Pasta maker?

[laohaire]

In F&F I posted my grocery budget and folks suggested I make my own bread and pasta. Someone suggested I look at my local Goodwill for the breadmaker since so many people get them as wedding gifts or whatever, and gather dust.

Well, there was no breadmaker, but there was a pasta maker! Looks new, wth instructions. It's this model:
http://www.popeilfamilystore.com/pm.html

$30.

Do you think it's worth it? I don't know anything about making my own pasta, but the page sure makes it sound easy.

Can I use whole wheat flour?

Do I have to make it fresh every time, or can I store some for later?

Anyone have an opinion on that particular model by any chance?

[laohaire]

Oh my goodness, if it really only takes 5 minutes, I guess scratch the question about storing some for later

[RosemaryS-F]

Originally Posted by laohaire

Oh my goodness, if it really only takes 5 minutes, I guess scratch the question about storing some for later

I just roll mine out and cut it into strips for tagliatelli. This dries for the afternoon and then I eat it for dinner--never going back to the box! If you care about uniformity, then buy the thing, but not if you don't. Fresh self-dried pasta will keep in a baggy for about a week, but you can freeze it. Try freecycle for a breadmaker--that's where I got mine. Free!!

[mamadelbosque]

I have a pasta rolling machine, I've only used it a couple times, though as fall comes in I think I'll be using it more. Fresh pasta is delicous though, that I do know... and a pasta rolling machine makes it a million times easier, lemme tell you what!!!

[Malva]

I don't think I'd get the machine you linked above, looks like it would only work for spaghetti or sausage making). I have an Atlas Marcato pasta maker I got from Craigslist for $25 last year. It can make spaghetti, fettucini and lasagna noodles.

[kristenok18]

I got this pasta maker from a freecycler awhile ago. It has tons of attachments, but since I was in the middle of a move I was too overwhelmed to think about using it. And now I'm all sorts of motivated to try it!!! If I weren't such a procrastinator, I'd probably have advice for you one way or the other.

[His Own]

My sister bought one of those some years ago. It's easy to use, and it really is fast. We enjoyed the pasta very much. It's so fresh! Yes, you can use whole wheat. I grind wheat to make bread, so I took some of that to her. The spaghetti was terrific. You can make more than spaghetti. It has different heads so that you can make lasagna, etc.

[laohaire]

I got the thing, and it works

Whole wheat pasta for about $0.45-$0.60 a meal

[Abarat]

I borrowed my mother's pasta maker way back when and ended up breaking it because my dough was too tough and I probably overworked it.

I've since been making the dough by hand and using a roller/cutter and extruder (for elbow mac, rotinni, etc.) I got off ebay at great prices. They work wonderfully and especially the roller/cutter is very sturdy.

$30 isn't bad for a pasta maker. You could always request one on your local freecycle list or craigslist. Maybe someone has one they're not using and want to get rid of it, or you can get one even cheaper.