing inside isn’t aligned).
I am afraid to allow my 80+ yr old mother to try this machine so like a good son, I will make the dough and pasta for her. Atleast when this machine breaks (and it will), it was not more than $50 (with attachment and motor). For this holiday, my brother and father went ahead without her help and made the traditional ethnic foods.
I would love to see something heavier duty, wider (we all don’t just make noodles) and durable. And hey, you do get what you pay for.
(Kudos to Amazon Customer Service for taking back a duplicate order!)
Works good for the home chef
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This machine works well. The price is GREAT (compared to the Atlas). Most important thing to remember, no matter what machine you are using, the dough must not be sticky. Yes, the handle does fall out when you are not paying attention, however I don’t know of any model that doesn’t fall out (even my mom’s 70′s era Atlas machine does that)
Overall: great price for the home chef.
Good Product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’m new to the pasta machine and I’m using it for polymer clay. Other than the handle falling off easily, it’s worked out quite well for what I need. The price is really good and it sure beats trying to roll by hand!!
cheap gears
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I stripped the gears (for the rollers, not cutters) on this on the 3rd use. Total waste of my money. I know how to make pasta and use a pasta machine, if wimpy arms like mine can strip the gears, so can you. In good faith I called Pragotrade/ Weston to see if I could order new a gear but they will not sell them separately (I like fixing things instead of throwing them out).
Lesson: save the receipt or buy a more reputable brand, these are cheaply constructed.
Big improvement over doing it all by hand
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I had made pasta a number of times in the past – rolled it out and cut it by hand. I didn’t think that a pasta machine would make much difference. I was so wrong. It is so much easier and also tastes better. I think the taste improvement is because the strands are now all standard and so everything gets done at the same time.
I did have a small problem with the pasta sticking together as it came out of the machine – which is easily solved by simply dropping some flour through the machine.
One problem is that it is a bit difficult to find a place to clamp the machine – the ledge on my kitchen counter just isn’t wide enough. I ended up clamping it to the kitchen table – a compromise I’m not entirely happy with.
I’m considering buying the lasagna add-on because 101 cookbooks has a recipe that sounds wonderful for completely homemade lasagna. Although, I suppose, I could just run the dough through the machine to the correct thinness and then cut it myself – but I really don’t like the cutting part, nor am I any good at it.
I glanced at the recipes that came with the machine – but then promptly misplaced it. So, I use whole wheat flour (1/2 cup or so), 1 egg and then add flour or water depending on which it needs. shrug – easy enough for one serving.
Good, dependable and wish I had other attachments
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This product is quite nice. I used it as directed and made fettucine with absolute success. It would be lovely to have semolina flour but in my town no one carries it (and I am NOT ordering that via the Internet – freight is higher than the flour!). So, I used all-purpose (AP) flour. It workes lovely. Used the egg as well. I was sort of “Mr. Fumble Fingers” but it got easier as time went by. Hardest part was catching the cut fettucine.
If you are pondering buying this Italian made unit, go ahead. It is great value for the money. You should not regret the purchase. Makes lovely fettucine. One day I’ll try spaghetti.
Good, dependable and wish I had other attachments
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This product is quite nice. I used it as directed and made fettucine with absolute success. It would be lovely to have semolina flour but in my town no one carries it (and I am NOT ordering that via the Internet – freight is higher than the flour!). So, I used all-purpose (AP) flour. It workes lovely. Used the egg as well. I was sort of “Mr. Fumble Fingers” but it got easier as time went by. Hardest part was catching the cut fettucine.
If you are pondering buying this Italian made unit, go ahead. It is great value for the money. You should not regret the purchase. Makes lovely fettucine. One day I’ll try spaghetti.
Great purchase.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just bought one of these at a local store (it was the only model they carried) since I didn’t want to wait for shipping. I’ve used it twice now. Here are my impressions:
It’s built solid, and seems like a great value.
The clamp (which is removable) does its job very well. However, you may have to be creative in finding a place where you can actually clamp the thing and still use it. I clamped it to my slide-out cutting board.
It’s easy to adjust the thickness of the pasta. You just pull out the knob on the side, and turn it to the desired position (there are 8 settings, and they each “click” in to place).
The recipe/instruction book that comes with it really isn’t very good (at least from my 1 time trying a recipe from it). I followed the pasta recipe on there once and it turned out horribly (though it may have been because I was just using it for the first time). I found some great videos on youtube that demonstrate how to make pasta and had much better luck the second time around.
I made a batch of fresh spaghetti tonight, and it was absolutely to-die-for. Easily the best spaghetti I’ve ever had. The difference with fresh pasta is incredible. It’s like comparing stale bread to home-baked fresh bread. No comparison.
All in all I feel that this is a terrific purchase that met and exceeded my expectations. I’d easily buy this again and see no need to buy a more expensive model — this does the job perfectly.