Pasta – Why does the pasta I make with the extruder always stick together

pasta

I've tried a few times now to make pasta with my Kitchen Aid extruder and EVERY time it sticks together and tears when I try to separate the strands. What am I doing wrong?

I am new to homemade pasta and although I've tried several times I've never actually gotten an edible product. I started with 4 eggs 2 cups "pasta" flour but the dough didn't end up picking up all the flour. It wasn't sticky and I let it rest about 30 minutes before putting it in the extruder.

Best Answer

Your dough is too wet.

Four eggs is a lot for 2 cups flour - the KPEXTA user guide suggests 4 eggs + 1 tbsp water for 3-1/2 cups flour. Assuming you're using the mixer to mix the dough, it should be crumbly and not form a ball, but it should hold together when you pick some up and squeeze it in your hand. If you have a kitchen scale handy a typical egg pasta ratio is one large egg (about 1/4 cup) per 100 grams flour.