Making pasta is very easy! I can't believe how many people shy away from it. The dough is not as soft as bread dough. But it should feel firm - not hard.

Even though I have a couple different pasta making machines - I still steer towards the knife for cutting.

Thanks for the tips. I think for now, I already have enough on my plate (no pun intended) than to whittle down dough into individual spaghetti without a machine. I do have a full time job ya know.

I wonder if you can buy the bronze plates for smoother pasta?

Jafo - take a look at some of the pasta machines out there - you'd be surprised! It would most likely be cheaper and less time-consuming than looking for bronze plates!

Besides which they wouldn't fit on any machine you have, as they are made to work with rather large (compared to your meat grinder) extruders.

I'd listen to Mama. If you want to make your own pasta, and figure to do a lot of it, get one of the pasta machines and the appropriate cutters to go with it. Or, if you have a KA stand mixer, I hear good things about their pasta making attachment.

Easy!

Pasta making is fun and not that hard to do if you know how to do it well.

Make the authentic recipie with just flour and eggs..

It's explained step by step on MakeFreshPasta.com and Jamie olivers website..

And dont use the grinder.. just fold it togheter and slice it very thin, or use a proper
pasta maker.. alot of fun!