What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times?

What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times? - Crop unrecognizable chef preparing spaghetti from uncooked dough with flour using pasta rolling machine in kitchen

I've tried making pasta several times now, and every time it turns holey after I run the dough through a standard crank machine:

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Ingredients I use:

  • 200 grams all purpose flour
  • 2 jumbo brown eggs
  • Bit of olive oil
  • Bit of salt


Best Answer

I watched this video and saw I was adding an extra step. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6KhbS3q5b8

After making pasta again tonight, which came out perfect, I realized I was "re-kneading" the dough after I passed it through the machine.

Tonight I folded the dough once, and resent through the machine over and over, and it came out great! Hope this helps someone!




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What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times? - Process of cutting pasta with machine on kitchen
What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times? - Crop anonymous female producing long noodle with metal pasta cutter on wooden table covered with flour
What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times? - Person cutting noodle with pasta machine



Quick Answer about "What causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times?"

If you skip settings, and don't start on the widest setting, the dough will struggle to pass through the roller. The dough is a bit too moist and this is causing the dough to stick to the roller, creating tears. Again, adding some more flour will fix this.

Why does my pasta dough keep breaking?

Pasta dough needs to be well-kneaded so that the gluten is activated. Gluten holds the dough together and keeps it from breaking when rolled thin. You can knead the dough by hand or in a food processor, but the dough is too dense to knead in a stand mixer.

What happens if you overwork pasta dough?

A well-kneaded dough is stretchy and elastic to work with, but also tender and delicate when you bite into it after cooking. Overworked dough, on the other hand, feels tight and tough. This is because kneading the dough too much will cause damage to the gluten molecules, which give it its elasticity.

Why is it important to roll the dough several times through the pasta maker?

By rolling it through a pasta machine several times you're actually helping the gluten to develop even further and structure into nice flat sheets. You can also do it by hand, but a pasta roller really is a lot easier for making those very thin smooth sheets.

How many times should the pasta go through the rollers?

Starting with one of the narrower, open sides of the folded dough, feed the pasta through the machine, again at the widest setting. Repeat the folding and rolling technique on the widest setting for a total of five times.



How to Roll Out Pasta Dough




More answers regarding what causes pasta dough to be holey after running through a machine multiple times?

Answer 2

The site below basically covers all the possible reasons. Some of the tips that worked for me:

  1. Flour the dough after each pass through the machine - lack of flour causes dough to stick to the machine as it's being rolled through, creating tears

  2. Send in the dough vertically and through the center of machine. Hold the dough by folding over back of hand. Get your hand close to the entry of the machine to help with vertical angle before cranking the dough through. Gently tug and pull (not too much) to make sure that the dough stays vertical as it's being rolled through throughout the process

  3. Don't go into high level setting too quickly - this can cause dough to fold with itself, leading to possible tears

https://seasonedcooks.com/why-does-pasta-dough-tear/

Answer 3

I am a new pasta machine user as well, and as one I can only offer my own theories based on my own experience: It always seems to happen to me early on in the cranking process, and goes away as you work the dough more. My theory is that it has to do with several things: the temperature of the dough (the holes go away as the dough warms up), the gluten in the dough (as the flour absorbs moisture, it gets more elastic from the gluten and thus the holes go away), and finally the moisture content of the dough (too little moisture will tend to cause it to break). I may be completely incorrect, but it makes sense to me. If anyone knows for sure, I'd love to hear the reason(s), too.

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Klaus Nielsen, Klaus Nielsen, Klaus Nielsen, Klaus Nielsen