Fasta Pasta The Microwave Cooker
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List Price: Our Price: $7.99 You Save: $7.00 (47%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Fasta Pasta The Microwave Cooker
Customer Review: Best Micro Pasta Cooker by far...
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought my first Fasta Pasta cooker from QVC years ago when it first came out. I have been using it weekly ever since and haven't ever cooked pasta on the stove upon receiving it. The plastic has only lost it's clear, see-through quality yet it still has held up amazingly fine. I decided it was time for another just to see if anything had changed since my previous purchase. No, everything is still the exact same --- if it's not broke then it doesn't need fixing!
I come from an Italian family so we know our pasta/macaroni! I don't notice any rubbery texture like one reviewer mentioned, it has come out perfect every time. I have yet to overcook any type of macaroni. I've cooked everything from angel-hair to buccatini and it's been excellent each time.
My secret, but don't tell anyone... I've pushed cooking a whole pound of pasta in it. I was amazed that it cooked it without boil-over. I put in a pound of, say spaghetti, and filled up to the top lower edge of the lip...the part right above the 4 serving line...and nuked it for the required minutes for 4 servings...I even let the pasta sit in the microwave a few minutes longer while my sugo (sauce) finished up. I drained it (THE ONLY TIME YOU USE THE LID) and popped it into my large pan of sugo (sauce) and mixed it. DELISH... and feeds the whole family! <wink>
I've given it 5 stars because I can't give it more! Oh, I just hooked my sister up with one... she has been skeptical for years and wouldn't try it...now she has her own and LOVES IT! She can make a quick meal for her son when he's hungry and not stand around a hot pot stirring pasta just for him. PRICELESS!
Customer Review: Wish I could be more critical
Summary: 5 Stars
I had deemed this product "too good to be true" until I read the many positive reviews here. I added it to an order of something I purchase somewhat regularly but whose price is less than the minimum amount for free shipping. Since I needed nothing else I thought, "eh, it's worth the [...] to get the free shipping," so it arrived this week.
Boy, was I surprised when I used it for the first time tonight. I live in South Florida where in the summer, cooking even a single serving of angel hair pasta can overwhelm your home a/c up for an hour, and have tried with varying degrees of abysmal failure to cook pasta in the microwave. don't even want to talk about the cleanup of pot and colander! Well, I have now found the cure for THAT problem!!!
Unless it totally butchers egg noodles (which I'll find out soon enough) I'll say this is money more than well spent. The directions are clear, cooking times appear to be accurate, and the unit fits in my small microwave, which was also a concern. I can see this unit saving a bundle not only on electricity I would have spent heating my stove, but also in cooling my home.
I can add that I had even almost completely stopped cooking fettuccini because of the long cooking time and amount of heat generated by a large boiling pot in a small space, well, now I can enjoy that treat again, or so I hope.
I will try to update as I experiment with different pastas but I'm clumsy with Angel Hair - I either get it too al dente or overdone and mushy and if the product cooks it perfectly on my first try, then it's pretty much "idiot proof!"
Customer Review: Not really FASTA, but CLEAN-A, EASY-A, and SAFE-A!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had doubts about whether the Fasta Pasta would work well to cook pasta for our busy family. I bought it mostly for my teenage daughter who loves pasta of all kinds, but I actually find myself using it WAY more than she does.
Forget dragging pots out of the cupboard, finding a strainer, clearing room for draining and rinsing pasta - you can do it all in the Fasta Pasta! I have used it for spaghetti, macaroni (mix in the cheese sauce right in the Fasta Pasta!), even homemade ravioli, and lasagna.
For certain types of pasta, it's recommended that you stop the cooking partway and stir the noodles around so they won't stick together and they'll cook evenly. I found the lasagna particularly hard to stir, and some of it stuck together a little bit, while other bits came out slightly undercooked, but I probably added more than the recommended amount.
The lid makes removing from the microwave and draining the pasta super-easy (but remember - never COOK with the lid on!), and sometimes, depending on what I'm doing with the pasta afterwards, I will just add a bit of oil and toss the pasta in the Fasta Pasta as well. The water level lines and serving-size measurers are a happy bonus as well.
Overall, pasta cooked in the microwave with the Fasta Pasta is delicious and easy to cook to al dente perfection - I never would have believed it! Cook times are fairly long, and you'll have to play around a bit with the timing of your particular microwave oven, because ovens do vary quite a bit in power.
What a great find for anyone who'd like a cleaner, easier, safer way to cook delicious pasta!
Customer Review: If the idea sounds appealing to you you will likely love it.
Summary: 4 Stars
I have found exactly three cons to this overall excellent item.
1) While this shouldn't be surprising given any experience with other foods microwaved vs cooked in their "traditional" method, the pasta is NOT exactly the same as it is when cooked on the stove. The texture is different. I don't mean the firmness of the noodles, following the cooking instructions has given me al dente noodles every time. I mean the outside of the pasta has a different texture. This is a minor point since it's still a very close approximation and if you are going to serve your noodles with sauce, cheese, or butter you won't even notice but it is there. I would probably not want to eat plain noodles from the Fasta Pasta but I also probably wouldn't want to eat plain noodles. ;)
2) While this will fit in the vast majority of microwaves it is too large for some. Make sure you have the dimensions of the microwave you intend to use this in most compared to the dimensions of the Fasta Pasta before you order. In my microwave at work the Fasta Pasta is too big to turn on the turn table and just sits in the microwave horizontally but it works just fine that way.
3) While I suppose the serving measuring holes in the top are useful for those measuring spaghetti (I prefer penne) they do make straining the noodles less convenient than it would be if there were no spaghetti measuring holes.
I'm just trying to be realistic about a product that I am overall extremely satisfied with. I would definitely recommend this item and I feel the price is fair.
Customer Review: Works wonders with semolina, wheat and Barilla Plus pasta
Summary: 5 Stars
As a pasta fiend, I call shenanigans on the few low reviews and the description of the food tasting like "microwaved" pasta or mush. If someone else made it they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Because there is no difference. You're boiling water and cooking pasta. The microwave boils water just as well as a pot on a stove, it's far from a poor substitute - it's an amazing substitute! Negative outcomes are psychosomatic results from the placebo-effected American public. The Fasta Pasta is the easiest way to make pasta I have ever come across. As a skeptic through and through, I held my opinion until I made a few batches.
It does not work with linguine of any kind(it clumps no matter what you do) and it does not work with gluten-free pasta (it breaks up from the fast boil). It works wonders with semolina, whole wheat and Barilla Plus products. I never would have thought it possible that a microwave pasta maker would make such perfect pasta, but it does.
I personally make mine by boiling the water first in an electric kettle then I cook the pasta as per the instructions on the box. Rather than take forever to boil on the stove in a massive pot, it goes into a plastic shoe box in the microwave.
Oh, one more thing - altitude has nothing to do with it. I've lived in the highest places in the US (between 6 and 5 thousand feet above sea level) and the only thing I have to do is add a minute to the cooking time. I have not tried vegetables or anything else in this product. DO NOT USE OIL, it will stain and damage the plastic while cooking.