A)  We suggest that you forget about the “grandma” recipes that call for 1 cup of this or that per egg.  We will talk instead about percentage of humidity.  For the smoothest flow, I suggest you add 32% humidity regardless of the flour that you use.  In other words, for every 100 oz of flour or combination of flours, you will add 32 oz of water and eggs, only eggs, only water, only egg whites, or only egg yolks.

B)  It is not necessary to add oil unless you feel strongly about its power, in which case, we suggest you add the oil to the liquid so that it becomes part of that portion of the recipe above.

C)  It is imperative that you understand that the machine is able to mix first, and then extrude.  In the mixing cycle, the auger rotates toward the back wall of the mixing bowl while in the extruding mode, the auger runs in the opposite direction (toward the die).  One of the worst mistakes that can occur in pasta making is to inadvertently be in the extruding mode when you should be only mixing.  To prevent this catastrophe, let’s not put the die on the machine until you are ready to extrude.  Therefore, if you were to mistakenly push flower through the extruder, it will simply come out the front and you can correct yourself before applying the die.

D)  It is quite important to not rush in adding the liquid to the mix by dumping it in.  Instead, add the liquid slowly as the machine is mixing the flour.  That way, your recipe will mix evenly and be more uniform.

E)  To get a smooth flow of pasta, it is important that you drop the dies in very hot water prior to use.

F)  It is not necessary to waste a lot of time in cleaning the dies.  Simply place them in a container with water and a few drops of bleach, lemon juice, or vinegar, and leave them until the next use.  At that point, you need to throw away the first 6 inches of extruded pasta.

G)  The more thorough you clean the bowl of any and all crumbs that might be left behind after each pasta-making session, the more problem-free your next pasta-making session will be.  Any leftover crumbs can lodge themselves into the die and cause a split in the pasta.

H)  We consider aiming to make fresh pasta and then dry it a futile exercise.  Drying pasta brings the following flaws:  drying automatically will put into competition with giants like Barilla, and that is not your aim with fresh pasta.  Drying, if not done properly, will cause the pasta to shatter into many pieces.  Drying, if you are making pasta to sell, will cost you 25-50% of the weight of the pasta.

Happy Pasta Making!