Top 10 Pasta Machines in 2024 – Reviewed & Buying Guide

Preparing fresh pasta at home is a ritual that many mothers and grandmothers still dedicate themselves to on Sunday mornings, but why limit yourself to the weekend?

With the latest generation of fresh pasta machines, it is possible to knead, roll out and shape multiple portions of pasta with the push of a button, all in a few minutes.

Right here we had listed out the best pasta machines for you.

What to Look for Before Buying Pasta Machine?

1. Structure

Rolling pin, manual machine, and electric machine: these are the three ways we have available today to make fresh homemade pasta. Those who have time and patience will be able to follow tradition with ease using the classic rolling pin, or the manual machine.

Instead, for all those who have tight deadlines, but who do not want to give up fresh pasta, we recommend the use of the electric machine.

Automatic Pasta Machine

The success of these utensils is an indication of how homemade pasta is the red thread of Italian home cooking through the generations. Although there are now many types of ready-made pasta of good quality, many people still delight in following grandma’s old recipes.

Making pasta at home is an activity mainly relegated to the idea of ​​Sunday family lunch, and even if this happens sporadically, it still remains present in our imagination. The electric machine is an updated version of the traditional machine and represents an easier and faster alternative.

There are at least two main types and various models on the market. On this page, we will introduce you to

Electric Pasta Machine Motor

You will have happened to want to improve the quality of the pastry you make at home or to want to make a type of fresh pasta that you have never made and ask yourself how it is done.

Precisely starting from this question, we will first begin to analyze the types of electric machines available in the online showcases of the Italian market and then the thickness and shapes of the pasta they allow to make.

The dough is an important food present not only in culinary culture but also in that of other countries. By now there are also electric machines produced by North European and American companies that attach recipes with truly international dishes: from the renowned varieties of Italian pasta to Japanese soba noodles.

To narrow down the field, we specify that on this page we will refer to the Italian culinary context, but we do not rule out that even a good “made in Italy” Italian pasta machine can contribute to the creation of Asian dishes.

The types of Italian pasta here are many that can be made with the electric machine: just think of the simple sheet for lasagna, tagliolini, and pappardelle, but also ravioli and short pasta like penne.

Electric Machine with Rollers

The electric machine equipped with rollers has the appearance of a classic manual machine, with the addition, however, of an engine, which can be removable or not.

Which we will discuss in greater detail later since we consider it the fourth decisive factor in the choice. Very often the pasta machine with rollers can also provide manual operation with the crank.

Pasta Machine with Electric and Manual Function

The central body is usually made up of a metal structure, often equipped with a pin which is also metal which allows the machine to be fixed to the work surface, exactly like the traditional machine models.

The central body is equipped with a power button, knob for adjusting the thickness of the pasta and if manual operation is also envisaged, a hole for applying the crank.

Smooth rolls for the dough: these are completely smooth rolls. They are the most important because they are used to work the dough and reduce it to ever thinner and more elastic thicknesses.

The rollers should allow you to make sheets that are not less than 14 cm wide: an adequate size for creating a lasagna

• Cutting rollers for fettuccine: cut the sheet previously obtained by creating fettuccine (approx. 6 mm)
• Cutter rolls for noodles: they have even narrower slots, to cut the dough into thin noodles (approx.1.5 mm)
• The best machines allow the application of further components for the creation of other shapes of pasta. This possibility will be presented under the third factor.

Extrusion Machine

This type of machine is still not widespread in the kitchens of Italian families and still represents a novelty, while it seems to be more widespread abroad. The extrusion machine resembles professional pasta machines in its structure and function.

Due to its very nature of the operation, as you can also guess by looking at the photo on the side, machines of this type are not suitable for making the sheet for lasagna, but allow the easy realization of short pasta.

The external structure of most commercial models is usually plastic. The structure of a good extrusion machine for domestic use

2. Types of Pasta

With these premises, we will go into detail and analyze the second factor, inherent to the types of pasta you can make, for which aspects such as the processing method, the thickness and the cut of the pasta are relevant: we will see them all separately in the next sections.

Preparation and Processing of The Mass

Undoubtedly, to obtain good consistency results, it will be necessary to have full control of the quality of the ingredients and of the mass preparation procedures.

Extrusion machines equipped with a kneading function require particular attention in terms of doses and mixing order of the ingredients, but do not require any manual effort in creating the dough matrix.

From this point of view, an extrusion machine with a mixer can really be more comfortable than the electric machine equipped with rollers.

Types of Pasta

On the other hand, in the case of machines with rollers, or perhaps extrusion machines not equipped with a mixer, greater experience and dexterity will be required.

To have an ideal preparation, it will be necessary to follow a few but fundamental indications. Let’s take the preparation of egg pasta as an example.

The processing of the pasta can be divided into 3 phases:

• Preparation of The Dough with Fresh Ingredients: the processing of the mass may last approx. 20 minutes, until an elastic and uniform mass, is obtained. Once the ball of dough is obtained, it must be wrapped in a transparent plastic film and left to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
• Processing of The Mass: for approx. 15 minutes, using the smooth roller initially set to the maximum opening, then folding the dough and reworking it by thinning the thickness, an operation to be repeated until the desired thickness is reached
• Cut and Shape: you can proceed to cut the sheets in various shapes, being careful to keep the remaining part always in the film, thus avoiding drying it

The Thickness of The Dough

It is obviously important to consider the thickness of the pasta that the machine allows making.

An electric machine with rollers will have the possibility to adjust the thickness of the smooth roller: as mentioned above, from a maximum of approx. 2 cm, up to a minimum of approx. 0.3 mm. This is possible with both electric and manual models or with those that provide for both operations.

As for extrusion machines, on the other hand, we note that the thickness of the sheet will be determined by the disc that we will use: from the point of view of the thickness adjustment, we can say that the machines equipped with rollers are more versatile because they allow you to adjust the thickness at will.

In addition, a good electric roller machine will allow you to decrease the thickness gradually: a machine equipped with a greater number of levels for adjusting the thickness can produce sheets of different thicknesses, in order to meet the expectations of the most precise chefs.

Of course, according to your personal taste, you will prefer one thickness rather than another, but undeniably a very thin sheet of approx. half a millimeter will be more suitable for the creation of filled pasta, such as tortellini and ravioli.

Among the best machines, we find models that allow one thickness adjustment from 6 to 10 different levels. Most machines allow 6 levels of adjustment of the sheet, but what you are interested in observing, regardless of the number of levels provided, is above all the minimum thickness of the sheet that level 1 can achieve.

We point out that in the technical data sheets and on the official websites of the manufacturers you will find the maximum and minimum thickness indicated, but not the values ​​of the intermediate levels.

Dough Shape

Once the desired thickness has been reached, the third stage of processing involves cutting the dough. In fact, we will now evaluate the main forms that can be created. Let’s see what kind of pasta can be made respectively with the roller machine and with the extrusion machine.

With the Roller Machine

Based on your habits and preferences, you can choose between various cuts, such as the simple sheet for lasagna, fettuccine, and tagliolini: these are the main shapes that can be prepared with the vast majority of Italian machines that work with rollers.

For completeness of information, we give you some examples of the types of pasta that a roller machine can make. Indicatively, from a sheet of a thickness of approx. 0.5 mm, you can get:

• Pappardelle between 1 and 2 cm wide
• 5-6 mm noodles
• Noodles of 1.5-2 mm

Always with the “basic” sheet, you can make square pasta for the broth, suitably cut by hand, and the butterflies. Lasagna cannot be missing, for which you should use the measurements of your pan as a reference, and cannelloni.

With the Extrusion Machine

If, on the other hand, you wish to prepare short pasta such as penne and macaroni, we advise you to direct your choice on a type of extrusion machine which with specific interchangeable discs will allow you to make this particular type of pasta as well, of course, as well as tagliatelle and tagliolini.

To give you an overview as wide as possible, we will present the possibility of making other types of pasta too, by applying special additional components, such as the accessory to make the ravioli, to the models that provide this possibility, which is usually roller ones.

3. Additional Components

Below the previous sections, we have exposed the importance of the structure of the pasta machine and the types of pasta that can be made.

Consequently, in this section we will deepen the topic by treating the additional components that can be applied to the roller and extrusion machines for the realization of other more complex shapes, such as ravioli and gnocchi.

Accessories for Roller Machines

The best manufacturers of roller machines make available various accessories applicable to the basic machine to make other types of pasta. However, be careful to read the instructions carefully, because often these accessory components work only manually, and not with the motor function activated.

We will now review the most significant accessory parts you can purchase for your electric roller machine:

• Additional cutters for spaghetti of approx. 2 mm wide
• Additional cutting rollers for cappelletti of approx. 1.5 mm wide
• Additional cutting rollers for trenette of ca. 4 mm wide
• Accessory for making ravioli
• Accessory for making dumplings
• Accessory component for ravioli

Accessories for Extrusion Machines

On the other hand, as we have already pointed out, the extrusion machines require the application of interchangeable disks through which the dough can pass, which can also allow you to make short pasta such as Annette, cannelloni, and even fusilli, shells, radiators, pipes, home-made products, but do not allow, for example, the production of pasta for ravioli.

4. Type of Engine

Some information relating to the quality of the motor cannot be missing, because we are considering the type of pasta machine equipped with the motor. Our main concern is that the motor is effective, resistant and that, if removable, it is easy and solid to apply.

Integrated or Removable Motor?

A preliminary distinction that we must make, to evaluate its quality and performance, concerns the position of the engine: there are models with an engine integrated into the machine itself and models that allow automatic use with a removable external motor.

Let’s see the advantages and disadvantages of both of these options.

Integrated Motor

An engine of this type will have less chance of being exposed to external agents and therefore of being subject to breakage. For this reason, it is preferable to the second type of engine.

However keep in mind that in this case, the warranty of the machine will be unique, therefore in the bad wish, if the engine breaks out of warranty and cannot be repaired, the machine will have to be completely replaced with a new one.

Removable External Motor

Removable engine the second case the motor is external, therefore it is more exposed to possible damages. However, if necessary, you can buy a spare part in case of failure or use the machine simply by hand.

Another positive aspect of this type is that in this case, the guarantees should be two: one for the machine (even up to 10 years) and one for the external motor, which can be guaranteed for 2 years.

It might be interesting to observe the system for hooking the motor to the body of the machine: the best solution is a bayonet mechanism. However, we point out that even in the best models you can find plastic pins, which have a greater probability of breakage.

Wattage

In general, for this type of non-professional appliance, the motor will have very low power, and therefore consumption will also be very low.

In fact, if it is true that professional pasta machines have powered up to 1000 Watts, in the models for domestic use you can find a wattage between 70 and 100 Watts for roller machines, and up to approx. 200 Watt for extrusion machines also equipped with a mixer.

Noise

Apart from the wattage, we point out that the information provided by the manufacturers on the pasta machine motor is often incomplete. For example, no noise indications are provided, but in any case, a pasta machine will emit a slightly annoying dull sound in almost all cases.

Speed

Also with regards to speed, you will not find complete and standardized indications. You will be able to find the speed of the rolls or the quantity of extruded pasta in a certain period of time.

On machines with rollers, there may be a button for adjusting the speed on two levels for working the mass and for creating the shape.
Instead, for extrusion machines, the quantity of extruded pasta per minute can be indicated.