# Dehydrating pasta question



## Enchant18 (Feb 21, 2012)

I just inherited a pasta machine and am dying to try it out. Is there any reason I can't dehydrate homemade pasta for LTS?
Should I use eggless or is it ok to use the egg recipe? Spent two hours googling and couldn't find any info. Thank you for any info you can offer.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

I use a egg recipe but never have thought to try and dehydrate them ... I make them and use them ...


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## Enchant18 (Feb 21, 2012)

Thanks. I will have to experiment some. It is currently a staple food I don't want to have to live without later.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well enchant my wife makes our pasta (simply the best I ever had!) And all it is is flour water salt and egg. So we decided to just make it fresh as it tastes so much better. For flour we have wheat berries and a grain grinder, salt we have plenty of and we plan on chickens so plenty of fresh eggs. So we can always have plenty of fresh pasta no matter what happens! Even after SHTF it is still nice to have a good fresh meal!!


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## Enchant18 (Feb 21, 2012)

Mojo4 thanks. I thought I had to use strictly the durum flour after checking all the pasta recipes online. Using wheat flour would make it much easier. You made my day!


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks I appreciate that. Her whole wheat pasta is amazing and if you want to try different flavors toss in some basil or dried tomatoes with a little lemon zest or garlic and basil or garlic and tomatoes or pesto or............ yep, get creative cause you might find something you really love!!


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## forluvofsmoke (Jan 27, 2012)

If this is not an electric pasta machine (manual), I'd make your pasta on demand. It's far less bulk to store the grain and other ingredients than it is to store the pasta, especially considering mylar bags and O2 absorbers...and no need to dry the pasta, either. If you won't have fresh eggs as a resource, just stock up on dried egg product.


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## Bobbb (Jan 7, 2012)

When I do many of the tasks that are simply associated with living, I find that the set-up/prep and the clean up take about as much time as the actual activity I'm engaged in and I'd image that preparing 20 lbs of pasta in one go will take far less time per pound of pasta than preparing 1 lb of pasta on 20 separate occasions.

So, storing the ingredients for the long term makes sense but for the intermediate use I think I'd rather make one big batch of pasta that I can then use for the next month or three than having to make the pasta just before I want to use it. 

So is there a way to dehydrate pasta naturally and if so how long does it last, by which I mean, does the store bought pasta go through a special dehydration process to give it long storage life?

Can you just hang the pasta on little rods and let it dry?


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## Enchant18 (Feb 21, 2012)

It is a manual machine









My grandmother used to hang the pasta over a drying rack. The pasta used to be soft when cooked. I plan to dehydrate even for immediate use as I prefer pasta al dente. Fresh pasta with homemade pesto sounds great. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## webeable (Aug 29, 2012)

My mom made noodles when growing up would stor for long time dried on kitchen tablle, counter ect for long time never got sick from them. Age old method


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

HOMEMADE NOODLES
6 eggs + 3 yolks
6 TB water
1/8 tsp salt
4 1/2 c hard wheat (bread) flour
1 TB veg oil
Combine eggs, yolks, waer aqnd salt in blender and blend at high speed 2 min. Pour into a large bowl. Beat in 3 cups flour to form a smooth paste, then let sit uncovered, 10-15 minutes. Blend in remaining flour, working with fingertips until dough is smooth and elastic. Work in the oil by dripping a few drops at a time over the dough and working it in as you knead. Shape the finished dough into a long thin roll. Break off a piece about 3 inches long and roll out with a rolling pin to a thin rectangle, about 2 inches by 14 inches. Set aside to dry and continue to roll out remaining dough setting it aside to dry also. Allow about 35 min for the dough to dry, then cut in noodles, 2 inches by 1/4 inch wide. Set on dishtowels to dry in a warm place until brittle, about 3 hours. Store in airtight container. To cook half the noodles, bring 3 qts water to a boil, then add noodles and boil gently 10 minutes. Good in soups or as side dish. 
This is from an old cookbook back in the 70s 'back to the land' craze. Good noodles, though.

Ive also made potato noodles for a change - no eggs- makes a fat, side-dish noodle as opposed to a thinner soup noodle.

POTATO NOODLES
6 potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
1/2 tsp salt
2 c flour
Combine, roll out 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 1/2 inch wide strips, then crosswise into little noodles. To cook (now you can tell this was an old farm recipe....) Melt 1 TB of lard, add noodles and stir. Cook gently to brown the noodles. Pour 1 cup cream over browned noodles, dot with butter and simmer until butter melts in and noodles are desired texture (or you may bake at 350). 

GRAMMA'S POLISH NOODLES (makes about 1/3 pound)
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg slightly beatren
1-2 TB water
Sift flour and salt together in a pile. Make a well in the center, drop in the egg and work it in (Gramma used her hand). Gradually add water. Dough should be stiff. Turn out on floured surface, shape into a ball and knead until dough feels right (smooth and elastic). Roll out 1/8 inch thick, then paper thin. Let dry on work area about 1 hour to partially dry. Cut into strips 2 1/2 inches wide, and stack them up. 
Then cut crosswise 1/8 inch wide. Separate them by tossing them lightly so the stacks 'unstack' and the noodles are individual. Let dry on a towel until brittle, if you do not use right away they can be stored in a tight container. 

After I find my big collection of recipes (I am in the middle of a move, and everything is topsy turvey) I will look for my machine-rolled noodle recipes (I have 'regular', egg, spinach, multicolored noodles; and various speciality noodles) made for a machine. I also have a manual noodle rolling & cutting machine; it works great!!


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Thank you, kappydell! :2thumb:


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## Enchant18 (Feb 21, 2012)

Thank you for the pasta gold, kappydell. Cant wait to try these.


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