Customer Reviews

Harold Import Company Atlas Pasta Machine.

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really wanted a metal manual pasta machine, but was discouraged as I read details about other machines. I finally opted for the Atlas 150 - it was reasonably-priced, made in Italy, and had garnered positive reviews.

I am posting because I want to tell you that this machine lived up to its billing. It is easy to use, convenient, and a cinch to clean. My wife (she's half Italian) and I previously made pasta by hand. Thanks to this machine, our process has been signficantly reduced. We are eating fresh pasta more frequently, and the pasta it produces--if working with a reliable recipe (which we do)--garners compliments at our dinner parties.

I recommend that you have two people to work with the dough as you crank it through the machine. Trust me, it will make your life easier. Plus you can enjoy conversation and time spent with your partner.

I bought this machine around Thanksgiving (2006). Absolutely no regrets. Highly recommended!

I've read some horror stories about making pasta with a machine, so I was prepared for it to be a challenge. It couldn't have been easier! It rolled and cut effortlessly. The key must be the dough ... which can't be sticky or overly dry. I made mine with 3 eggs and 300 grams of bread flour in a Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook. The dough was a little on the dry side so I added a few drops of water. Then I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap for 30 minutes and let it rest before rolling. There was absolutely NO clean-up needed for the machine when I was finished. Great fun!

I just recently purchased this pasta maker after attempting to hand-roll my dough. As hand rolling took much time and caused hand cramps and ugly pasta, I decided to buy a machine. It's amazing! I don't think I'll ever go back to eating boxed pasta again! It looks better than pasta from a box and by making it myself, I can add whatever I like to the dough, such as fresh basil. Yum!

This Pasta maker is so much fun, easy and stable. I had used another one with my kids and it wobbled quite a bit while turnig the handles, making it harder for the kids to use. The Atlas 150 doesn't move at all, and cuts great pasta. You will never go back to the boxed stuff again!

I started with a simple, great pasta recipe (see below). After making it a number of times and rolling/cutting it by hand, I followed Mark Bittman's advice in his wonderful book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food (How to Cook Everything) (which is not just for Vegetarians!) and decided it was time to invest in a pasta rolling machine. Although it was a bit more expensive, I decided on the Atlas, and I haven't been disappointed. The instructions were a bit hard to follow, but once we figured them out, rolling the dough through the machine became a family affair. So far I've never had a piece even get stuck, which is pretty remarkable. Here is Mark Bittman's wonderful, simple recipe. You can use all-purpose flour, which tastes great, but I've always liked semolina:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt (Sea salt or Kosher salt)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Combine the flour and salt in a food processor (not a mixer -- a food processor!) and pulse it a couple of times. Then turn the machine on and pour 1/2 cup hot water and the olive oil through the feed tube. Process until a ball begins to form, about 30 seconds. Add a few drops of water if the dough is dry and grainy; add a little bit of flour if the dough is sticking to the side of the bowl.

Then I take the dough out of the machine, put it on a piece of plastic wrap that I've sprinkled with a little flour, and sprinkle a little ore on top of the dough. I loosely wrap the dough in the plastic and let it sit for 30 minutes before cutting it and feeding it into the machinel.

That's it! Once you get it down, it's almost as simple to make your own pasta as it would be to go out and buy dry. And it tastes soooooo much better! Enjoy!

I bought this pasta roller to make Okinanwan Soba. The machine rolls smooth sheets of dough. Takes a batch or two to develop a routine and get a feel for the dough. The first batch was too moist going through the cutters and they didn't seperate well, two noodles stuck together. I just let the sheets dry about 15-20 minutes before cutting and they are perfect everytime.

Soba needs a 5mm cutter which Marcato does not sell. I use the 3.5 attachment for Yakisoba and 6.5 for soba soup. All the Italian pastas are a snap.

As other reviewers have said, fresh pasta rocks!!! You can add almost anything to pasta I like basil, oregano and roasted garlic with a little marinara sauce. Just out of this world. If you cook and have never tried on, sitting on the fence thinking you cant do this, you can. Dough takes a few minutes to work, let it sit to rest the dough and roll and cook. Put a little oil onthe cooked noodles and they last for days. Do them on the weekend for a meal during the week. make them ahead fo a party. Give it a shot!

There's no more store bought pasta in this house. This machine is simple to use after a little practice! The trick is to get the right pasta recipe. Friends come to my house for demonstrations and find out that they, too, can do this at home.

I got this as a christmas gift and was expecting it to be a product that sits in the cupboard for years as it seemed tricky to make my own pasta. I was pleasantly suprised when I tried it on how easy to use this machine was. We made a whole wheat pasta. From start to finish to table, it only took 45 minutes to make the dough, press through the machine, cook, and serve. I am now going to purchase other attachments as I can't wait to make more pasta.

I have only used this machine one time but it worked perfectly. The seller shipped promptly (I got this quicker than my Amazon order which was made at the same time). Word of advice..leave more time than you think to make noodles for the first go around. It takes a bit to get the hang of it if you have never made noodles before.

I'm going to date myself here: I bought my Atlas pasta machine roughly half a century ago when I was still a kid but already fascinated by food. I bought it in Italy (Amazon didn't exist yet!) and it's followed me everywhere. It is not exactly the same model number -but an Atlas pasta maker is really the way to go. As you can see already, they last forever.

A. Making the dough: I mix my dough by hand (roughly 100g to 1 egg per person) although I live in a very dry climate so I usually hold back a little of the flour (or sometimes sprinkle a little water or even add an extra egg). I have also used a Cusinart or a Kitchen-Aide to mix but it's almost more work to use those machines just to mix dough and it's not any faster. Mixing dough by hand takes a couple of minutes. The advantage of mixing by hand is you just add the flour into the eggs until you see you have a dough -and stop adding any more flour.

B. Kneading (and forming flat pasta sheets): The big roller is to knead the dough - that's what makes the pasta machine so great. The "non-machine" way to knead the pasta is to roll it out by hand, but that is a big chore whereas feeding it through the roller does the same thing faster without hand-rolling frustration. It is definitely easier and more fun to do with two people, but one person can do it alone. The first time you do this, it'll seem a bit confusing, but in fact it's easy.
1. Divide your pasta into manageable balls (remember, as it get kneaded the resultant sheet of pasta will get longer and longer so I work with a "hand wad" of dough at a time). Start on the widest setting and feed the sheet through. The results of this first feed will look a bit ragged. I cover the dough not yet being rolled with a damp paper towel to keep it from drying out.
2. Fold the sheet in half and put it through again at the same widest setting.
3. Repeat this process (fold sheet, put through widest setting) until you have a nice smooth sheet (about 5 times --sometimes a few more times).
4. Once you have a nice flat sheet, adjust the notch to the next narrowest. Don't fold any more - just feed it through once.
5. Repeat with the next narrowest notch until you end up at the lowest setting.

NOTE: From here on, you will be dusting or sprinkling the pasta with flour to keep it from sticking. Don't worry, this extra flour just falls off in the cooking water.
Your choice: You can roll out all your dough in sheets, dusting each sheet and laying them on a board (this is how everyone I know does it) or cut each sheet as soon as it is ready and then move on to another "hand-wad").

C. Cutting (unless you are using the sheets for lasagne or ravioli): I like to make tagliatelle which are wider than the cutting widths on the machine. To do this, sprinkle flour on your sheet and fold it in half. Sprinkle more flour and fold it in half again. Fold it a couple more times (flouring each time to prevent the folds from sticking to each other) until you have a sort of log-roll. Then cut across the roll about every 3/8" - it is totally unnecessary to be precise. Otherwise for a machine cut: Lightly dust the sheet with a bit of flour and then just crank the pasta sheet through one of the two cutting sizes on the machine.

Once cut (by machine or by hand): Immediately pick the cut bundle of pasta and shake it up so the individual strands of cut pasta pull apart from each other. Then sprinkle flour over it to keep the pasta strands from sticking to each other.

That's it. After you do this once or twice, it becomes a breeze and it's really fun to do. Remember, fresh pasta like this cooks in seconds: Depending on your particular pasta, it will be al dente (firm pasta) anywhere from about 5-10 seconds to about 45 seconds. Really fast. And so yummy. Atlas pasta machines really make it possible to have great pasta!