Customer Reviews

Simac MX700 PastaMatic Pasta Maker

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Having read all of the reviews of the machine, it strikes me that people who have had trouble are probably not used to making things that require a level of attention. Making pasta is not like using a breadmaker. You can't just put all of the ingredients in the machine and walk away. Having used a CTC Pasta Express for years and being generally satisfied with it, I wasn't in the market for a machine as expensive as the Simac. But as an earlier reviewed observed, a large mail order company was selling it for 119 dollars including shipping. I decided to give it a try.
The PastaMatic 700MX operates differently than most models. For one thing, you have to weigh your flour and carefully measure the egg mixture(I use Egg Beaters). It takes longer to knead than my CTC too.
BUT...it makes the best pasta I have ever tried. The strands are much thinner than the CTC and a short dip in boiling water produces a superior pasta. I have purchased additional dies from Lello and look forward to trying them. The complaint about not being able to use 100% semolina is a recognition that that flour alone is just too dense and coarse for an extruder. No electric machine recommends using 100% semolina. But you can use a mixture of semolina and durum flour, which is a finer grind of semolina.
As for the cleanup, I was expecting all kinds of problems but it really wasn't any more difficult than any other appliance. Let it sit for an hour or so and the remaining dough will harden and be much easier to remove.
In short, I really like this machine! It takes time to make it work but that is time well spent.

My wife and I decided we wanted to make our own pasta. Step one was to see what was on the market and what others liked (and didn't). The Simac went to the top of the list very quickly. Step two, find the most reasonable price. Failing Amazon (dicont.) went to Ebay. Average price was $150 for a new or barely used machine with all the parts/manuals. So I tried my luck...no good, and I hate the outrageous shipping charges. Went to Google again and did a deeper search. Ah ha, a big name retailer had them in their clearance section for $119 (wow) with free shipping (FedEx home delivery no less). I ordered it on Tuesday night and it arrived on Friday afternoon...double wow. Due to the issues we read about below, we decided to RTFM first. However, we also decided to go with a recipe for tomato pasta from the recipe book.

After we washed all the parts, we assembled the ingredients. I happen to own a kitchen scale (I use it for my RC airplane hobby) so we used that method to measure out a lb of flour. We sifted it as directed and put in the other ingredients. Pushed the button, and added the water slowly as directed. The pasta was too wet so we added a tbs. of flour (as directed) and let it run 3 minutes more. We had to add about two more tbs. of flour to get it in the "walnut sized balls" stage. During this time, something strange happened that I'll describe at the end. Finally, we ran hot water over the die we wanted while extruding 2 "golf ball" sized lumps without the die in place (as directed). The pasta was "ragged" on the edges, but after the first foot or so it cleared right up. We just recycled it. The pasta (linguini) only took 45 seconds to cook. It tasted good, but I am now aching to try some semolina :)

The weirdness:
We have GFCI plugs in the kitchen (as is code). After the first 10 minutes of kneading, the GFCI tripped? They should only trip if the HOT (120VAC) is connected to the ground. Very weird. It tripped both GFCI's. I didn't smell any burning so I moved the machine to a non-GFCI outlet to complete the process. Weird item number two: neither switch would turn off the machine? Hmmm, I'm an EE so I had an idea of how the machine is put together. The two switches are in series (if either opens then no current will flow) and most manufacturers switch the HOT side. When I opened the unit up, I saw that they were switching the neutral side. I also saw the problem. The HOT wire had become pinched between the case and the very hefty gearbox (metal BTW) and was shorting to ground. This completed the circuit to the motor so it would run but bypassed the switches too. I wire tied the offending wire out of harm's way and all is well. The motor on this machine is massive and I am positive that running it like that did no harm. After seeing the quality of the insides, I am also positive this machine will last a lifetime.

Jay

We make a lot of pasta at our house. Because of arthritus in my hands, hand kneeding is out of the question -- so to make up a batch of dough, I use either my Simac -- my bread machine -- or my food processor. Any of the three will make acceptable pasta dough. However you do need to know going in that the dough is going to be tougher, harder, and less pliable than any bread or cookie dough. It's basically a damp flour rock.

And, YOu have to listen to the machine -- whether it's the simac, or a bread machine/food processor -- and not let your motor overheat, because, obviously, kneeding a damp flour rock is a lot of work.

But once it's all mixed evenly, the process is the same regardless of which machine mixes it, and which machine is going to turn the rock into luscious pasta... Take your flour rock and wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a half hour or more. You have to do this to give the gluten in the flour time to form the long felxible strands necessary to turn rocks into spirals of spaghetti in sauce.

Then take about half a standard pasta recipe (assuming you are starting with the standard recipe 3c-3.5c flour/4 egg/2T water/1t salt.)
Take half that rock and either press it out thin enough to start a roller version (to cut into long strands of varying lengths, or stuff like ravioli) or put it back into the simac to extrude one of the pastas that doesn't simply slice -- like penne, rigatoni, macaroni, or hollow spaghetti.

A home-sized extruder machine is always going to be a bit of a wimp-- because the big commercial machines used by dry pasta manufacturers cost thousands of dollars, take a gymnasium-sized factory to house, use mega-electricity, and turn out pasta that tastes like reconstituted school paste.

The real stuff takes time, patience, attention, and a bit of knowledge -- READ THE MANUALS! READ COOKBOOKS! TALK TO THE CHEF AT A LOCAL cafe who makes his/her own pasta.... And it also takes practice. Regardless of the machine, your 10th batch will be easier, faster, and tastier than your first. That's just the way it is.

If cooking were so easy you could get it perfect the first time, everybody would get it perfect the first time, and there would be no need for cooking schools, cookbooks, or practice. If you can balance your checkbook and drive a car, then you have mastered what it takes to make pasta or make bread, or make ice cream, or make polenta or black forest cake -- the ability to learn. So give yourself a learing curve and go learn something new. (and quit blaming the machines....)

A note about cut pastas -- even if you've got a good Simac extruder, your noodles will still be easier to deal with if you roll-cut them in a good machine like the Imperia, the Atlas, or better still, the Trattoria. You don't have to worry about noodles sticking together, to the machine, or to anything else. Not everything in the 21st century benefits by plugging it into the wall.

Best advice for pasta making: get a sturdy ironing board with a cloth cover and clamp your apsta roller to that. Flour the cloth cover and you've got sturdy, clean elbow room without emptying your crowded cabinet tops.

I've had this machine for several years now and get consistently good results. I have found from the beginning that if you weigh the flour and use the right amount of eggs, the consistency generally comes out just fine. If it is wrong (the instructions explain this) then make SMALL adjustments, and wait an ample amount of time before readjusting.

I did have a problem when the machine was about 9 months old. The motor got demonstrably louder as the cycle went on, and eventually the machine turned itself off prior to completion. After cooling off it worked again, but it didn't sound right. I sent it in to the factory and it has been fine since. I didn't quite have smoke pouring out, but it behaved like an appliance with a problem motor.

I can't say you are likely to have a problem, but I wouldn't guarantee that it won't break. Nevertheless, the company made good and now it works better than ever. It is very versatile and makes almost every kind of pasta I would want. I only wish they included the other two fettucini disks.

Update: In the four years since I wrote this review (Jan, 2001), I've gotten much more use out of it. I've found that even an experienced user can end up with some of the problems that other reviewers have mentioned, and I have managed to break some discs.

I've also managed to have success with other types of pasta that the manufacturer recommends against, such as 100% semolina. The consistency isn't quite the same as what's shown in the instructions, and you are more likely to run into problems with this type of flour, so I'd consider it too risky to even try to explain. I've also had mixed results with whole wheat. I've had it come out fine, but I also broke a disc with it. I can't blame the manufacturer since they don't recommend it in the first place. But my doctor recommends it, so I may be looking for another solution, now that I (and many health conscious people) am not supposed to eat refined flour products. It still makes excellent pasta when used as designed.

Update 2010: There are newer models and the manufacturer includes a recipe for whole wheat pasta with the latest incarnation. However, nothing has changed. Whole wheat flour does not have the bran or germ removed. If you split your whole wheat flour into two piles, refine one of them (or swap it with already refined flour) and mix them back together, you end up with flour that is not whole wheat. Claiming that "one of the ingredients is whole wheat" is true in the same sense that one of the ingredients in fruit punch might be 100% orange juice. But saying "made with 100% orange juice" would be illegal if the fruit punch isn't 100% juice. Likewise, the new machines still don't work with whole wheat flour and the recipe is for "mostly refined" wheat flour.

I bought the Simac MX700 PastaMatic Pasta Maker to replace my Cuisinart pasta maker. My Cuisinart was a bull at making pasta. It made 1-1/2 pounds at a time and was never a problem. I do not feel the same way about the Simac. Mine would overheat during extruding. Also, it barely made enough pasta to feed my family of 4. It finally died after 1-1/2 years of use. When I say died I mean it started smoking and making very strange noises. Also, there is no way I was going to send it back to Italy for service. I have resigned myself to purchasing homemade pasta at the store. I wish I could find a better pasta machine. What I really wish is that Cuisinart still made a pasta machine.

Having read a previous review (WARNING) we purchased this machine with great trepidation. Much to our delight we are entirely satisfied with this wonderful addition to our kitchen. If you follow the directions carefully this is so easy! The basic recipe calls only for 1lb of flour (I weigh it)and eggs. Turn it on for 5 minutes, check the consistency and make pasta, that simple. I strongly recommend it.

I brought one of these home, hoping that pasta nirvahna would soon appear in my kitchen. I had already gone through a similar styled but much cheaper machine that had given mixed results. Thinking that the Simac was more powerful, more expensive and made in Italy, I felt it was a most desired appliance. Anyone interested in a pasta machine should make themselves painfully aware that the absolute most critical factor in being successful is that the dough must be of the most exacting perfect condition before it is ready to be extruded. It's not easy. The first time I used this machine, as suggested by the instructions, I weighed the flour. I weighed the flour! How often do any cooks, do that? Then on bended knee I eyed the exact measurement of the liquid ingredients and started the machine. Over 10 minutes later and after adding both flour and extra water, I still didn't have the desired consistancy, so I pitched the dough that had formed, waited about 15 minutes, and started another batch. Again, the exact measurements seemed to need further tweaking as they would not produce the desired consistancy, and then the kneading paddle slowed, and smoke started to pour out of my brand new Italian pasta maker! I shut it off, and unplugged it. Maybe I got a lemon, maybe I overstressed the motor, but how can I ever trust this won't happen again? And, anyone interested should also consider another factor. It is recommended that the fresh pasta this machine makes be cooked as soon as it is extruded. Do you really want guests sitting at the table, while your sauce and water are simmering on the stove, while the outcome of the pasta is in this kind of jeopardy? I decided it's not worth it! I own a cookbook called "The Essentials of Italian Cooking" that is very insultive about the end results that these kind of extruding machines make. So based on that opinion and my lack of success with the above, I have made the following decision; if I want to make homemade pasta, I am going to have to do it the old fashioned way, knead, stretch, roll and cut. One hundred million Italian mothers can't be wrong.

This is the fourth Pasta-matic I have purchased. While it makes
excellent pasta they do eventualy wear out through use. The motor
often fails from constant use and the thermo plastic parts often fail with constant use. I use the machine on the average of
three times a month or thirty six times a year to make various
varieties of pasta wich is probably beyond the life cycle of
the machine

I have had a Simac Pastamatic for about eight years. I have owned several other brands of pasta makers. Most of the ones I previously had were not well made. They were all made in China or Taiwan. I do have an older 700 Pastamatic and it is made from a stronger and more flexible plastic. I prefer the older Pastamatic because I believe it is a better machine. I use either semolina with bread flour or all durum flour. All durum flour seems to work very well. I bought a new farmer's pasta die from Simac and I really love the texture.I recomend it if you are a pastaoholic like me. It's the closest you will ever get to commercially extruded pasta.

I used an old OSROW pasta machine for years. This is essentially identical with the Takka and the Pasta express x1000 thru 4000. This machine, while it does not have the variety of dies that the Simac has, is far superior in operation and performance. I got a simac because of all of the good reviews. I am extremely disappointed.

The Osrow was much easier to make use. The Simac has a shutter that you pull out when you are ready to extrude. The shutter leaks flour (semolina) and that jams the die and can damage it. I rarely get a full batch of pasta out of the Simac I have to work with it, clear the passage of flour and end up throwing away some dough. With the Osrow, you simply reverse the (more powerful) motor when you are ready to extrude and the pasta comes out perfectly. It is much easier to operate than the Simac and seems to be much sturdier.

I intend to sell the Simac and go back to the pasta express/Osrow.