Pasta machine

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Pasta machine

Gratzi, Pdiff! I hear a lasagne calling my name...

[Pdiff]

Re: Pasta machine

Stan,

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try the egg-centric method. I have always placed my barely kneaded pasta dough in the refrigerator to rest and end up with a silky smooth, relaxed dough that I then knead as much flour into as needed. Looking forward to seeing the results of the room-temp rest.

John

Room temp resting is the way to go. I think it is similar to autolyse in bread making ... the gluten develops and the dough relaxes.

I only use the main sheet roller on my machine anymore. I used to use the linguine/spaghetti and ravioli attachments, but they were more hassle than help. Now I simply roll up the floured sheets and chiffonade for string noodles or layout sheets and hand make ravioli. Much less cleanup ;-) . The large sheets, down to setting 6, make great lasagna too.

Pdiff

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Pasta machine

Stan,

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try the egg-centric method. I have always placed my barely kneaded pasta dough in the refrigerator to rest and end up with a silky smooth, relaxed dough that I then knead as much flour into as needed. Looking forward to seeing the results of the room-temp rest.

John

[Stan]

Re: Pasta machine

I know this is a late response, but I wanted to chime in.

Your recipe is too wet. As previously mentioned, make pasta by the etto (100 grams of flour). In fact, you'll have even better luck making pasta by the egg. Simply use a handful of flour per egg, and then stir the eggs and a pinch of salt until the egg takes all the flour it needs to form a sticky dough.

Then, clear the excess flour and start kneading. There's really no better way to do this than by hand. The warmth from your hands helps loosen the dough. As you knead, keep incorporating flour until it's no longer sticky. It takes a while, but eventually the dough will stop sticking. It will be stiffer than pizza dough by an order of magnitude, but not so stiff that it's unworkable.

Knead until the dough takes on a soft, satiny sheen. It can take 10 minutes. It can take 20 minutes. Just keep going. After the dough gets that soft sheen, cover it and let it rest around 30 minutes.

After the rest, use your roller. Since you've already kneaded, you won't need to knead Just use a little bench flour to keep it from sticking, and roll through the casters to your desired thickness.

Regarding dough stiffness... The pastas I've seen made in places like Bologna and Modena are not stiff when kneaded; they're supple. These pastas are rolled with a long rolling pin (materello) and not pasta machines. I used to make my dough with a recipe, and it was quite stiff. After I learned to roll pasta in Emilia Romagna, I moved to the concept of letting the eggs dictate the recipe. All you need for soft, supple, extensible pasta dough are the best eggs you can find, AP flour, and a pinch of salt. It's the hand kneading that makes all the difference.

Stan

[egalecki]

Re: Pasta machine

Hey, which bit do you use for the drill? I did see a motor for the old girl, but a drill would be kinda fun...

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Pasta machine

I use my cordless drill to drive it, mostly in homage to Tim "the toolman" Taylor

hey christo, I find that funny because I've used my cordless to power whatever hand crank devices I have..... Now they all have the handles cut off so I can attach easily... Glad to know Im not the only Rube Goldberg/Tim the tool man

Mark

[dmun]

Re: Pasta machine

when rolling your pasta through the middle thicknesses of your machine, pinch the ends of your sheet together to make a complete loop (like a belt sander) and use your free hand to keep it aligned while you continue to crank. Saves from having to reload the machine each time.

What a great idea! I'm going to try that when I get the machine out again.

[christo]

Re: Pasta machine

I also have an older Atlas. I use my cordless drill to drive it, mostly in homage to Tim "the toolman" Taylor and to irritate my wife.

Homemade pasta night is always a good night.

Christo

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Pasta machine

David,

I've been making pasta on my Atlas for over twenty years and I still remember the first time I tried it only to come away with a dry, crumbling, frustrating mess. After a time, I learned that the smoothest pasta comes from flour, eggs, oil and salt (no water!). The proportions you use will vary depending on the flour, size of eggs and environmental conditions (heat, humidity). The real secret is once the dough is kneaded (you don't have to go overboard with this, just make it fairly homogeneous with no giant lumps) simply wrap it in plastic and place it in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes and go work on your sauce. When you retrieve it, the dough will be velvety-smooth and pliable as a wet noodle. You will find it clammy and accepting of however much flour you want to incorporate into it when cranking through the machine. By varying the amount of flour you 'press' into the dough you will be able to control the thickness and density or 'bite' of the finished pasta. I find the more rotations (and flour) you put the pasta through the higher the quality of the finished product. I always let my pasta hang dry for at least thirty minutes to rest. Fresh pasta cooks through in roughly three minutes, rises to the surface when cooked, and continues to cook after you've strained it out. Experience will teach you how to get the perfect 'al dente' pasta.

Last two items: cooked spinach incorporated into the egg pasta (use more flour to compensate for the added moisture) results in a seductively velvety and attractive sheet and when rolling your pasta through the middle thicknesses of your machine, pinch the ends of your sheet together to make a complete loop (like a belt sander) and use your free hand to keep it aligned while you continue to crank. Saves from having to reload the machine each time.

Bon Apetit,

John

[texassourdough]

Re: Pasta machine

One additional admonition dmun. Keep the dough stiff! It should not be particularly soft. And if it is at all stickly, use flour! Especially before the cutting!

And never wash the machine. It will rust easily. Clean it with a dry brush or by picking out the chunks of dough IF you have a disater with sticky stuff.

Good Luck!
Jay

[gvzepp]

Re: Pasta machine

Hi dmun,

I thought I would throw my 2 cents worth in because I make quite alot of pasta at home, though you've had some good tips already & most likely have it mastered by now ( but if you dont ).
Use room temp eggs only..and I use a simple recipe that works very well for me, 1 med - large egg per 100gms of plain flour, my batch is normally 4 eggs & 400gms of flour, mix in a bowl and turn out and knead on a floured bench just roughly mixed, then roll up into a log and cut into fist size pieces.

Then through the rollers 4-5 times on largest setting folding in half each time continuing on until all pieces are through the largest setting & lay each piece on the floured bench..and as stated in other posts continue through the smaller settings once until the desired thickness is reached. By this time it normally cuts pretty easy.

Good luck Brett...

[dmun]

Re: Pasta machine

Thanks for all the tips. I'll try this again when it isn't 90 degrees in the kitchen!

[jmhepworth]

Re: Pasta machine

It takes lots of kneading at the thickest setting before trying to thin it out. You can feel a difference in the dough when it is ready to change the settings. We recently bought the Kitchen Aid attachment to roll the dough. It's a lot faster (not to mention easier) than hand cranking.

[Chef]

Re: Pasta machine

I have this pasta maker as well; drying the dough as you roll it out is key. I use cornmeal or seimolina to sprinkle on the dough after each pass of the machine. I then place the dough strips on a wooden drying rack (the kind you would use to hang your cloths on) By the time you get to the last one the first one should be ready to go on a dry day. If it is a damp day you might want to give it more time.

When cutting the pasta we would put it in a cardboard box lined with was paper once again adding the cornmeal or seimolina. We would sometimes freeze the pasta right in the box or cookit right away.

Good luck

[EADavis]

Re: Pasta machine

One more comment - Alton Brown did a Good Eats episode on using a pasta machine that seemed to have some good tips.

http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season6/Noodle2/NoodleIITrans.htm