How to Use a Pasta Maker
Making homemade pasta gives you the opportunity to add your own fresh ingredients. There are a variety of pasta machines on the market, but the simplest to use are the crank pasta makers. Many cooks believe they achieve better results with these machines than with the more expensive electric extruder models. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Set the pasta maker up on the counter, securing it with the clamp provided with your machine. Turn the adjustment knob to the widest setting and place the crank handle into the hole that operates the rollers.
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2
Prepare your dough according to your particular recipe. Follow your pasta machine instructions regarding the proper texture; pasta that's too dry and crumbly or too moist won't feed through the machine properly. Form the dough into two balls after you've achieved the proper texture, cover it with a towel and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
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3
Pass your dough through the rollers, using one hand to crank and the other to catch the dough as it comes off the rollers. Fold the dough in half, sprinkle it lightly with flour and pass it through again. Repeat this step about eight times.
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4
Decrease the roller spacing by one notch and pass the dough through one time. Continue decreasing by one notch and passing the dough through until the desired thickness is achieved.
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Divide the dough in half lengthwise if it becomes too long to handle. Let the finished dough rest and dry out for about 15 minutes to prevent it from sticking when you run it through the final cutting rollers.
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Place the cutter accessory onto the body of your machine and insert the crank handle into the hole that operates the cutters. Set the width setting for the size of pasta you're making.
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Sprinkle a light dusting of flour on your sheet of pasta and begin passing it through the cutters, holding it with one hand and cranking with the other.
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Tips & Warnings
The first time you use a new pasta maker run a small ball of dough through the machine and then discard it. Since you aren't supposed to wash your pasta machine, this is a way of cleaning packing oils from the machine.
It's best to divide your dough into two balls and work with one batch at a time.
Have an extra person around to help on pasta making day. One person can operate the machine, while the other person manages the continuously growing length of dough.
