Best Pasta Equipment to Prepare And Cook Fresh Pasta like Handmade

Pasta is an Italian delicacy with innumerable fans all over the world. Serving multiple types of pasta is a good addition to your menu; even more, serving freshly made pasta undoubtedly will fascinate customers. The process of making pasta requires a little time and labor, but the outcome is well worth it. By using quality ingredients and knowing which pasta equipment to use, you will make the best pasta that will make frequenters.

Pasta Equipment and Tools

Pasta making requires quite simple tools such as cups and spoons for preparing the dough, a work surface for kneading, a rolling pin, and cutting tools. Aside from this basic equipment, various pasta equipment simplifies and fastens the preparing, rolling, cutting, and cooking processes. Here are all the pasta equipment and tools you need for producing freshly handmade pasta.

1. Mixing Bowls

Mixing bowls can be used to mix dough ingredients instead of mixing on a work surface.

2. Flour Dredger or Sifter

A sifter, or a dredger, is a metal tool consisting of a container with holes in its lid. It is designed for dusting a thin coat of flour on pasta.

3. Baker’s Scale

A baker’s scale can be used anywhere in the kitchen, from offering customers the same amount of pasta to getting accurate weights while preparing the pasta dough.

4. Pastry Board

Pastry boards are to work on, knead, roll and cut the pasta dough into shapes. Pastry boards are generally made of wood, plastic, or marble. Wooden boards are the most popular ones and are believed to help the dough to get into the right consistency by absorbing moisture. While you can work on a counter as well, a pastry board can be moved so you can take your cut pasta to cook easily. The larger the board, the easier it is to work on but consider your available space to store it before choosing.

5. Pasta Rolling Pin

Unlike baking rolling pins, pasta rolling pins don’t have handles that provide to roll out larger and thinner dough sheets. Most pasta rolling pins are thinner and longer than baking pins, and it may take some time to master using them. You will use a good rolling pin for a lifetime, so choose the one that is more fitting for your hand and that you are more comfortable working with.

6. Pastry Scraper

A pastry scraper is practical pasta equipment used for various pasta-making functions. You can mix the ingredients of dough, divide the dough, or even clean off the dough residues from the board using a pastry scraper. An ergonomic grip and a durable stainless steel blade are what you should look for in a scraper if you use it frequently and want it to last for a long time.

7. Electric Mixer with Dough Hook

Using a mixer for making pasta dough is a speedy alternative to doing it by hand. Most commercial mixers come with a dough hook that mixes the ingredients thoroughly and produces a consistent dough much faster than manually. Just put the elements of dough inside the bowl of the mixer, and leave the rest to it.

8. Food Processor

A food processor is another pasta piece of equipment you will need if you wish to make various vegetable-flavored pasta or sauces. You can also use a food processor to blend the dough of pasta. You can choose the size of the processor depending on the volume of the business and available storage. Food choppers are another alternative to food processors, which will come in handy for small operations.

9. Pasta Wheels

Pasta wheels are tools with cutting wheels used to cut the pasta into stripes. Stainless steel ones are quite durable, and the blades may come in various shapes to give the pasta different patterns on the cut edges, such as in ravioli or lasagna. It may have one or two blades to cut similarly.

10. Multiple Pasta Cutter Wheel

Also known as a pasta bike, a pasta cutter wheel is a piece of pasta equipment consisting of multiple pasta wheels. A pasta bike can have up to five-wheel cutters that will provide evenly cut strips, or squares, of pasta. You can adjust the width of the strips as you wish and cut a bunch of dough in a little time.

11. Pasta Cutter Tool

Pasta cutters are like-cookie-cutter tools that cut circles from the pasta dough to make ravioli or other stuffed pasta. The cutter’s edges can be fluted or smooth to create patterned shapes. If you already have a cookie cutter, it will work as well.

12. Ravioli Rolling Pin

A ravioli rolling pin is a pin designed with indentations in the shape of a square, and it is one of the easiest ways of making ravioli. You mark out the pasta dough by rolling the pin, add the stuffing and fold the other half over to make the top layer; roll the pin over, and there is your ravioli-shaped pasta.

13. Ravioli Tray

A ravioli tray is a tray with cutouts in the shape of ravioli. It is said to be an easier way of making ravioli and makes less waste than a ravioli pin. Lay a sheet of pasta dough on top of the tray, place stuffing of ravioli in each square, lay the top sheet of pasta, and roll over with a rolling pin to cut the squares apart.

14. Gnocchi Board

Butter paddle, gnocchi board, or cavarola board are all wooden boards with ridged-surface to make textured pasta on. These boards are great if you want to offer handmade artisanal pasta to your customers. You can make patterned pasta such as gnocchi or garganelli by rolling the cut pasta pieces over the board. It will take the grooves of the paddle on and roll by the pressure. The cavarola board is the same as the gnocchi board; the only difference is its crosshatch patterns.

15. Drying Rack

A drying rack provides an efficient way to dry freshly made pasta with circulating air. It consists of a base and hanging dowels to place pasta strips. The base should be solid enough to carry the weight of the pasta. Drying racks are simple to use, easy to clean, and use little counter space.

16. Pasta Machine/Extruder

Pasta machines/extruders enable you to make bulk amounts of pasta and use little time. You just place the pasta ingredients in the built-in mixing bowl of the extruder and watch it make the dough by mixing and extruding the pasta in various shapes. The replaceable die enables you to make any shapes of pasta you want, and more number of dies means more variety of pasta shapes. They are mostly aluminum with stainless steel parts that are in touch with the pasta.

17. Hand-Cranked Pasta Roller And Cutters

Pasta rollers, or dough sheeters, are the practical pasta equipment that provides evenly rolled pasta dough that you can’t achieve by rolling with a rolling pin. Just place the dough between the rollers and watch it come out smoothly rolled through the rollers. You can adjust the rollers to get the desired thickness of the pasta sheets. It is done by a knob in a manual pasta machine that you can move to widen or narrow the space between the rollers to adjust the thickness of the pasta dough.

There are electric and manual pasta rollers. Manual pasta machines can be operated by a hand crank or electric motor, which will be more practical for continuous use. The machines usually have cutter attachments that can cut spaghetti or fettuccine strips. Still, you can get additional attachments in different shapes to make other various pasta types, such as ravioli. After properly adjusting the width for each pasta type and cutting it into the desired shape, you will have the perfect textured, fresh handmade pasta ready to cook and serve your customers.

Pasta Equipment for Cooking And Sauce

After getting your handmade pasta ready, it is time to cook it. Pasta is an excellent dish, whether with or without sauce, but the various sauces undoubtedly double the savoriness. Here is the basic equipment to use for cooking pasta and preparing sauces.

1. Stockpot

The first and biggest step in cooking pasta is boiling it. A stockpot will do the job simply.

2. Colander

After getting the pasta cooked, you need to drain it before it is left in hot water and gets mushy. A colander is a bowl with holes to pour the pasta in and drain the water through the holes. Stainless steel colanders will be more durable, and choosing one with firm handles and a base to stand on the countertop or in the sink will make it more efficient and practical.

3. Spider strainer

Instead of a colander, you can use a spider strainer to gently take the pasta out of boiling water when it is cooked. It is better for stuffed pasta since it prevents dispersing or smashing that the colander makes when pasta is dumped into it.

4. Graters

Pasta and cheese are two inseparable things, such as cookies and milk or ketchup and mustard. No matter the type, most pasta recipes include cheese, so getting a cheese grater is a good idea. Aside from cheese, you can grate other toppings such as nutmeg or garlic for sauces. There are rotary, box, and microplane graters.

5. Food Mill

A food mill is a piece of necessary pasta equipment for making various sauces to serve your handmade pasta. A food mill works best to make tomato sauces by separating the seeds from the pulp. You can also make mashed potatoes or pureed vegetables. Look for stainless steel models if you want them to last longer and not rust.

6. Pasta Cooker

Pasta cookers are fryer-like pasta equipment designed with a basket and water bath. Gas and electric pasta cookers are programmable supplies that are designed to provide perfectly cooked pasta. To ensure accurate cooking, you can adjust the cooker to drop and lift the basket at certain times. Pasta cookers also come with a drain to prevent overflows.

7. Pasta Rinse Station

Pasta rinse stations may come attached to commercial pasta cookers or separately and are used to rinse away the undesired starch from the pasta. These pasta equipment are designed with a faucet, a deep tank, and an overflow drain. The included drain screen prevents blockages by catching the starches and debris.

To Sum Up

Taking its roots in Italy, pasta is a staple food and part of various cuisines with numerous types and recipes. The flavor that comes from the freshness of the handmade pasta and the enticing sauces combine and creates a dish that has many lovers that is understandable. Whatever you cook in your restaurant, choosing the right commercial kitchen equipment is the key point. So, you can make your own handmade pasta with carefully chosen basic pasta equipment and serve customers freshly. Lastly, you can find new inventions that are more practical and designed to facilitate your work, in addition to the traditional pasta equipment.

Originally published on https://www.chefsdeal.com/blog/