How long can you store fresh pasta?

[tenspeed]

I pulled the old pasta machine (mix and extrusion type) out of storage and successfully made some pretty good pasta. As it takes a little bit of work to clean the machine after use, I would like to make a larger batch and refrigerate or freeze some for use at a later date. I asked my friend Mr. Google, and got answers all over the map. Williams-Sonoma says you can keep fresh pasta for up to two days in the refrigerator or up to two weeks in the freezer (which seems ridiculously short to me), and other sources go as long as 14 days in the fridge and indefinitely in the freezer. They don't seem to differentiate between water and egg pasta.

I know that you can keep bread dough up to two weeks in the fridge, so it would seem that the same would apply to water and flour pastas. Not sure if the same would apply to egg pasta. It seems reasonable that you could keep either indefinitely in the freezer.

When I made the pasta, I dried it on a rack for 30 min. or so to dry it enough so that it wouldn't stick together but still flexible, and then put it in a plastic bag for a couple of hours until I was ready to cook it. I'm planning to do the same with the batch for storage. I'm not planning to dry it completely, as at that point I might as well get the box from the supermarket.

Any pasta experts out there that could shed some light on this, particularly regarding egg pastas?

 

[medtran49]

We've frozen fresh pasta for long periods of time and it has been fine, other than getting extremely brittle and breaking at the slightest provocation, which is why I started freezing pasta dough balls if I ended up with too much dough. Have never tried to keep it in the fridge. We've frozen just plain pasta and homemade filled pasta like raviolis, etc. You'll have to keep it in bags (to prevent freezer burn) inside of containers. Keeping it in just bags will only lead to broken pieces of pasta. BTDT.

Another thing is you won't be able to defrost it, it will have to go straight into the boiling water because otherwise the condensation that will form as it defrosts will end up causing it to become a big gooey mess instead of nicely shaped fresh pasta.

 

[GotGarlic]

I can't really answer your questions, but I will say that after a while, the texture of most frozen foods deteriorates. It wouldn't take much deterioration to ruin fresh pasta.

Also, you can keep fresh bread dough in the fridge for a couple of weeks because you want gluten and flavor development. Developing the gluten in pasta would make it tough.

 

[dragnlaw]

Like the others I can only relate my own experiences.

I freeze my pasta dough in individual serving sizes in shapes sort of elongated ovals. I've kept some over 3 months. Very well wrapped in cling, then bagged. It doesn't take very long to defrost, maybe an hour?? if even, the thinner the faster!

Once rolled out, I've only ever kept it a day (maybe a second day), aired, floured very lightly and loosely packed in a plastic bag.

Don't keep a solid block in the fridge more than two days. You will start to notice little black specs developing. I've personally eaten it like that but would never serve to friends or family.

 

[Kayelle]

I've never made fresh pasta, but I've bought fresh pasta frozen with good results, and have kept it for months in the freezer.
It seems to be dusted with a little flour before being frozen and separates well when being defrosted, making it easy to add to the boiling water.
Don't know if that helps.

 

[dragnlaw]

Excellent point Kayelle. I too have frozen store bought fresh pasta with no harm. So it is possible, but I also still think medtran is right about the brittleness part.

Perhaps your answer would be to partial dry, form circled nests, individually freeze the portions, wrap gently, store wrapped pieces on cardboard inside a freezer bag (so they don't get bashed about). Then you could take out and drop as many portions as needed into your boiling water. Still will only take minutes compared to commercial dry pasta.

example:- I individually wrap store croissants in cling, put back in the plastic box that they originally came in, put that in a larger freezer bag. Because once before, I found two lonely croissants at the bottom squished out of recognition. (ps... I also slice them in a bagel slicer while still frozen, then defrost or toast - so neat!)

 

[CharlieD]

When I make fresh pasta which is not nearly often enough I keep in refrigerator for a week, but really not longer. It starts to get moldy. I am positive it depends on moisture content and the refrigerator temperature.

BTW, what recipe did you use?

 

[di reston]

When you make fresh pasta, it's usual to let it dry out a bit before you may be wanting to use it 'immediately'. In Italy, we always dust it with flour, and spread it out on trays to dry. After that, you can freeze it in polythene bags (to avoid any moisture from other items in the freezer affecting how it keeps, or keep ot on the very top of the other items in the freezer, and it keeps well. If you're drying it to keep, you dry off all the moisture so that it becomes brittle like all other pasta that you buy except small pasta, which tends not to break up anyway. It's keeping properties in its dry state are one of the reasons that it's been a staple food not only in Italy but also other countries around the Mediterranean for many as long as rwo thousand years. Hope that answers your query.

di reston

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[tenspeed]

I'm thinking that I'll probably not freeze the pasta, but keep it in the refrigerator. Sounds like I can keep it for at least a week. My pasta machine (Simac Pastamatic) has a 1 lb. of flour capacity, so that's two dinners for the two of us, plus some for the leftovers for another lunch. I have a drying rack, and the plan is to dry it enough so that it doesn't stick together, but still have enough moisture so it doesn't break when I put it in a plastic bag. I'll have to experiment, but I might dust it with flour if it keeps sticking during storage.

I've made two batches so far, and both have been with eggs. I'll have to make a batch with water to see how they compare.

Charlie - It's 1 lb. flour and 4 eggs, adjust with water or flour to get the right consistency. The pasta machine came with a cute little measuring cup with lines for eggs or water. I used it for the first batch, but had some difficulties, as it was too wet. I figured out the proper consistency on the second batch, which extruded just fine and didn't stick together as it came out.

 

[dragnlaw]

OMGoodness! I just googled your pasta maker and checked out the images in google. Where have I been hiding? have never seen anything like those images. How fun to be able to create your own macaroni's and those other types of pasta. I've only done ravioli, spaghetti's and linguine.

I'm sooo dull!

 

[tenspeed]

The Simac hasn't been available in the U.S. for some time (except on ebay). I just have the six discs that came with the machine. At the moment someone is selling 22 of them on ebay, but the price is more than what I'm willing to pay for the two that I want.

Philips recently came out with one that's getting good reviews.

Premium collection Pasta and noodle maker HR2357/05 | Philips

The Simac is pretty easy to use, but a minor nuisance to clean. But still probably easier than to clean up than the mess I would make doing it with a manual machine.

 

[dragnlaw]

If I had 6 kids living at home and pasta was one of our mainstays I would invest for sure! But I'm an empty nester, feeding the gang maybe 4 times a year.

LOL so I think I will stick to my food processor which only takes minutes (and yeah, longer to clean up than to mix) And then the hand roller which I usually get the grandkids to help me do - they love it! And that I don't wash, just brush it down real careful.