Anonymous wrote:Before you spend a lot of money--check out freecycle or local thrift shops. A lot of people get pasta makers, use them once, and then get rid of them. We even had one show up at our office white elephant gift exchange.

This. I have one that came out of the box once. And then I discovered a wonderful Italian store near my house that makes wonderful fresh pasta. Not only is their pasta simply divine, but it takes me 5 min to pay for it.

I believe KitchenAid actually stopped making the old extruder attachment because it was being returned so often and had such terrible reviews. It was so poorly designed that it really made me think less of their trademark; they couldn't have possibly thought the thing worked well when they put it on the market.

The link you posted is to a new model. From the picture, there are at least two major differences in this model: (1) the pasta extrudes downward instead of sideways; and (2) the dies are metal instead of plastic. Both of those are major improvements.

(Though I confess I'm still skeptical, since the old model had numerous other problems.)

Interesting. I love my extruder pasta attachment. But I think I might have a different one than the PPs, since mine didn't come with a grinder. Mine just came out recently. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/kitchenaid-pasta-press-attachment/?&&utm_campaign=bazaarvoice&utm_medium=SearchVoice&utm_source=RatingsAndReviews&utm_content=Default

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you won't use it often, get the hand crank.

A cheap hand crank one works exactly as well as the KitchenAid attachment. The admittedly major benefit of the Kitchenid attachment is this: until you get very good at making pasta with a crank machine, you sort of need three hands to do it: one to feed the dough, one to turn the crank, and one to accept the dough as it comes out the other side of the machine. (You can do it wth two hands but it takes some practice; early on, a third hand is nice). The KitchenAid completely eliminates the need for the third hand because it cranks for you. If that's worth paying five times as much, go for it.

P.S. If KitchenAid still sells the extruding pasta maker that comes with the food grinder attachment, do not even consider that. It is a piece of crap.

NP here - I completely agree. I have the extruder and it is a PITA and doesn't even really work. Really wish I had ponied up for the roller attachment.

I had one and it was definitely a piece of crap! It burned out the motor on my mixer. KitchenAid sent me a whole new mixer which was great, but what a PITA.

I would get the hand crank. I have the Kitchen aid and I love it but for how little I use it, it's not worth it. Do not get the KitchenAid extruder.

I have my Nonna's hand crank machine from Italy that is over 100 years old and still works beautifully. Agree that it takes three hands, but as PP above said, we make it a family affair, with DH and DD and I all working together. It's lots of fun - but we don't do it very often for the same reasons PP states. It does make for a fun activity every once in a while.

I enjoy making pasta and have done so off and on for twenty years with the same hand crank. One of the advantages is kids can help you do it, and that is really, at least to me, the reason to make fresh pasta now is it is a fun and easy thing to do with kids. But it is time consuming and messy (no matter how you do it) and it made sense when fresh pasta was not available but today fresh pasta is readily available so unless you are looking for a fun winter indoor activity to do with your kids, chances are you will not do it a lot. The other thing to keep in mind is that fresh pasta goes bad pretty quickly, really should use it within a day or two, and freezing fresh pasta seems counterproductive because then it is no longer fresh, though some people might prefer frozen once fresch pasta to boxed pasta.

Before you spend a lot of money--check out freecycle or local thrift shops. A lot of people get pasta makers, use them once, and then get rid of them. We even had one show up at our office white elephant gift exchange.

Anonymous wrote:I really like my hand crank roller (its been my faithful friend for twenty years). I got a nicer model (all steel from Italy). It is stupid and totally unfounded, but I worry about getting my fingers in kitchenaid-powered rollers. Also, my kids and I have really good time making pasta for a homey family meal (I guess they provide the extra hands).

If you just wanted to try making homemade pasta, you can use a rolling pin or even cut some fresh lasagna sheets to see if you like the taste.

This. I just roll it out and cut very thick linguine strips. I have a really small kitchen and try and minimize the "stuff."

I really like my hand crank roller (its been my faithful friend for twenty years). I got a nicer model (all steel from Italy). It is stupid and totally unfounded, but I worry about getting my fingers in kitchenaid-powered rollers. Also, my kids and I have really good time making pasta for a homey family meal (I guess they provide the extra hands).

If you just wanted to try making homemade pasta, you can use a rolling pin or even cut some fresh lasagna sheets to see if you like the taste.

Anonymous wrote:I want to try and make homemade pasta - but am not sure how often I will do it.
I could easily buy the hand cranked one for under 30 bucks - but a friend tells me to spend the extra money and get the attachment for my kitchen ad stand mixer.
Opinions?

I have the roller attachment (not the extruder, haven't seen it). It makes flat sheets, and cuts those sheets into spaghetti or linguini with a separate attachment. I would never use the hand crank -- hellp carpal tunnel, but I *love* the roller attachment. A chef friend of mine bought one on my recommendation and agrees.

Anonymous wrote:If you won't use it often, get the hand crank.

A cheap hand crank one works exactly as well as the KitchenAid attachment. The admittedly major benefit of the Kitchenid attachment is this: until you get very good at making pasta with a crank machine, you sort of need three hands to do it: one to feed the dough, one to turn the crank, and one to accept the dough as it comes out the other side of the machine. (You can do it wth two hands but it takes some practice; early on, a third hand is nice). The KitchenAid completely eliminates the need for the third hand because it cranks for you. If that's worth paying five times as much, go for it.

P.S. If KitchenAid still sells the extruding pasta maker that comes with the food grinder attachment, do not even consider that. It is a piece of crap.

NP here - I completely agree. I have the extruder and it is a PITA and doesn't even really work. Really wish I had ponied up for the roller attachment.

If you won't use it often, get the hand crank.

A cheap hand crank one works exactly as well as the KitchenAid attachment. The admittedly major benefit of the Kitchenid attachment is this: until you get very good at making pasta with a crank machine, you sort of need three hands to do it: one to feed the dough, one to turn the crank, and one to accept the dough as it comes out the other side of the machine. (You can do it wth two hands but it takes some practice; early on, a third hand is nice). The KitchenAid completely eliminates the need for the third hand because it cranks for you. If that's worth paying five times as much, go for it.

P.S. If KitchenAid still sells the extruding pasta maker that comes with the food grinder attachment, do not even consider that. It is a piece of crap.

Honestly, the hand cranked one is just as easy as to use as the kitchen aid attachment.

I have both and use the hand cranked version far more often.

I want to try and make homemade pasta - but am not sure how often I will do it.
I could easily buy the hand cranked one for under 30 bucks - but a friend tells me to spend the extra money and get the attachment for my kitchen ad stand mixer.
Opinions?