CucinaPro 177 Pasta Fresh Pasta Machine
by CucinaPro
Our Price: $29.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $27.59 (click here)
Category: Kitchen
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Product Summary
Manufacturer: CucinaProBrand: Cucina Pro
Model: 177
Product features:
- Makes fettuccini and spaghetti
- Made of a chrome coated steel
- Attachments sold separately
- Includes easy-to-follow directions and recipes to get your started
- Heavyweight chromed steel construction
- VillaWare V150-24 Imperia Noodle Machine Double Cutter Tagliatelle and Fettuccine Attachment
- VillaWare V515 Pasta Drying Rack
- VillaWare V150-06 Imperia Noodle Machine Spaghetti Attachment, 2mm
- Amco Pasta Fork
- Villaware Ravioli Maker - 12 Pockets
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of CucinaPro 177 Pasta Fresh Pasta Machine
Customer Review: good entry level pasta machine, great fun!
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this pasta machine 6 months ago, and I've used it at least once or twice a month ever since. I also bought one for my mother and taught her how to use it. This machine really just replaces a rolling pin and a big knife for cutting noodles (how my mom has been making hers).
A lot of people think fresh pasta is better than dried pasta... I disagree. They are just different types of pasta. Dried pasta give you a firmer bite, while fresh pastas are softer. Keep that in mind when you cook. Also, don't be limited to pasta making. I think of it as a better rolling pin, so I also use it to crank out wonton skins.
You should dry your pasta sheet a little before attempting to cut it, especially if you are going to cut them thin (like angel hair), so they don't stick to each other and form a lump. I usually catch the cut noodles in a bowl and mix more flour in to keep them from sticking to each other. You should let the noodles dry out a little bit more before cooking it.
A few words about making the dough: it will take you a while to get a feel of how firm your dough needs to be, to go through the machine smoothly. If the dough is too wet, it will stick to the machine; if it's too dry, your pasta sheet will break. But once you got it down, you can crank out noodles pretty fast. The key is you need to let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, so the flour can fully absorb the moisture.
I took the tip from Alton Brown (Good Eats), and set it up on a ironing board for my mother. This is genius! It's so much easier using an ironing board than trying to do this on a kitchen counter! And you can move it to other places if your kitchen is small.
Many people may complain about the inconvenience of the machine, because it really is easier to have two people working on it (one feeds pasta sheet in, one cranks the handle and guides the sheet coming out). But I make it into a fun little social event, my wife and I have a lot of fun making noodles together, and we have friends over to make noodles together too. It makes eating them later a lot more enjoyable too.
This machine is a little tricky to clean, I usually let it dry out a little, then use a brush (I use an old pastry brush) to clean it. There are lot of places where pasta pieces could get stuck, makes you wonder why they didn't improve the design. I also use a toothpick to clean the noodle cutting attachment. Don't bother with water, it only makes it harder to clean (flour + water = sticky goo on your pasta machine).
Pros:
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- Cheap
- Many attachments available (I like the angel hair one, makes great Asian noodles)
- A lot of fun to use (great to get family and friends involved)
- Much easier than rolling pin
- Stainless steel is nearly indestructable
- Fresh noodles taste great!
Cons:
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- Heavy, might be a problem to some people (like my mom)
- Requires minimal assembly. Again, it's very easy, but my mother and my aunt both have problems getting it right.
(The above two issues are solved by permanetly mounting the machine to an old ironing board)
- Can be tricky to clean
- Not as easy to operate with one person
- Even the thickest setting is still kind of thin, so you may need to press on your dough a little before running it through. I usually use a rolling pint (or empty wine bottle) to roughly roll the dough just so it's thin enough to be fed to the machine. This is troublesome... I wish they made the openings thicker.
- Takes a while to get the right dough consistency to put through the machine
Watch outs:
- Make sure you clean it thoroughly the first time! Make a test dough, and run it through the machine multiple times. You will get little shreds of metal (I think they are metal), but according to the manual, this is normal. In fact, I had to run two doughs through to really clean it.
- Don't wash it! Other than that it might rust (I don't know because I haven't actually seen it rust), it just makes it harder to clean. Drying it out completely then brush off the pieces is probably the best way to go.
Tips:
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- Try open ravioli, it's very simple with this machine
- If you made thin angel hair-type noodles, and you are planning to serve it in hot soup (like some Asian noodle soup), I found out that I don't even need to cook the noodles. I just pour the piping hot soup over the thin angel hair noodles, and they are cooked to perfection! I made a ginger-chicken noodle soup, and placed a small bunch of fresh noodles in each bowl, and pour the boiling hot soup over the noodles in front of the guests, it's a great WOW factor.
- I was hoping to get a fettucini attachment, but for some reason I was unable to get it from Amazon (they told me the part is no longer available). After looking at the width (6.5mm), I decided that I can just use a knife to cut it into the width I want.
- Use a toothpick to clean the hard-to-reach parts
- If your surface is too thin (as in an ironing board), you might need something to "pad" it. I used a stack of old business cards.
- I use the rack from my oven to dry pasta, although I am thinking about getting a Norpro drying rack.
Description of CucinaPro 177 Pasta Fresh Pasta Machine
Make your own pasta at home with the CucinaPro Pasta Fresh machine. The Pasta Fresh makes spaghetti and fettuccini. Attachments sold separately.Nothing beats a plate of truly fresh pasta. And now it's easy to roll out your own at home, with Villaware's pasta maker. Whether the craving is for spaghetti or fettuccine, this sturdy machine handles the job with efficiency and style. Made of heavyweight chromed steel, with an attractive wood grip handle, Villaware's pasta maker looks great on the counter and is easy to use--there's nothing to plug in as this is the tried-and-true hand-crank variety. The easy-lock adjustable dough-dialer rolls thick or thin pasta, and it comes with spaghetti and fettuccine cutters. Cutters for tagliatelle and angel hair pasta are available separately. --Meg Heffernan
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