Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat product if one uses it correctly
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2010
I read a lot of the reviews, and bought this anyway, but was unsure. I figured what they heck, but it was what some of the positive reviews said that made me decide to get it.
I'm glad I did. I just used it, and wow, it was fun (if you like to cook), and easy. I did mess up a little, which turned out to make a small percentage of mine to not be sealed, but that was user error. But the main thing here is....I did not have to seal a single ravioli, and they cooked up just fine.
Most important things to do;
*roll pasta sheets to #3 on the pasta sheet roller....period.
*watch the youtube video with peter pasta. He has two videos, almost that same, but one actually says what settings he is using, which is THREE!!
*read the instructions that come with it....twice.
Simple huh? First and foremost, regardless of what recipe one uses and what they say to do, the setting for the pasta sheets is 3, not 5, not 7, not 42, but 3 - why reviewers complained when they set it to 5 or higher, I have no idea. Peter Pasta video AND the instructions say this is required for the raviolis to seal correctly. Maybe if you have a special pasta rolling pin, and hand make them, then they can be made thinner, but not for this machine.
Now, does this mean the the raviolis will be too thick and maybe doughy....nope. I think it's because the way the thing works, it stretches the dough a bit in the process.
While the unit is hand cranked, it's not that big of a deal.....and I'm not sure I would want it to be powered....it sucks the filling in quick enough as it is. I'm cooking for two, not 20. I made 4 dozen ravioli in just minutes...out of the three steps (mix dough, mix filling, roll dough, and making ravioli), making the ravioli was the quickest (even my first time).
There will be a bit of wasted dough, as there is the first set to get the dough started and there are three stripes along the length that get torn off (that separate the ravioli length wise). But, you can just roll it out and use it. The ravioli just tear apart, but don't try to speed along on the tearing part, or you tear them open a little like I did.
So what did I do wrong while operating the machine....well, I decided to make a bit more dough than I needed....then decided to turn it all into one sheet. My thought, once started in the machine, I would just make one continuous sheet of ravioli...how cool is that! The #3 sheet was about 5ft long, folded in half and started into the machine, a little over 2ft hanging down the sides. This made two problems. The first is that they were just too long to manage without stretching the dough - so i set the ends on the counter to hold the weight. This, as I found out later, slanted the sheets of dough through the feeder in the beginning, so the first 6 rows of ravioli, did not have dough on the one edge to pinch closed - though it did finish centering quickly enough. I only lost 6 ravioli out of...what, 4 dozen.
This also lead to another issue....which is why the instructions say only a certain amount, pesky instructions, I'm a guy, I don't need them. The ravioli eventually will get too heavy and start to stretch and tear off....after about foot or so of raviolis are made....which is about the distance to the counter...if you are not hanging the whole thing over the edge because you have a 5ft sheet of dough :-/ Try not to stretch the raviolis this way, as it will make it harder to separate them...but only a bit.
Hope this helps. The unit works great, well made, it would be nice if they made these attachments easier to clean, but they do work very well. Assuming you can handle the expensive price, you will love the way it works.