Product Description

Pinzon 5.9-inch Pasta Maker

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #772 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Brand: Amazon
• Model: FJ150
• Released on: 2008-12-04
• Dimensions: 14.00" h x 5.10" w x 5.00" l,

Features

• Hand-cranking pasta machine makes many kinds of pasta
• Gleaming stainless-steel body and cutting blades
• Adjustable steel rollers have 9 thickness settings
• Removable handle and counter clamp makes storage compact
• Wipes clean; imported

Amazon.com Product Description
Clamp this pasta machine to your counter or table edge, choose a setting, and you're ready to turn out fresh homemade pasta. Crank by hand as you feed in your dough to make thin spaghetti or medium-width fettuccine noodles. Made of gleaming stainless steel, the machine's adjustable rollers can press your dough into long sheets (up to 5-1/2 inches wide) in a choice of nine thicknesses. You can then cut the sheets into squares for making ravioli, or longer sections for lasagna. After use, wipe the machine clean or run a damp paper towel or piece of felt through it. Remove the handle and clamp for compact storage. This machine measures approximately 6-1/4 inches high by 7-3/4 inches wide by 8 inches deep (without the handle and clamp). It’s imported.

Customer Reviews

Solid Product - Excellent Value
I received the Pinzon Pasta Maker as a gift though I already own my trusty Atlas hand-crank model from Italy. So, I decided to put them through a side-by-side comparison. I am from Italy and have spent countless hours in the kitchen at our family restaurant back home... and have made plenty of pasta noodles.

When making fresh pasta, it is important to set up your workspace with adequate room to provide comfortable access to your machine, so you can crank it easily with one hand and lead the pasta out with the other hand. Also, be sure you always clamp it tightly to the lip of your work surface (like a sturdy counter or table top) so the machine won't walk away. It is also helpful to have consistent dough that is not too sticky. Keep flour on hand to dust it if it does become sticky otherwise you'll be fighting with it the whole time.

To perform my comparison, I made a typical basic dough (flour, egg, salt). I would say right off, that I admittedly did not want to like a machine that wasn't from Italy, but I put my national pride aside. The first impression is the Pinzon model is lighter in weight than the Italian counterpart, however once clamped to the counter top it remained secure through the entire process of making pasta, and the weight difference proved to be irrelevant. The mechanics of the Pinzon machine are excellent, and it moves the dough through with ease and consistency, with an adjustment knob to bring the rollers together, making the sheets thinner and thinner until the desired thickness is achieved. The first few turns of the knob were a little stiff probably because the machine was new, because it got easier with use. The cutters worked great and produced excellent fine ribbons - angel hair on one side, fettuccine on the other. Side by side with the Atlas, I could find nothing to complain about. (Except that I paid quite a bit more for my machine than the price of this one). This is a well- built, solid machine that will provide years of service. One other note, the motor for my Atlas machine also fit onto the Pinzon machine - a great feature since it frees up your hands to guide the pasta!

This lives up to the Pinzon standard of providing a great product for a great price and I give it 5 stars. Bravo!

Solid quality and performance
Why didn't I buy this sooner??? This machine is very well built and sturdy. I think that you could run over it with a dump truck and it wouldn't get a scratch on it. It is pretty heavy once the fettuccine attachment is on there, so make sure that it is clamped down tight. You will need a pretty significant lip on your counter for the clamp to fit properly (I'd say about at least 1.5-2 inches). I do not believe that this machine will work properly without the clamp (it will slide all over the place), so take this into consideration. I also believe that there is a Good Eats episode where Alton Brown screws or clamps his pasta roller onto an ironing board, so it is possible to use another surface. :)

The simple formula in the manual is quite tasty. Like other reviews have said, it cannot be sticky or the stickiness will transfer to the machine. It should be dry enough to look like it's wrong (which is very hard if you are a bread baker!). For the first run-through, the 1 lb of dough was more than enough to get rid of all of the grease/metal/residue. Just make sure that you roll the dough totally across all of the surfaces because I found the majority of the grease to be on the sides.

The dough rolls smoothly through each setting. One thing that I wish I could change would be the dial. I find it fairly tricky to do with one hand and I usually end up draping the dough over my arm while I use two hands to change the dial settings. It's not that big of a deal and I just make sure to wash my arm before starting. I have not made any other types of pasta dough other than egg, so I cannot comment on how sticky the dough would be with the addition of spinach or tomatoes.

I also learned that you can run bread dough through the smaller cutter to make bread sticks. Just roll out the dough, run through the cutter, twist, season and drizzel a little olive oil and bake.

All in all, this a fantastic product that was built to last. Just remember to tighten the clamp... more than once I didn't screw it tight enough and the machine nearly fell off of the counter while I was turning the crank on the tougher low number settings. Be careful... rolling that darn dough is quite addicting!

The Pinzon name attracted me to this one...
After tasting a friend's homemade pasta, I knew there is just no comparison with the store-bought stuff. It was out of this world! I would recommend anyone who wants to try pasta-making to go with this model. I own a number of Pinzon products and have found the quality to be excellent.

The Pinzon pasta maker is not hard to handle. It looks to be the same size as an Imperia 150, which I've looked at in the stores, right down to the same shape and noodle types. The Pinzon has three more dough-roller settings (9) than the Imperia (6), and the notches in the knob are covered in the Pinzon one as opposed to being open (and subject to getting dough shoved inside) like the Imperia's knob. It's a bit hard to read the settings, which are etched into the steel knob cover, but once you get the feel of it it won't matter.

I do wish the Pinzon handle knob was not plastic, however. I am really trying to eliminate all plastic from my kitchen. But it helps keep the price down, I'm sure. Also, the stainless steel portion of the handle slides through the end of the handle knob; I'd rather the end of the knob be solid instead of open.

When you get your pasta machine, or even before you get it, read up on advice on how to make the best pasta dough and how to care for your machine. I expect it's going to be roughly the same procedure for all manual pasta makers. I liked the recipe of 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup semolina flour, and 1 egg, then only add water by dipping your fingers in water as you work the dough. Also be sure to let the dough rest half an hour before running it through the machine. I also read somewhere that you can clean your pasta machine by running a piece of bread or felt through it. (So far, I've taken the advice of one reviewer who said "never clean your pasta machine." That's kind of how I handle my cast iron skillet, swiping it out with a paper towel only. I haven't died yet.)

Oh, and I really appreciate the Italian reviewer who was able to compare the Pinzon with an Atlas. It makes me feel super-good about getting this pasta machine....