Dough – Why are there holes in pasta dough when it is cold

chemistrydoughpasta

I made some pasta dough this morning and put it in the fridge. When I ran the first batches thru the roller there were some holes in the pasta after it came out of the roller. But for later batches, when the pasta heated up from being out of the fridge, there were no more holes. Why is that? I am partially asking about the chemistry and physics underlying this observation.

Best Answer

Viscosity of the cold dough is probably too high for good rolling. It's tearing and blobbing rather than feeding smoothly through the rollers.

I'm not finding a ref for rolling, but for extrusion:

The ideal temperature for pasta extrusion is between 45 and 50°C, as anything above 50°C will denature the proteins, impeding gluten production and therefore resulting in a soft sticky product. Using a cold water jacket will cool the dough and barrel too much, resulting in undesirable dough viscosity.

Nice plot of dough viscosity vs temperatures here (fig. 4.3), but it only goes down to 30°C (86°F) Lower temperatures, including heating within the extrusion die, are likely not usually encountered.

This pasta rolling cook states:

In making pasta it is important to avoid cold so use room temperature eggs. Also, do not work on a naturally cold surface such as marble or stainless steel.

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