CucinaPro 177 Pasta Fresh Pasta Machine
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Our Price: $29.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $26.69 (click here) Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of CucinaPro 177 Pasta Fresh Pasta Machine
Customer Review: Learn a few tricks with this machine & you'll be an expert!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is not a toss-in-the-dough-and-out-comes-pasta machine. This is a work-a-day hand roller and noodle cutter that, once you learn a few tricks, makes fresh pasta a snap.
I've had those big, bulky and complicated pasta machines, and they all cracked, burned out their motors, and made a huge mess. This is a surprisingly simple gadget that anyone who's willing to devote a little time, can use to make delicious fresh pasta. The beauty is in the simplicity!
There are a number of reviews in here that offer excellent tips. I suggest reading them. Here are a few of my own:
1. Dough consistency is key. The dough should form a homogenous, elastic but not sticky ball. You should be able to knead it without pieces crumbling, and without it leaving any residue on your hands or the surface. Some recommend letting the dough rest for a while. I haven't had any trouble diving right in after mixing it, but try it both ways to see what works best for you.
2. I use Semolina flour, but you don't have to. I just like the taste better -- reminds me of Grandma's pasta.
3. If you use two cups of flour and two eggs (as recommended in the directions), split the dough into six pieces to make your strips. This gives you manageable sizes, without having to roll out so many strips that it's too time-consuming.
4. The instructions say to run the strip through six times, each time reducing the thickness notch. I found that running it through the first notch twice worked best -- it can come out in pieces the first time, so you just press those pieces together and run it through again. You'll have your single strip.
5. Since the machine only clamps down on one side, I had a little trouble with the other side lifting as I rolled. When you start rolling with your right hand, just press down a little on the unsecured side with your left palm. (I would have liked to see the design include a better spot to rest your palm, perhaps over the thickness knob.)
6. Let the strips rest about 10 minutes before cutting -- any longer and they might dry too much, any less and they're too soft. Cut each strip in half with scissors before running through noodle cutter -- this will give you manageable strip lengths, and also a nice straight edge to start in the cutter.
7. I bought the drying rack, which works wonderfully. When you are cutting the noodles, halfway through the strip, insert a dowel under the noodles and catch them on it as they emerge. You will come away with the noodles hanging neatly on the dowel, which you then just place on the rack to dry. (Do let it dry for at least an hour, so it doesn't stick together.) Then, when ready to cook, just pick the dowel up and tilt it so the pasta falls right into the pot. This way, the brittle pasta won't break.
8. Note that the handle does not lock into place. I had a lot of trouble at first with having it pop out while I was turning. If you keep an eye on this and just exert a little inward pressure, it should be fine. (It is this minor glitch, and the lifting side, that brought this review down to 4 stars.)
Ignore the naysayers who weren't willing to put the effort into learning how to use this thing. They may have been expecting something like a bread machine, where you toss in the ingredients and four hours later, have bread. In my experience, I haven't found a single motorized pasta maker that works as well as this. Yes, this one requires some actual effort and a little artistry. The fact is, pasta, like bread, IS a little tricky to make...but unlike bread, a machine can't do all the work. Take an afternoon and experiment, and don't give up the first time if it feels awkward or strips come out crumbly. Once you get your dough consistency right and get the feel for how to roll it, you'll be whipping out homemade pasta like the pros! I can make a full batch of pasta in less than a half-hour.
Customer Review: A poor workman blames his tools...?
Summary: 4 Stars
I have to admit that my first couple of encounters with a pasta machine were... well, frustrating is a mild word. But now that I've got a feel for it, my pasta machine has become my favorite (non-electric) kitchen tool. If you liked your Play-Doh Fun Factory as a kid, you're gonna enjoy making pasta.
I'll post my tips here, but let me preface them by saying: Hey, you folks who complain that the machine can't be any good if it requires instruction on how to use it? Wake up! Nobody is born knowing the proper consistency for pasta dough or the best techniques for handling it during rolling. Would you scoff at a cookbook that told you how to tell when your cake is done or how to season your cast-iron skillet? Sheesh.
Okay, so these tips are for those of you who don't mind learning from someone else's mistakes:
First, pasta dough shouldn't be sticky. Find a recipe for pasta dough (sautewords-dot-blogspot-dot-com has one for tarragon pasta). It should be firm and elastic, *not* sticky. (Sticky dough is harder to handle, harder to roll, harder to cut, and harder to clean up after.)
Second, let the dough rest before you roll it. This one is really important, as we found out the hard way. The gluten in the flour will fight back if you don't let it relax. An hour is plenty. Thirty minutes will do.
Third, if you don't know how to handle those ultra-long sheets of pasta without a couple of extra hands, try this instead: start with a really small chunk of dough. A piece of dough not much larger than a walnut shell will be the width of the rollers and 16" to 18" long by the time you get to setting 8 (which is where I stop)--long but still manageable by one person. You can then cut it crosswise with a pizza cutter or knife or whatever's handy, run it through the cutter, and drape over the pasta rack. (This gives you spaghetti/linguine that's 8" to 9" long, a comfortable size to my taste. Yours may vary.) Do it again and again.
Fourth, if your pasta dough is right, there really should be very little flour and practically no dough left in the machine. Scrub around the rollers and cutters with a dry pastry brush, and follow with a wipedown with a dry paper towel--that's it. If this sound unsanitary to you, maybe you shouldn't eat fresh pasta. You don't use soap and water to clean a pasta machine, any more than you'd use it on a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet. I guess some miniscule amount of potentially contaminated egg might be left clinging to the machine, but I don't know how long it would live on a metal roller, and anyhow I boil my pasta before I eat it :-)
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I must add that I own the Atlas 150 rather than the Villaware. The pastamaker's tittle-tattle is that the Atlas is "better made," but I don't know in what respect. They're both made in Italy (avoid pasta machines made in China, they ARE junk). I do know that the Atlas clamp accommodates a wider range of counter thicknesses, so if that's important to you, you might check it out. Our Atlas lives comfortably on a cart with a 7/8" thick butcher-block top.
So please, don't let the negative reviews OR the reviews with lots of tips intimidate you out of buying a pasta machine. It doesn't take long to master making homemade pasta, and the taste is definitely worth it.
(And to the reviewer who thinks those who praise this machine are motivated by the need to brag about making homemade pasta: you remind me of a reviewer who claimed elsewhere that nobody REALLY likes sushi, they're all just pretending. Speak for yourself, pal. I don't give a rat's patootie for gourmet snobbery. I don't even like to cook. But I love to make pasta, because (a) it's fun, and (b) it tastes great.)
Customer Review: Effective Product; Not as hard to use as some here say
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the negative comments about this machine, I was worried: should I have bought it? Did I waste my money? Now that it's arrived, I found it very easy to use. I sucessfully made spaghetti and fettucine my first try, although I threw it out per the instructions, because this was the very first time I used it and this runthrough cleaned the manufacturing residue out of the machine. Here are my tips: 1. Make sure your pasta dough is well kneaded until it is smooth. Let it rest covered in plastic wrap at least 20 minutes.
2. Cut your dough into pieces. If you're making 1lb of pasta (about 2 cups flour, 2 eggs in most recipes,) cut the dough into four pieces.
3. With rolling pin, roll each piece into a rectangle. Make sure it is not too thick. Very lightly dust with flour if necessary. I rolled mine to about twice the thickness of the widest setting on the rollers. If the end of the rectangle is too narrow, cut a bit off to square it up somewhat.
4. Let the dough rest another 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap.
5. Very lightly dust the first piece with flour, both sides. Run it through the machine slowly. If the dough feels very smooth and dry, flouring doesn't seem to be necessary. If your rectangle is too thick, the machine will pull some through while most of it bunches up on the rollers. This will cause your rectangle to tear and form holes as it passes through the rollers.
6. When it comes out, fold it in half (take the back end that just came out of the machine, fold it up to meet the front end.) Run it through the machine again. Do this at least six times. Very lightly dust with flour as necessary. The dough should be very smooth by now.
7. Turn the dial in one setting. Run the pasta sheet through. Make sure the piece goes in square so that it's not running to one side of the rollers, otherwise it may bunch and tear. If it is pulling towards one side, you can guide it with your free hand to the other. Don't worry about the dough folding on itself as it comes out. It seems very resiliant. I had no problems doing this by myself.
8. Repeat step seven until you run the piece through at the narrowest setting.
9. Repeat with the rest of your dough. Let the dough rest a bit, then run the first piece through the cutter attachment of your choice. As the pieces coming out get to the length you want, very lightly cut the rectangle of dough just before it enters the cutter rollers. Use a very sharp paring knife. I tried cutting the pasta as it was coming out, but that was awkward. The sheet of pasta you're working on now needs to be put back into the cutter rollers (because you've just cut it loose. )
10. Repeat with the other pieces of rolled pasta.
I did one practice run with some dough to clean out the machine, as per the instructions. This was my practice run. The very first runthrough was not successful, and then I hit upon the idea of rolling the dough into a rectangle as in step 3 above. Then I hit upon the idea of using smaller pieces of dough to prevent getting unmangeably long sheets.
I would give this machine five stars if it were stainless steel, and washable.
Customer Review: Effective Product; Not as hard to use as some here say
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the negative comments about this machine, I was worried: should I have bought it? Did I waste my money? Now that it's arrived, I found it very easy to use. I sucessfully made spaghetti and fettucine my first try, although I threw it out per the instructions, because this was the very first time I used it and this runthrough cleaned the manufacturing residue out of the machine. Here are my tips: 1. Make sure your pasta dough is well kneaded until it is smooth. Let it rest covered in plastic wrap at least 20 minutes.
2. Cut your dough into pieces. If you're making 1lb of pasta (about 2 cups flour, 2 eggs in most recipes,) cut the dough into four pieces.
3. With rolling pin, roll each piece into a rectangle. Make sure it is not too thick. Very lightly dust with flour if necessary. I rolled mine to about twice the thickness of the widest setting on the rollers. If the end of the rectangle is too narrow, cut a bit off to square it up somewhat.
4. Let the dough rest another 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap.
5. Very lightly dust the first piece with flour, both sides. Run it through the machine slowly. If the dough feels very smooth and dry, flouring doesn't seem to be necessary. If your rectangle is too thick, the machine will pull some through while most of it bunches up on the rollers. This will cause your rectangle to tear and form holes as it passes through the rollers.
6. When it comes out, fold it in half (take the back end that just came out of the machine, fold it up to meet the front end.) Run it through the machine again. Do this at least six times. Very lightly dust with flour as necessary. The dough should be very smooth by now.
7. Turn the dial in one setting. Run the pasta sheet through. Make sure the piece goes in square so that it's not running to one side of the rollers, otherwise it may bunch and tear. If it is pulling towards one side, you can guide it with your free hand to the other. Don't worry about the dough folding on itself as it comes out. It seems very resiliant. I had no problems doing this by myself.
8. Repeat step seven until you run the piece through at the narrowest setting.
9. Repeat with the rest of your dough. Let the dough rest a bit, then run the first piece through the cutter attachment of your choice. As the pieces coming out get to the length you want, very lightly cut the rectangle of dough just before it enters the cutter rollers. Use a very sharp paring knife. I tried cutting the pasta as it was coming out, but that was awkward. The sheet of pasta you're working on now needs to be put back into the cutter rollers (because you've just cut it loose. )
10. Repeat with the other pieces of rolled pasta.
I did one practice run with some dough to clean out the machine, as per the instructions. This was my practice run. The very first runthrough was not successful, and then I hit upon the idea of rolling the dough into a rectangle as in step 3 above. Then I hit upon the idea of using smaller pieces of dough to prevent getting unmangeably long sheets.
I would give this machine five stars if it were stainless steel, and washable.
Customer Review: Effective Product; Not as hard to use as some here say
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading the negative comments about this machine, I was worried: should I have bought it? Did I waste my money? Now that it's arrived, I found it very easy to use. I sucessfully made spaghetti and fettucine my first try, although I threw it out per the instructions, because this was the very first time I used it and this runthrough cleaned the manufacturing residue out of the machine. Here are my tips: 1. Make sure your pasta dough is well kneaded until it is smooth. Let it rest covered in plastic wrap at least 20 minutes.
2. Cut your dough into pieces. If you're making 1lb of pasta (about 2 cups flour, 2 eggs in most recipes,) cut the dough into four pieces.
3. With rolling pin, roll each piece into a rectangle. Make sure it is not too thick. Very lightly dust with flour if necessary. I rolled mine to about twice the thickness of the widest setting on the rollers. If the end of the rectangle is too narrow, cut a bit off to square it up somewhat.
4. Let the dough rest another 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap.
5. Very lightly dust the first piece with flour, both sides. Run it through the machine slowly. If the dough feels very smooth and dry, flouring doesn't seem to be necessary. If your rectangle is too thick, the machine will pull some through while most of it bunches up on the rollers. This will cause your rectangle to tear and form holes as it passes through the rollers.
6. When it comes out, fold it in half (take the back end that just came out of the machine, fold it up to meet the front end.) Run it through the machine again. Do this at least six times. Very lightly dust with flour as necessary. The dough should be very smooth by now.
7. Turn the dial in one setting. Run the pasta sheet through. Make sure the piece goes in square so that it's not running to one side of the rollers, otherwise it may bunch and tear. If it is pulling towards one side, you can guide it with your free hand to the other. Don't worry about the dough folding on itself as it comes out. It seems very resiliant. I had no problems doing this by myself.
8. Repeat step seven until you run the piece through at the narrowest setting.
9. Repeat with the rest of your dough. Let the dough rest a bit, then run the first piece through the cutter attachment of your choice. As the pieces coming out get to the length you want, very lightly cut the rectangle of dough just before it enters the cutter rollers. Use a very sharp paring knife. I tried cutting the pasta as it was coming out, but that was awkward. The sheet of pasta you're working on now needs to be put back into the cutter rollers (because you've just cut it loose. )
10. Repeat with the other pieces of rolled pasta.
I did one practice run with some dough to clean out the machine, as per the instructions. This was my practice run. The very first runthrough was not successful, and then I hit upon the idea of rolling the dough into a rectangle as in step 3 above. Then I hit upon the idea of using smaller pieces of dough to prevent getting unmangeably long sheets.
I would give this machine five stars if it were stainless steel, and washable.