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See why.The Best Manual Pasta Machines
What separates a great pasta machine from one that’s just good?
We still think the Marcato Atlas 150 Wellness Pasta Machine is the best manual pasta machine for most people. But if you’re willing to spend more, we also like its big sibling, the Marcato Atlas 180 Pasta Roller. It’s nearly identical to our favorite, and it can handle more dough at a time and roll out bigger sheets that are great for lasagna.
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What You Need To Know
You can roll fresh pasta with a rolling pin and cut it into noodles with a knife, but pasta machines make the process faster and easier and the results more uniform. Although electric models are becoming more common, hand-cranked pasta machines are still the most prevalent and affordable options on the market.
To use one, you anchor the base to a table or counter and then turn a crank to rotate two rollers, feeding the dough through them in order to flatten it. A knob on the side of the machine allows you to adjust the distance between the rollers and thus the thickness of your pasta sheet: You start with the widest (thickest) setting and progressively reduce the distance between the rollers until the dough reaches your desired thinness. Once the sheet of pasta is as thin as you want it to be, you can use it to make ravioli or other stuffed pasta; alternatively, you can cut it into either fettuccine or narrow, angel hair–like strands with the noodle-cutting attachment that comes standard with each of the machines.
While you can buy manual pasta machines in different sizes, those built to accommodate pasta sheets that are 150 millimeters (about 6 inches) across are the most common. So we bought several models, using them to make fresh pasta sheets and then the cutting sheets into fettuccine and angel hair. We also ran pasta dough through all the settings on each model, measuring how thick the resulting sheets were at each stage.
All of the machines were simple to set up, and none of them budged after being clamped to the counter. Better still, they all produced great pasta. But small design differences made some easier to use than others. One machine required us to use both hands to turn the knob that adjusted the thickness of the pasta dough, a maneuver that slowed down the rolling-out process a bit. Another had a knob that didn’t quite align with the markings used to denote the thickness settings, making it hard to tell which setting was being used. We preferred models with knobs that could be turned with just one hand and that clearly indicated the thickness setting.
Some of the noodle-cutting attachments were also a bit problematic. Two had dull or misaligned blades that perforated the pasta sheets but didn’t always cut through them, requiring us to pull the noodles apart by hand afterward. A minor inconvenience but one we’d rather avoid.
Finally, we preferred models that could roll the dough out to a large range of possible thicknesses. The number of settings itself wasn’t critical, although some test cooks appreciated models that provided more options. It was more important that the models have rollers that could be adju...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Knobs: 3 stars out of 3.
- Thickness Settings: 3 stars out of 3.
- Noodle-Cutting Attachment: 3 stars out of 3.
The Ferrari of the pasta machine world, this model was a little more expensive than the others, but it sure was a pleasure to handle. It sported both the widest and the narrowest thickness settings in our lineup; we barely had to roll dough out to fit it through the machine, and we could effortlessly dial the machine down to produce gossamer-thin sheets. Its laser-sharp noodle attachment produced perfect fettuccine and angel hair every time.
- Knobs: 3 stars out of 3.
- Thickness Settings: 3 stars out of 3.
- Noodle-Cutting Attachment: 3 stars out of 3.
This manual pasta machine is nearly identical to our favorite, featuring the same wide range of thickness settings, razor-sharp noodle cutters, and easy-to-use dial. It’s just bigger, with rollers and attachments that are about 1 inch wider than those of other machines. That means you can process slightly more dough at a time and roll out wider pasta sheets that are great for lasagna. The only downside? It’s quite expensive.
Recommended
- Knobs: 2 stars out of 3.
- Thickness Settings: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Noodle-Cutting Attachment: 3 stars out of 3.
This model had a slightly smaller range of thickness settings, and we needed to use both hands in order to adjust them, slowing down the pasta-making process somewhat. But it made beautiful, precisely cut fettuccine and angel hair every time. And it came with a handy plate that helped guide the sheets of pasta through the machine.
Recommended with reservations
- Knobs: 3 stars out of 3.
- Thickness Settings: 3 stars out of 3.
- Noodle-Cutting Attachment: 0.5 stars out of 3.
This pasta machine’s attachment didn’t always cut through the pasta sheets, forcing us to separate half the noodles by hand. And while its thinnest setting was fine for fettuccine and angel hair, it might be a tad thick for ravioli or wonton skins. Otherwise, this model was easy to use.
- Knobs: 2 stars out of 3.
- Thickness Settings: 2 stars out of 3.
- Noodle-Cutting Attachment: 0.5 stars out of 3.
This model produced nice thin sheets of pasta, but the rollers couldn’t go quite as wide as some of the other models, so we had to roll the dough out by hand a little more before it could be inserted. More problematic was that its attachment didn’t consistently cut through the pasta sheets, requiring us to pull noodles apart afterward. A minor issue was that its knob didn’t quite align properly with the markings for the thickness settings, making it hard to tell which setting we were using at any time.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
Miye Bromberg
Miye is a senior editor for ATK Reviews. She covers booze, blades, and gadgets of questionable value.