I just got my pasta maker and I can't wait to try it

[chris629]

I just picked up my pasta maker today. It is a Rival. It looks like it would be great to use. I am getting it washed up first.
Now can I use the same recipe for every noodle.
The main noodles I would want to make would be:
egg noodles
spaghetti
lasagna
macaroni and
rigatoni

In here the basic pasta recipe it gives you is
2 c AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 lg eggs
1 tsp oil
warm water

The one pasta recipe I have is
3 c flour
6 egg yolks
and 1 whole egg
then so much water
I use that for my egg noodles

Can you give me your recipes for egg noodles vs basic pasta or can i use the basic pasta for either one?
Sorry I sound so confusing but I am very confused. It seems there is so many out there to go by and I know I just need to try it.
Or do the 2 above sound ok for basic and then egg?

 

[Alix]

Hey Christina, I just got mine too! I have been experimenting and according to what I have read the same basic recipe works for everything. Keep in mind I am a newbie at this too. There are several very proficient pasta makers on the boards so I figure someone will come along soon to answer our questions.

I will share with you that I have discovered that your eggs should be room temp when you start the dough, and the recipe I have is adamant about no salt. (Not sure why though)

Also, when you are rolling your dough, keep an olive oiled cloth handy in case any of your pasta sticks to the rollers. Happy pasta making!

 

[chris629]

Thanks!
Yeah I still have to read through the whole book yet but I read most of it so I will read up on tips they use in there. I wonder why no salt. Maybe because you salt your water when you cook it???

 

[Alix]

Not totally sure, but I think it has something to do with making the dough tough.

I have just been reading Audeo and Darkstreams comments about pasta making.

http://www.discusscooking.com/viewtopic.php?t=7002

http://www.discusscooking.com/viewtopic.php?t=3745&highlight=pasta

Try the second one for some wonderful info and recipes.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Chris - if your recipe calls for eggs, you're making egg noodles. Generally, Italian homemade pasta is AP flour (or Italian Typo OO for pasta) and eggs - although some recipes do throw in salt, oil, water.

Dry pasta in the store is generally made from just semolina flour and water, unless it says "egg noodles".

If your pasta machine is a roller/cutter like an Atlas or Imperia, then you can play with the recipe. If your Rival is a pasta "extruder" - where you dump things into it, it mixes and pushes the dough out through dies - then you better stick with the recipes in the book. Extruders need a certain consistency ...

 

[chris629]

Yes it is an extruder type. Thanks! I just made some spaghetti noodles (going by what they said in the book for the recipe) and they came out ok. At first awesome but as they kept coming it seemed like they got dry (they kept breaking real easy) so I thought I would add some water and then it seemed too wet.
Do I just need to let it come out even though it seems dry? (like I said though they seemed perfect for the first half of it)
Next onto rigatoni noodles.

 

[Alix]

What is an extruder type? Is it the kind where you put in the ingredients and get the finished pasta?

This is what I got...does anyone else have this one? And has anyone tried the ravioli attachment for this one?

 

[chris629]

Yeah thats what it is Alix! I can take a pic when I figure out how to post it in a message. is it

???

 

[Alix]

Yep, that is how you do it.

http://www.imagehost.org/

This is the site I use to host my pictures, and it works well. Good luck, can't wait to see yours!

 

[Russell]

i have a manual one that was passed down to me from my great grandma

 

[Alix]

Mine is a crank too miguzi...just doen'st show it on the pic.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Christina, could you tell me what model Rival you have? I'll try to check it out and compare it to the instructions I have for some other extruders.

Extruders, by the nature of how they work, require softer dough than a roller/cutter combo.

 

[Pam Leavy]

What is an extruder type? Is it the kind where you put in the ingredients and get the finished pasta?

This is what I got...does anyone else have this one? And has anyone tried the ravioli attachment for this one?

That is exactly the pasta machine I have. The ravioli attachement gives mixed results. It is messy. Some of the raviolis don't seal along the edges (if the pasta is not exactly the right size). That said, it is still fun to do. I do it once or twice a year.

Lately I have prefered using wonton wrappers for ravioli.

I have never washed mine. it says not to. I take a bit of dough and sacrifice it by running it through several times to pick up the bits left before starting. Then a good brushing off when finished is also a good idea.

Pam

 

[Alix]

Thanks Pam, I ran an oil covered cloth over all the working surfaces to pick up any leftover bits and it did a good job. I will try the letting it dry out thing too. Thanks for the tip.

OH! Thanks for the ravioli info too. Since I am still such a newbie at this I think I will wait a while before attempting ravioli.

 

[Audeo]

LOL! Welcome Alix, chris, miguzi and Pam to the list of us who love our pasta machines!!!!!

Darkstream's postings on the subject are printed out and placed into sheet protectors in my kitchen! I recommend them highly, because his instructions and information have totally transformed my abilities in using this machine for all that it is worth!

I don't even bother with the ravioli attachment on mine. I does not make consistent raviolis and is a downright pain in the neck to try and use. Yuk! This is the only downside, if you will, that I have found in my set. I make a lot of ravioli and all using the machine to roll out the wide strips of dough, placing a dollop of filling, using tons of egg wash, then sealing either using a stamp or just using my fingers to press the seal, then cut them apart with a knife.

Miguzi, what a treasure to have your great-grandmother's machine!!!

 

[chris629]

Ok I just made perfect rigatoni last night. I think what was wrong with the spaghetti is I used the thin spaghetti disc and I think next time I am going to use the thick one and see if that helps, seeing how the noodles came out awesome last night. I just put them in the freezer after letting them dry all of last night.
Here is the pic I finally got loaded to post. You can see the noodles in pic.

 

[Alix]

WOW! Now THAT is a pasta machine! Glad you got one posted for us. Have fun experimenting.

 

[Darkstream]

1. Do not attempt to make ROLLED pasta with an extrusion machine. It is like trying
to paint a boat with a spoon. It can be done, but it is not worth the effort. Either get a
machine for tagliatelle etc. or roll it by hand when you have made the dough.

2. I looked at your digital image of your rigatoni. Despite enhancing the image I could
not get a clear picture of the product. But it looked to me as if the rigatoni were
collapsing and not properly hollow at all. The dough seemed soft. When you make
spaghetti, or capellini, does it all stick together in one lump?

I ask this because I used to have a hand crank machine. It never worked and got
chucked. If the dough was soft enough to come through the holes it stuck together. It
NEVER formed tube pasta. I have heard that domestic electric powered machines like
yours are the same, ie they do not work or produce the product they are supposed to.
This is because they cannot produce the tons per square inch necessary to pressure
form a proper pasta dough into strands or tubes. But as I live in a very backward
country where the dominant retailers have hardly heard of wholewheat pasta and have
no intention of stocking it, I would be interested in a machine that does work so that I
could make wholewheat macheroni etc. myself.

3. As for a ravioli making machine, one that really works where you put the stuffing
in the hopper and the pasta in the rollers and it actually stuffs and makes the ravioli,
forget it unless you have a spare room in your house and $10,000 to spend. As far as I
know, there are NO domestic ravioli making machines worthy of the name. But I
would be delighted to be proved wrong.

 

[chris629]

The rigatoni was collapsing because when I cut it and then tried to get them arranged I would accidentally collapse them a little with fingers. Most of them made it through but some well didn't look nice but I do believe they all will still taste the same.
It came out wonderfully.
They dried wonderful.
The pasta recipe I am using is the recipe in the pasta makers book.
No when they come out they seperate perfectly. They don't stick together at all really.
I am sure there are machines out there that work tons better but for me this is working good so far. I have only used it a couple of times but so far I am happy with it.
I figured out how to get the pasta perfect for the noodles.
Thanks!

 

[Alix]

Hey...would you share the recipe with us? Just collecting all the variations to try in my own machine.