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 enlarge | Brand: Simac
List Price: $259.99
Buy New: $255.00
You Save: $4.99 (2%)
Rating:  42 reviews
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Fragile: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 20
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 10.8 x 10.3
MPN: MX700
Model: 2700
UPC: 044387997003
EAN: 0044387997003
ASIN: B00004RDF1
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Useless piece of junk December 14, 2006
R. Towner (US)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I bought this a few months back, and have yet to make a batch of pasta. We bought the "precise kitchen scales" per several recommendations and followed the directions precisely. The dough ends up a clump of glue that doesn't feed through the pasta die holes. Clean-up is a total mess, the pasta dies included are not for any popular/normal shapes, and on the first use my wife cracked one of the plastic dies that was included. We resorted to pulling out the dough, rolling it out, and cutting it by hand on the last use, and that even didn't work right. My advice is to stay far-away from the pasta maker, as the construction is flimsy/weak, its very difficult to clean, and unless you have more luck that us, you won't get it to produce pasta. It's become a $65 piece of junk taking up a corner of one of our back kitchen cabinets.
 FANTASTIC PASTA MAKER November 25, 2006
Cynthia Robutka (WEATHERFORD, TEXAS United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
THIS IS MY FIRST PURCHASE OF A PASTA MAKER. IT IS FANTASTIC. I HAVE USED ALL THE DIFFERENT PASTA DIES THAT CREATE THE SHAPE OF THE PASTA WITH NO PROBLEM. THE DIES ARE STRONG. YOU GET AN EXTRA RING THAT HOLDS THE DIE IN PLACE BECAUSE WHEN FIRST LEARNING TO JUDGE THE CONSISTENCY OF THE DOUGH SOME MAKE THE DOUGH TOO HARD AND FORCING IT THROUGH THE DIE CAN CAUSE THE RING TO BREAK. THE TRICK HERE IS TO BE SURE YOUR DOUGH IS THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY, NOT TOO DRY AND NOT TOO STICKY. I DID NOT KNOW IF I WOULD EVEN LIKE FRESH PASTA BUT I MUST SAY IT WAS WONDERFUL. CLEANING IS EASY AND THE BOOK THAT COMES WITH IT SUGGESTS YOU LET THE DOUGH DRY ON THE PASTA DIES FOR EASY CLEANING AS YO CAN THEN JUST CRUMBLE OFF AND DOUGH THAT IS LEFT HARDENED ON THE DIE MUCH EASIER. IT COMES WITH AN INSTRUCTION BOOK AND A RECIPE BOOK AND AN ORDER FORM FOR MORE DIES IF YOU WOULD LIKE ADDING TO THE COLLECTION OF PASTA SHAPES. I WILL USE THIS MACHINE OFTEN. IT IS FANTASTIC!
Giusto Quello Che Ci Vuole! November 6, 2006
John Peiffer (Portland, OR USA)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
We made the switch to the Simac with some trepidation after having been very happy with our former machine for so many years, but we found this unit to be a very pleasant surprise. The design is fairly simple with quick assembly and disassembly for cleaning. There are fewer parts which are much easier to clean than our previous model and the manner in which they fit together provides a good seal and functional placement for filling the mixing chamber and handling the extruding pasta through the die in the front. The variety of dies satifies all of our needs for different shapes and the dies store conveniently in a rack in the back of the unit where the power cord is coiled whether you stow the unit in a cabinet, leave it on your counter for frequent use, or slide it across into a small appliance garage. The motor is powerful enough to mix and extrude without bogging down and is much quieter than our older model, making it possible to carry on a normal conversation with all of the other activity going in the kitchen at the same time. If you're looking for a way to enjoy fresh pasta meals on a regular basis without having to hassle with your machine, this will certainbly do the trick for you. Buon appetito!
The dies are too fragile November 6, 2006
D. Cibotti (Louisville, KY)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Less than one month after puchasing this pasta machine all of the pasta dies have broken. The ring nuts cannot hold the dies in place and they break. Maybe it is because I was making semolina pasta, but that should not be the case. This machine has caused me way too much stress at dinner time. Knowing what I know now I would buy fresh pasta at the store.
Extruded pasta -- for rolled pasta, get a crank roller! July 18, 2006
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (in the dry, hot, dark of the desert)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
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.
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