Like many other users of this product, my first batch of pasta was a disaster. My main complaint is a common one: the noodles stuck together upon trying to cut them, lost their shape, and were generally unmanageable. I ended up balling up the noodles and using the dough with my other pasta maker, which uses rollers instead of an extruder. Where I went wrong, and I suspect I'm not alone, is that I didn't like the way the Kitchen Aid formula mixes (looks clumpy and dry), so I kept adding water in order to obtain a homogeneous consistency. BAD IDEA! BUT, if you just change a few things from the instructions that come with this product, you'll be much more satisfied with your results. The first: add oil to the mix, about one teaspoon per two eggs. The second: mix the ingredients by hand until a homogeneous consistency is achieved. Start by using the handle of a wooden spoon as a mixing tool. At first the dough will look clumpy and dry, but be patient and persevere. When you can't make further process, use your bare hands. Knead the dough as necessary until all the flour is used up. Then make the dough into little pellets, no bigger than a walnut in size, preferably even smaller. After 20 minutes wait time, start the machine and extrude away. A bit of care and the use of a pasta rack will prevent the noodles from sticking together. I just finished making a batch of bucatini and they came out almost perfect and quite tasty. Incidentally, I use Caputo Semola di Grano Duro instead of general purpose flour. Don't know that it makes a huge difference, I'm just adding this fact in the interest of full disclosure. As far as the other common complaints, yes, the machine is not easy to clean. This is just a drawback of the process, and any extrusion machine will have the same issue. Also, since a certain amount of dough will remain in the machine regardless of what you do, there will be a certain amount of inevitable waste, another byproduct of the extruding process. The good news is that, since the amount of waste will be the same, bigger batch will result is less waste percentage wise. Another complaint is that it doesn't fit right and in some cases comes off, causing damage. I don't have much to offer on that one since mine simply didn't have that problem. So, overall, I'm satisfied with this product. It makes a good change of pace from the usual rolled pasta. Although the noodles will never look as good as the stuff you see on the KA YouTube clips, with a few tweaks to the instructions provided, it actually works as advertised.
