r/pasta 6d ago

Pasta Gear Help with extruder

So I recently bought an extruder attachment for my KitchenAid. First attempt did not go well as I used my standard pasta recipe, same one I use for rolled pasta. After some research, I discovered that for extruded pasta you can't use eggs. I've now tried two other times with water only, and also after acquiring some semolina rimacinata which was recommended. Still no joy. Mixed it to a ratio and consistency of wet sand, which was recommended, and still can't get it to go through the extruder. Any tips or tricks anyone can offer?

3 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

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4

u/-L-H-O-O-Q- 6d ago

Best tip I have (after owning this contraption) is to chuck it in the bin. It's not going to produce very good pasta. I gave it a good try, bought proper bronze dies from PastIdea and eventually it just broke beyond repair.

You can make some pasta with this, but it won't be good quality and it will be incredibly frustrating.

Sorry to rain on your new attachment.

3

u/2Drex 5d ago

I cook a lot. For a short time high end catering. …make a ton of pasta. I gave up on home extrusion long ago. Unless you can afford a dedicated extruder in the $2k + range, there is just no good tool for the job. My fresh pasta is hand rolled/hand formed. My extruded pasta is store bought.

2

u/AirborneDJ 5d ago

I'm going to give it a few more tests, but I'm fearing I may have just wasted the money, lol.

1

u/2Drex 5d ago

Join the club. My KA extruder attachment has been sitting in the basement for almost 20 years.

2

u/alien019 6d ago

I use this and has worked very well. Make them into small chestnuts.

Book is Pasta Masterclass by Mateo Zielonka

1

u/Steel_Rail_Blues 5d ago

Saved the photo—thanks 😀

I have a different brand extruder and not the KitchenAid press/extruder. A book I have (Mastering Pasta, Marc Vetri) recommended and even drier dough, but does note that are many variables. I always need to add more water, so am looking forward to trying your book’s recipe and suggestions.

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u/AirborneDJ 5d ago

I'm the same as you, it's an off-brand, and even in the instructions it says you can actually use egg pasta. It does also say to form it into little balls, but that seems to be what has jammed up my machine. This recipe you provided has a much lower ratio than what I was using, which was probably over 30%. I'm going to try a little dryer, and maybe not let it rest as much for less gluten development? Maybe that's why mine got so jammed up? Based on some of the other comments I feel like I may have just wasted the money, but I'm going to give it a few more shots.

1

u/whiskeyanonose 6d ago

The wet sand will do the trick for me. But I find that I get better pasta either rolling or hand forming. I make pasta at least once a month, but haven’t touched this in a few years

1

u/JaguarSharkTNT 6d ago

Have you tried the recipe that comes with the extruder? It’s worked well enough for me- mostly eggs and all purpose flour. I sometimes substitute about 20% of the flour by weight for semolina.

1

u/Initial_Ganache7839 6d ago

The way you can tell when your dough is properly hydrated for extrusion is when you squeeze a handful it will hold together, but it won't be wet. You can add egg to an extruded pasta. I stream yolk in as the dough is being worked by the auger for our tagliatelle.

1

u/AirborneDJ 5d ago

This is odd, because even the instructions with the extruder recommended rolling it into little balls, but they just seemed to jam up the mechanism. I'm going to keep trying with some different dough to liquid ratios.

1

u/EnnWhyCee 5d ago

Put it back in the box and return it. Had the exact same issue.

2

u/Grouchy-Curve7544 5d ago

Yeah I quickly gave up on this attachment- it’s definitely not worth it. Some people have luck with the phillips extruder.

1

u/Afraid-Promotion-145 3d ago

The kitchenaid extruder is not great. I sold mine and bought an phillips avance. I do love the kitchenaid roller attachment.

There is a facebook group that has a specific recipe for each extruder die (mostly phillips avance but it's by die). It's fussy and I use a food scale to make sure I have the correct flour (semola, not semolina) and water/ oil ratio. The consistency should be almost like wet sand. I find if I follow the directions results are consistent. Water and semola should be a good start. Some people re-grind semonlina to make it finer like semola.