Buying guide
Pasta Maker Buying Guide (2026)
How to choose a pasta maker: roller against extruder, thickness control, shapes, cleaning, and the real effort each type demands.
Start with the pasta you actually cook
List the shapes you cook in a normal month before comparing machines. Spaghetti, fettuccine, and lasagne point to a roller, since rollers excel at sheets and flat noodles. Penne and tube shapes point to an extruder, since rollers cannot make them. A machine that covers shapes you never cook is wasted money, however impressive its box looks.
Decision framework: buy this type if, avoid if
Buy a manual roller if you enjoy the process, make filled pasta, or want the thinnest sheets. Avoid manual rollers if you want pasta quickly on busy evenings. Buy a motorised roller if you love rolled sheets but want both hands free. Buy an extruder if you want push-button pasta with no technique. Buy a stand mixer attachment if you already own a compatible mixer. Avoid any machine whose cleaning routine you know you will skip, since a dirty machine is a machine that stays in the cupboard.
Roller or extruder, in plain language
A roller flattens prepared dough into sheets, which are then cut into noodles or used whole for lasagne and filled pasta. An extruder mixes dough itself and pushes it through shaped discs, producing tubes and strands with no rolling. Rolled pasta is thinner and more delicate, extruded pasta is denser and more uniform, and fresh examples of both beat dried pasta on flavour and texture.
Thickness, clamps, and the details that matter
Thickness settings decide whether a machine suits both sturdy noodles and delicate filled pasta, so check the range, not just the count. A clamp that fits your worktop edge decides whether a manual machine feels stable or wobbly, so measure the edge before ordering. Cutter cleanliness matters too: a cutter that tears rather than slices turns noodles ragged, so read owner feedback on cutting before buying on roller reputation alone.
Cleaning, storage, and the habit that keeps a machine in use
Rollers need dry-brush cleaning and a dry shelf, extruders need parts washed and dried promptly, and attachment sets need only a drawer. Choose the routine you will actually follow, since the best machine is the one that gets used weekly. Store rollers dry, keep cutters together, and make a small first batch often rather than a large batch rarely, until the habit settles.
Questions, answered
How much should I spend on a first pasta maker?
Enough to get a proper steel roller with even sheets, which starts around the CucinaPro class for a cautious first experiment, or the Marcato Atlas class for a machine bought once. Below that, rollers exist, but they compromise the sheet quality that makes fresh pasta worthwhile.
Do I need special flour for fresh pasta?
No, plain flour and eggs make good pasta, though many cooks prefer a finer flour for silkier noodles. Start with flour you already own, learn the dough feel, and experiment with flours only after the rolling technique feels natural.
Can fresh pasta be dried and stored?
Yes, cut noodles can be dried on a rack until fully dry, then stored in an airtight container, though fresh pasta cooked the same day tastes best. Filled pasta freezes well, while delicate thin noodles are best cooked fresh.