Regina Pasta Maker

This review is based upon only one use. So far, though, this product is better than I had expected. As many of the reviewers have noted for themselves, I was a little concerned with an all-plastic unit. This product, however, is very high quality and seems to be sturdy and durable. I have the Marcato Atlas pasta machine, which is also very high quality, so I am not surprised at the quality of this product.It was much easier to use than some of the reviews would lead you to believe. I had no problems making Rigatoni. It was even a little faster than I had expected. Once you get into a rhythm of adding dough, turning the handle, and cutting the extruded product, it goes quickly and easily. (And, to be honest, I had a flashback memory to my childhood, playing with my Play-Doh Fun Factory...not a bad thing.) The slow gearing means that turning the handle takes very little effort. And, the best part is, you are rewarded with fresh pasta (which is magnitudes better, in taste and texture, than dried and bagged pasta).I have two very minor issues, though. The first is that the attachment clamp goes on the side while the handle goes in the back. Because the handle moves lower than the work surface, you can use this only on the corner of a table because both the side clamp and the back handle go below the surface. At least in my kitchen, this limits its use to an area other than the food preparation area. The other issue concerns removing the extruder for cleaning. Although the instructions say to run the handle backwards after making pasta, that reverse pressure was not enough to release the extruder for cleaning. I had to use a wooden spoon and some pressure to finally release it.None of these issues, however, would keep me from recommending this product. If you want to make fresh pasta beyond noodles, I cannot think of a less expensive and higher quality product that will get you there.================ UPDATE - September 2016 ==============After many more months of use, I rate this even higher, now. (It was four stars, now it's five.) The problem with releasing the extruder was, most likely, because the product was new and had tight tolerances and my dough was not the right consistency. From the second use on, no problems. Yes, I still wish my kitchen could handle the clamp and crank with my countertop setup, but that's no reason to downgrade the review.I continue to be amazed by the ease of use and the quality of the pasta. If I have the time to do it right, it's no more commercial dried pasta for us; it's fresh pasta! It makes a huge difference in taste and texture.

We only eat organic whole wheat pasta and because there are so little options for different types of that in the stores, I have to make my own. I’ve had the Atlas Marcato 150 for years and love it, but it doesn't extrude shapes, so I was excited to find this Atlas Regina Extruder.I’m so very disappointed! I’ve used the various attachments and every shape I’ve tried comes out like flattened blobs which all stick together, even when I’ve gone by the book in making the dough. The dough is hard to push through and at the end, too much dough is still left inside. The cleaning of it is a nightmare and takes way too much time. You have to take apart way too many pieces and really wash them well to get the dough from every nook and cranny, which takes much longer than the whole thing is worth.In addition to that, I feel that this product is WAY overpriced and I regret buying it.

I wanted to make extruded pasta and bought this particular machine because I own other Marcato products and have found them to be well made and easy to use. This machine is exactly that, well made and easy to use. Just 5 or 6 pieces and this machine comes completely apart in just a few seconds for a through cleaning. The crank turns with a light to moderate amount of effort and the machine does a nice job of making 5 varieties of pasta. Actually the hardest part isn't the machine at all, the machine is great, it's getting the consistency of the pasta dough right so when you cut it it doesn't stick together (in my experience, extruded pasta dough should be much dryer than sheet pasta dough.) I'm really enjoying using this machine and I can recommend this product.

I love the atlas 150 it is a wonderful machine. I then purchased the Regina Wellness. It was awful, pasta sticks to each other as your trying to cut it. It was so difficult to clean it took me 2 days. I was still finding dried pasta throughout the internals of the machine. I strongly advice against purchasing this. I wasted my money

I typically make a 50/50 semolina to all purpose flour pasta and it comes out great for pastas and lasagna noodles. The rigotoni and macaroni work great and we’re really easy to use, though it is hard to use the fast turn setting (takes a lot of effort either way). The fusilli did NOT work very well and required hand twisting of the noodles after extruding which is defeating the whole point of an extruder die at all. As many reviews have stated this takes a lot of effort, kind of thinking I may end up getting the motorized kitchen aid attachment for future. It is all plastic construction, but it pretty sturdy and easy to take apart and clean.