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1. kc
   Member Profile

   I'm putting a pasta machine/maker on my x-mas list. Anyone know anything about brands? Anyone have one they love?

   Posted 2 years ago #         

2. FullTilt
   Member Profile

   

   Get the Atlas machine. The only one worth having. http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Original-Italian-Machine-Stainless/dp/B0009U5OSO

   Posted 2 years ago #         

3. kc
   Member Profile

   Well, there you go. Thank you Full Tilt! I can't wait!

   Posted 2 years ago #         

4. Kevin
   Member Profile

   Full Tilt is quite right. The Atlas is a great machine! A high quality, well built machine.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

5. MargL
   Member Profile

   I have an Atlas - the only issue I've had is the handle coming out when I get a little excited cranking away trying to finish the pasta quickly.
   If I had my Kitchenaid mixer before I'd gotten the Atlas I might have just gone with the mixer attachments. I used them at the old Culinary Communion Pasta class and they worked quite well.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

6. jwws
   Member Profile

   

   Agree with all posts - I've owned an Atlas for over 20 years but about 4 years ago hubby bought me the attachments for my Kitchenaid mixer - no more hand cranking and the pasta sheets fly through. My Atlas now has a purely decorative "roll" in my kitchen.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

7. dawsonct
   Member Profile

   Will you use it?
   I'm a cook and actually ENJOY the pasta-making process, and I can't remember the last time I used my Atlas. Fortunately, I inherited it from a friend who used it once, so it was free.
   -
   I'm not trying to be a buzz kill. I am a bit of a kitchen equipment junky, so it's more important to have equipment I never use than need equipment I don't possess. Given the choice, I would take the Kitchen-aide attachment. That hand-cranking gets tiresome fairly quickly.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

8. lazybeard
   Member Profile

   

   Jwws - How do you like the Kitchen Aid attachment? I was eye'ing it a few months ago.

   Posted 2 years ago #         

9. kc
   Member Profile

   to your point dawsonct - Isn't this machine just for rolling the dough once you've made it? I've been making simple egg noodle dough and rolling it out myself. I want homemade lasagna much more often than I feel like rolling out those long sheets of dough...

   Posted 2 years ago #         

10. Yardvark
    Member Profile

    

    Buy only what you'll use and buy it "used", kc. A "used" pasta machine has usually only been used once, whatever type it is.

    For my vote...I'm a Marcado man. Bought the pasta press plus spaghetti, fettucini, and ravioli cutters for $6 total at a yardsale. A new kitchenaid attachment setup will cost you well more than ten times that.

    I use my Marcado about once a month. For the price of the kitchenaid, you best be using it every day!

    Posted 2 years ago #         

11. jwws
    Member Profile

    

    Lazybeard,

    The Kitchen-aide is great. It's a lot faster than hand cranking and has an even thinner setting than my Atlas. Rolling and cutting is a breeze and the machine isn't moving on the board/counter like my Atlas hand crank did. Well worth the investment if you make homemade pasta often.

    Posted 2 years ago #         

12. dawsonct
    Member Profile

    KC, you can certainly hand-roll past sheets, cooks were doing it for centuries before any machine was made, and you will get a great workout, to boot. Producing noodles is as simple as rolling and slicing the sheet. You won't get perfectly uniform pasta, but there are lots of restaurants making a bunch of money off of the novelty of rough and hand-made pasta. Really, the only things a pasta machine offer are uniformity and ease.

    Posted 2 years ago #         

13. Crowe
    Member Profile

    

    I have an ATLAS, and have for nearly 20 years. Same machine. The lovely hand cranked one. A pasta machine, like the one I have certainly does not make the pasta for you. And rough pasta isn't a novelty. It's they way it was made originally in copper machines. A rough pasta gives texture and helps a sauce cling to the noodle. And I have never gotten uniformity when making my pasta with my machine. That's one of the nice things about it. You can make a thicker noodle, or very thin. And ease only comes with some experince. Hand made pasta gives you the ability to experiment, and make so many kinds. From lemon pasta with fresh cooked scallops, to pasta made with fresh sage leaves... Happy noodle making!

    Posted 2 years ago #         

14. dawsonct
    Member Profile

    Maybe I am the guilty party, Crowe, but I believe you have misinterpreted my verbiage. I am also not trying to discourage anyone from making their own pasta.

    Posted 2 years ago #         

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