Pasta

[Inor]

Like many, three of the main staples of our food preps are beans, rice and pasta. But pasta has always pissed me off because it is such a pain to store. You cannot fit very much into a bucket before you start breaking it. If you try to vac seal it about half the time you just end up with pasta dust. It is just a very space intensive thing to store and the one prepper thing we are desperately short on is space.

We solved that problem today!

Today we learned to make homemade pasta. It is crazy easy to make - just flour, eggs, a little water and a very small amount of vegetable or olive oil. It can be made even without a pasta machine, but I do not recommend that method as you would be there for days just rolling it out. Still, a decent pasta machine is cheap (about $40) and small.

Tonight, Mrs Inor made up some homemade venison spaghetti sauce for supper. Our first attempt at homemade pasta was as good as anything I have eaten on Mulberry Street in Little Italy, NY.

This is definitely something I recommend learning as it will now allow us to repurpose several 5 gallon buckets to store more densely packed foods!

[James m]

I was about to suggest making it yourself, then I read the second paragraph.

That stuff has to be a pain to cook. Boiling water after no power. Rice too, 30 minutes for rice in a rice pot.
That's if you actually decide to make electric to cook, just heat it with wood or something.

[Inor]

Not at all. It cooks even faster than the boxed pasta. Boil water, throw it in, four minutes later you sit down to supper.

[Jeep]

I'll eat about anything, so storing broken pasta isn't an issue.

[Inor]

I'll eat about anything, so storing broken pasta isn't an issue.

It is if it is so broken it is not pasta anymore. Plus, it takes WAY too much space as pasta.

[James m]

I assume you need to use real eggs? I see where it could save a lot of space. Most of the buckets must be filled with air.

Someone needs to patent stackable pasta. Space saver pasta or something similar.

[Inor]

I assume you need to use real eggs? I see where it could save a lot of space. Most of the buckets must be filled with air.

Someone needs to patent stackable pasta. Space saver pasta or something similar.

Nope. Powdered eggs also work. :D

This one was a HUGE eye opener for me. It means I can pack a LOT more calories and carbs in a lot smaller space and the shelf life is as long as the powdered eggs and flour or wheat (if you grind your own). Store bought pasta has a shelf life of about 5 years, give or take. PLUS, it satisfies the other big desirable that I have for all of my preps: It should improve my life even if SHTF does not happen. This stuff tastes better than anything you can buy from a store AND our estimate was it cost us about 43 cents to make more than enough pasta for four servings.

I am calling this experiment a success beyond all of our expectations. It was cheaper than store bought. It stores longer than store bought. It tastes better than store bought. It cooks faster than store bought. The only negative is that it took us about 2 hours to make it, plus about 3+ hours to dry it. The drying time is what it is. But I expect the time to make it will at least be cut in half once we get some more experience.

Yeah, it sounds stupid and gay and is not nearly as cool as test firing a P-90. But this is a prepper skill that has so many benefits that you should at least consider learning it.

[James m]

Ive seen some heavy Italian woman on TV making it by hand years ago on a cooking show.

How do you dry it? In a food dehydrator?

[Inor]

To dry it, just hang it in the open air for a few hours. The book we read said to put a broomstick between two chairs and hang it over that. We bought a little drying rack for $7.

[Deebo]

Doesn't sound gay. Not at all. Not one bit.
I have never had GREAT pasta, I don't guess, so, thanks, you prick, another list of things I gotta try.

[Deebo]

And, post the recipe, Damn it, I'm lazy.
Just kidding, thanks Inor

[Deebo]

I did learn how to make awesome soppapillas. Easy, and great.

[Coppertop]

Nope. Powdered eggs also work. :D

This one was a HUGE eye opener for me. It means I can pack a LOT more calories and carbs in a lot smaller space and the shelf life is as long as the powdered eggs and flour or wheat (if you grind your own). Store bought pasta has a shelf life of about 5 years, give or take. PLUS, it satisfies the other big desirable that I have for all of my preps: It should improve my life even if SHTF does not happen. This stuff tastes better than anything you can buy from a store AND our estimate was it cost us about 43 cents to make more than enough pasta for four servings.

I am calling this experiment a success beyond all of our expectations. It was cheaper than store bought. It stores longer than store bought. It tastes better than store bought. It cooks faster than store bought. The only negative is that it took us about 2 hours to make it, plus about 3+ hours to dry it. The drying time is what it is. But I expect the time to make it will at least be cut in half once we get some more experience.

Yeah, it sounds stupid and gay and is not nearly as cool as test firing a P-90. But this is a prepper skill that has so many benefits that you should at least consider learning it.

#1 It does not sound gay or stupid.....

#2 I agree with the fact that our "preps" can make our life better no matter what. And making your own Pasta is a huge upgrade in my opinion. I am very glad it worked successfully for you. It does get quicker as you get used to what you are making.

Happy this worked for you. I really like making foodstuff more than store bought.

Thanks

[Smokin04]

Pictures of this process would be awesome and a solid contribution to the DIYers.

[Inor]

Pictures of this process would be awesome and a solid contribution to the DIYers.

2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp water
2 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
2 eggs

Mix all of the stuff together.

Once it is mixed, knead the dough for a full 5 minutes. (If the dough seems dry and flaky, it has not been kneaded enough. It should be almost rubbery once properly kneaded.)

Cover the dough with a wet towel and let it sit for 15-30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.

(Without a pasta machine)
Roll each piece into a long flat piece 1/8 inch thick.

Using a knife, cut each piece into noodles of the desired width.

(With a pasta machine)
Start with pasta roller at the widest setting and run each piece of the dough through 5-6 times.

Set the roller to each progressively thinner setting and run the dough through 5-6 times on each setting
(Our pasta machine has settings from 1 to 7 with 7 being the widest. We rolled it down to the setting at number 3 which seems about right.)

Once the dough has been rolled to the desired thickness, let it sit for about 10 minutes before running through the cutter.

Run the flat sheet of pasta through the cutter head to cut it into noodles.

(Once the noodles are cut)
Hang the noodles to dry on a pasta rack or on a broomstick propped up on a two chair backs for about 3 hours.

Once dry, the pasta can be cooked like you would with store bought although it only took about 4 minutes to cook in boiling water.
(The dried pasta does break much easier than store bought. Do not worry about it. That is how it is supposed to be.)

[Sparkyprep]

Does fresh pasta cook "al dente". I've always heard that fresh pasta can be a little mushy. Am I wrong? I like my cooked pasta firm.

[Inor]

Does fresh pasta cook "al dente". I've always heard that fresh pasta can be a little mushy. Am I wrong? I like my cooked pasta firm.

It does have a slightly different texture than Creamette. I would not call it "mushy". But it is different. I expect if you cooked it before it was completely dry, it might be mushy.

[MrsInor]

Does fresh pasta cook "al dente". I've always heard that fresh pasta can be a little mushy. Am I wrong? I like my cooked pasta firm.

It cooks up al dente. We made fettuccini and I think rolled it a little too thin. It took three and a half minutes to cook al dente.

[Inor]

It cooks up al dente. We made fettuccini and I think rolled it a little too thin. It took three and a half minutes to cook al dente.

It is freakin' good! I am calling the pasta experiment a success beyond my expectations. Unlike my beer, which may end up being okay to drink in a month or two but my vision of Inor's Post-Apocalyptic Beer Garden probably ain't happening due to the complexity of the process of making it.

[RWalls]

I was about to suggest making it yourself, then I read the second paragraph.

That stuff has to be a pain to cook. Boiling water after no power. Rice too, 30 minutes for rice in a rice pot.
That's if you actually decide to make electric to cook, just heat it with wood or something.

Just soak it in the morning with warm water.

[Jeep]

Beans and Rice can be defeated easy by presoaking

[Pauls]

Pasta can be stored more easily if you par boil it and shape it to fit your storage container. I have done this with Spahgetti, curled it into rounds and then dehydrate it in the frost-free freezer. Put it in a vacuum bag and store it between layers of rice or in with other soft goods. With the rice it works well because about the time you are ready for something other than rice the pasta appears.

You can also can it - finished as spagehtti or ravioli or even lasagna. It is soft and mushy pasta but it is still edilble and good for you.

[Inor]

Thanks for the idea Paul! I'll bet those Asian "cellophane" noodles are just pasta made from rice flour? I going to give it a try grinding up some rice in our wheat mill and making pasta from that! I was just commenting to Mrs Inor the other night that she has not made a spicy Asian stir-fry for a while.

My take away from this experiment is that pasta is way too quick and easy to make by hand to waste the space prepping it anymore. Plus it tastes better homemade. :D

[Pauls]

I agree that fresh pasta is WAY better than the dried and canned stuff - even if it too, is home made.

[Jeep]

Question about spaghetti and lasagna, canning. Do you cook it first and can whats left, or make it and can it ?

[Pauls]

It cooks in the canning process - there is little need to cook it first and then cook it again in the jar.