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RONCO AUTOMATIC PASTA MAKER

Description: An amazing electric pasta making machine by Ron Ronco. There are 12 different pasta shapes included, such as: angel hair, vermicelli, rigatoni, etc…

Reviews (41):

Doesn't Work
Reviewer: Anonymous 02-19-2004
I followed the directions & watched the video, but after 3 tries, I still could not get the pasta to come out right. Shortly after that, the motor broke down. It's not worth the hassle! I'm going back to making pasta by hand.

A God Send!
Reviewer: Anonymous 07-06-2004
This machine has been a god send! The only thing I don't like about it is that it is hard to clean.

All Around Awful
Reviewer: Anonymous 10-31-2003
This machine was quite complicated & difficult to assemble. It was also hard to clean & did not produce good pasta. It was so bad, I had to throw it out!

The Best Pasta!
Reviewer: Anonymous 09-08-2003
After preparing the dough,I put it through the Pasta Maker & it came out easy with great texture and consistency. I have eaten a lot of pasta in my days, but this was the best that I have ever eaten.

Great for Diabetics!
Reviewer: Anonymous 12-22-2004
I love this machine, because I am now able to make pasta with bean and nut flours, as well as whole wheat and rye, which do not make my blood sugar soar. (Regular white-flour pastas do.) It is really important to be careful with the proportions. If you use too much water, you will get a wet mess. If you use too little, the mixture will crumble. Cleanup is messy, and some of the plastic parts have cracked, but RONCO has been good about replacements.

Waste of Money
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-16-2005
This machine is a waste of money and time!

Love It!
Reviewer: Anonymous 08-14-2004
I love this machine! We have made so many tasty dishes with it. Clean up is easy. Just let it dry overnight and it all comes off easy.

No Customer Service
Reviewer: Anonymous 06-11-2004
I loved this machine during the first 6 months that I had it. It was fun to use & made great pasta. Then the machine cracked. That's when my problems began. No matter what I did, I could not contact the company for a replacement. I finally gave up & threw it out.

Poor Craftsmenship
Reviewer: Anonymous 06-13-2004
When I removed the machine from the box, on first glance it appeared well made & sturdy. However on closer inspection, I saw that the lid, mixing bin and face plate (all clear plastic) had multiple cracks that penetrated both sides around all holes. After multiple problems with the replacement sent etc, I finally gave up on this machine.

Still Waiting For Refund
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-30-2004
This machine is really poorly constructed. The parts do not lock in. The flour jams the "turning gear" and threatens to break the machine. You cannot clean it because there are 100 tiny crevices which make it impossible.
I sent it back and for 8 months have tried to get a refund. I still do not have one, although I complied with all requests.

Motor Overheats
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-21-2004
There are 2 main drawbacks to this machine. The first is that cleaning up is really time consuming & difficult. The second is that you can really make only one batch, because the motor overheats if you try for more. This is very frustrating if you want to cook for more tha 2 people.

Machine Good, Service Stinks
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-05-2004
This machine does make great pasta and is pretty easy to use. However the face plate cracked the last time I used it, so the machine was unusable. Trying to get that part from Ronco was nearly impossible. After numerous phone calls & emails, I finally got through, but I never have received the part.

Makes Fantastic Pasta
Reviewer: Anonymous 02-06-2004
We use our Pasta Maker every week & it has held up well for 3 years. The pasta is fantastic, and cleaning is not too hard,especially if you let the pasta dry prior to cleaning. My only complaint is that the face plate comes off once in a while while extruding.

Highly Recommended
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-10-2004
I have made pounds & pounds of pasta with this wonderful machine. I highly recommend it.

Save Your Money!
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-07-2003
My machine sits unused on my shelf. The parts don't fit together correctly & the recipe didn't work either. My complaints to the company only encouraged them to try to sell me additional recipe books. So save your money!

A Total Waste
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-02-2003
This machine never worked right & the pasta stuck together. It was a total waste of money.

Very Disatisfied
Reviewer: Anonymous 12-03-2002
After using this machine only three times, the plastic parts inside it broke, and it stopped working. I tried to get a refund with no luck.

What a terrible product
Reviewer: V. Stevens Buffalo Grove, IL USA 09-02-2005
I don't want to give it even a 1-star rating. It doesn't deserve any rating, except maybe an F minus! This thing is SOOOOOOO poorly engineered, I'm amazed Ron Popeil shows his face on the street, much less on television. It mixed the dough well enough, but would NOT extrude unless I forced teaspoon-sized wads of dough into the extruder screw. Do you know how long that took to extrude 2 cups of dough? 45 minutes! I had to open the lid and squash the dough in constantly. But wait, there's more! - the mixing paddle turns in the opposite direction of the extruder screw, knocking my pitiful dough wads off the extruder screw. Plus, dough gets caught all over the outside of the turning mechanism and under the outlet, so you lose a lot of it, because the bowl is too small to get your hand in to scrape it out. What a mess! It's like knitting socks in slow motion. So SLOW, so NOISY. I made lasagne noodles with the mold, and they were about 3/4 of the width they should be. It took 45 minutes to extrude what I could've rolled out on a table and cut in less than 5 minutes, and gotten the correct size. Ron Popeil, you owe me an apology! Or, at least an aspirin, because your noisy, slow machine gave me a headache on top of all the frustration.

This product sucks!!!!!!
Reviewer: Fontrella S. Cole Birmingham, AL USA 08-24-2005
I bought this product, used the product by following the direction. The machine start making clicking sounds when it was time to send the mixture through the pasta dyes. Next thing I knew the tube that the pasta mixture goes through BROKE! I was very upset about this product. I was going to order a the part for it but didn't want to invest more money on the machine. This machine meant well but it was a failure.

Terrible for high alttitudes
Reviewer: J. Pals 07-28-2005
I love alot of the Ronco products but his one I have to say gets an F. The parts are so flimsey and the 1st time we used it I thought she was going to blow! Even with ample water the parts seem to bend and crack under the pressure. The only thing that has been easy to grind and tube is the meat. To make matters worse it is a monster to clean. I am sorry but I have to be honest they need to make this product a heck of alot better than they are. Think twice about buying this product.

This machine was a big waste of money
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-16-2005
Where should I begin well, I just went through my second machine! The first didn't last a year and me being stupid I thought that maybe I had a defective one so I got another because my family and I love fresh pasta. Well I have not even had this machine two months and i threw it out when I was trying to prepare dinner tonight and I finally had it! First off when you are mixing it spins in the direction to unlock the face plate and you have to take it apart and take all the dough out to get it back together! That usually fixed it but happened 3-4 times while mixing then it would stick and click really loud so i again took all the dough out and tried spliting it in half so it would not have as much in it to see if that would work well of course not! This machine is a waste of money and time! If you read this and still want to buy it youd save some time just throwing your money straight in the trash!

A godsend to a pasta-loving diabetic!
Reviewer: BAW "BAW" Charleston, WV United States 12-22-2004
I am able to make pasta with bean and nut flours, as well as whole wheat and rye, which to not make my blood sugar soar as regular white-flour pastas do.

One has to be careful with the proportions. Too much water, and you'll get a wet mess; too little, and it will fall into crumbs. It is easier to add more water if you have too little water than to add more flour if you get too much.

Cleanup is a bit of a mess, and I have had trouble with some of the plastic parts cracking on me, but RONCO has been good about replacing them.

I love my pasta maker
Reviewer: Gadgetfreak1974 Northern Ny 08-13-2004
I have had my pasta maker since last October been using it regularly since. I bought mine used from ebay have had no problems other then the manicotti die broke but I purchased another die from ronco.com and also the cutter broke but thats no biggie i use a knife to cut the pasta.. IT works great and is great for my brother who has a gluten allergy we can make his own rice pastas in here. My fave pasta to make is spinach flavored. You can really go gourmet with this thing. We make whole wheat pasta too in this at our house. My mother enjoys pasta alot so she really likes the pastas that come outta here. We have made so many tasty dishes with this thing its unreal. Clean up is easy just as it says in the video let it dry over night and it all comes off easy.

Loved it when it worked
Reviewer: Anonymous 06-11-2004
I had this machine for about 6 months and used it for making so many different wonderful types of pasta. It was actually fun to use and I was impressed with the quality and taste of the pasta. I used liquids such as champagne to make delicious fresh pasta that I even gave as gifts. Then...the machine cracked. The circular piece on the machine that held the extrusion die in place broke but the worst of it was that I could NOT contact the company for a replacement. I called week after week hunting down any number I could find for them to no avail. No one ever answered and I could not leave a message. Finally, I threw in the towel and threw out the machine. Too bad that customer service for such a marketed company can be so non-existent.

Badly manufactured parts-- never used it
Reviewer: Edwin R Yaeger Stoneville, North Carolina 06-03-2004
Interesting machine, looked well built, sturdy and easy to clean. Video that came with it explains everything in detail. Unfortunately right out of an undamaged box -- the lid, mixing bin and face plate (all clear plastic) had multiple cracks that penetrated both sides around all holes. It was my assumption that under the strain of use these cracks would only worsen and render the unit un-useable (except as a paperweight). Immediately sent for new parts and after waiting over 30 days the replacements were also cracked in the same locations and the mixing bin was of a different model and would not fit the motor base. Popeil does not answer e-mails or faxes, but did have luck on the phone in getting through. They wanted to send a new motor base and all new plastic parts again, but could not guarantee them to be free of manufacturing defects. In disgust, I was given a full refund and sent it back postage pre-paid to the seller -- who admitted that this item has had problems. Still want a pasta maker and there are several available such as Simax MX-700, but do not want to go through the hassle again with a defective product such as the Popeil unit.

Mess Maker
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-30-2004
The parts do not lock in and flour is flying all around. It is wet and when you try to put it back together, the flour keeps you from doing so. The flour jams the "turning gear" and threatens to break the machine. You cannot clean it as there are 100 tiny, tiny crevices which make cleaning impossible.
I sent it back and for 8 months have tried to get a refund. I still do not have one although I complied with all requests, including the receipt from UPS.

The Good, the bad and the ugly
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-21-2004
Actually I've used it often and the pasta was fantastic. However, clean up is not fun. The most disappointing thing tho is that if you need to make two batches... you need to start early. The machine makes one batch without a problem but the motor overheats shortly into the second batch and you have to let it sit for quite some time before it's useable again. Very frustrating if you have 3 or 4 or more to feed.

Great machine, terrible service
Reviewer: John Mandeville Vermont 03-05-2004
I bought mine over a year ago and used it a couple of dozen times. The machine does make great pasta and is relatively easy to use. Unfortunately, the face plate cracked the last time I used it rendering the machine unusable. I tried to buy a replacement from Ronco for 3 months without success. Ronco's customer service is non-existent. You can't get through on their 800 number and they do not reply to e-mails sent to their customer service department. They also do not have a facility on their website to place orders for parts. I ultimately did get through to their parts order department by phone, placed the order but never received a thing! I will NEVER buy a Ronco product again!

Love it
Reviewer: John Mandeville 02-06-2004
We use ours weekly. It has held up for 3 years. The pasta is fantastic, and cleaning is not too hard, if you let the pasta dry prior to cleaning. My only complaint is that the face plate comes off once in a while while extruding. Over all very happy with purchase, and would buy again.

I love this machine!
Reviewer: Monica Chiarenza SLC, Utah 01-10-2004
I have definitly got my moneys worth. Had I known how great it was, I would have bought one sooner. We have made pounds and pounds of pasta with it. I highly recommend it.

Forget the Instructions
Reviewer: Heardy VanOver Percy, IL United States 09-08-2003
I recently bought one of these pasta makers. The instructions were horrendous. I either had a drop of water too much or a pinch of flour too much. The pasta was either too dry to extrude or so full of moisture that it came out in a lump. I was breaking the dyes right and left. I used a basic pasta recipe called Trenette: 2 1/2 cups unbleached-all purpose flour, 1/2 cup semolina flour, 1 teaspoon fine sea (kosher)salt, 2 large eggs, and 1/2 cup filtered water. Using sea (kosher) salt and filtered or bottled water are very important. The sea salt enhances the taste of the pasta greatly, and I found that ordinary tap water left an undesirable aftertaste. You will find that this dough is very elastic and not as yellow as the basic recipe for pasta. I first put the eggs, water, and salt in a food processor and mixed the ingredients thoroughly. I then added the semolina flour with the food processor still running. Next, I added the unbleached flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough formed a ball and was rolling around inside the food processor with the sides of the bowl remaining clean. I then took it out and kneaded it a couple minutes, and put it in a covered bowl in a warm place and let it rest for 5 minutes. I then put it in the pasta maker and after it had kneaded about 5 minutes, I let it extrude. I came out easy with great texture and consistency. I have eaten a lot of pasta in my days, but this was the best that I have ever eaten. Good luck and enjoy.

Popiel Pasta Maker
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-09-2003
I have mine for several years now. At the begining I had a problem with one of the parts.Called the Co .and they sent me the new part .Makes great pasta, you have to get the right conistancy for it to work "no to dry" "not too wet "and use large eggs .I like mine ,can't make it all the time ,otherwise we surley will have a weight problem lol. I don't do this ,but I had to because the product is good.

Poor quality for too much money
Reviewer: Georgia Amanatides NY, USA 01-07-2003
Yep, I bought one of these years ago. After seeing the infomercial upteem times I fell for how easy it was to make.
Well, folks, it ain't that easy and to date I have never used the item again. It sits, unused, on the shelf. The parts fit poorly and the recipe is off. When I called to complain about this all they did was try to sell me another recipe book! I finally got so frustrated with the Popiel folks not listening to my complaint on the manufacture of the pasta maker and the inaccuracy of the recipie (which by the way they pointed out and their fix was for me to buy the NEW recipe book) that I finally gave up since they seemed to be flummoxed by what to do about my complaint. All I heard was them talking to each other in the background puzzled.
Would I suggest this item to anyone? NOPE!
Save your money. You can make your own noodles and pasta far better by hand or with one of those stainless steel pasta makers the old Italian ladies used for decades that didn't need to be plugged in, didn't have "parts" that didn't fit properly, etc. I have priced those out at less than $40 each and no shipping charge folks since they can be bought locally.
If there was a lesser rating than one I would have given it to Ron on this one.
I will admit he is a good showman. Oh, that free bagel cutter? It arrived cracked and the knife was the only good item out of the whole deal.
I do own his slicer that I got when I purchased the food dehydrator. That thing is useless also.
Save your money, folks and go to Sears or BJ's and buy close to home so if the item is a bust you can actually see the person and demand your money back in person instead of being kept on the phone while they try to sell you even more of the stuff for an item you can't use.

Doesn't live up to name
Reviewer: Anonymous 01-02-2003
Wasn't happy with item didn't work right and pasta stuck together. A waste.

Good but not durable
Reviewer: Anonymous 12-12-2002
This product has excellent and neat design, but the materials it used are not durable - all the part are plastics. I think it will not last for 50 time usage. If you bought it for [$$$], the load is [$$$] per home made pasta - you need figure if it is worthing.

Good Luck
Reviewer: Anonymous 12-03-2002
Good luck to all of you that purchase the "Popeil Pasta Maker". I purchased one a little over a year ago through the TV add. I used it three times and the plastic parts inside the machine broke, and the machine wouldn't work anymore. I was unable to get my money back. Needless to say, I was very dissatisfied.

Great product, iffy customer service
Reviewer: Anonymous Vista, CA USA 09-15-2002
The face plate on my machine disintegrated within 4 months and I have been having a horrible time getting it replaced. I sat on hold for over 2 hours with their customer service in Chatsworth, CA. I never did get through, they closed before they answered my call! That was my 3rd call trying to get it replaced. I love my machine, hate the customer service!

Easy to use
Reviewer: Anonymous 08-04-2002
Borrowed this pasta maker from a neighbor and was impressed with the ease of use and the varity of pasta noodles you can make. The whole process took less than an hour to a complete meal on the table. This included time to read instructions and making the sauce to complement our pasta choice.
I intend to buy my own machine even though the neighbors have told us we can use their machine anytime. I have to have my own-it's great...

Can't Get Replacement Parts
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-17-2006
I bought this product and I truly did love it. But, the locking ring that holds the pasta dies in place broke, so I tried to find a place to get a replacement. I don't think any such place exists. I think someone as popular as Ronco would take more pride in working with the consumer. I didn't rate the product bad, because like I said, I truly did love it. But the coustomer relations part of the business stinks. Two thumbs down for Ron on that part of his business. Wake up Ron!! You are giving yourself a BAD NAME.

I DO NOT KNOW HOW IT WORKS
Reviewer: Anonymous 03-17-2006
I DO NOT KNOW HOW IT WORKS BUT WHAT IS THE POINT OF GETTING A MACHINE TO DO SOMETHING FOR YOU.OF COURSE IF YOU MAKE IT BY HAND IT MAY TAKE LONGER BUT AT LEAST YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO WHAT EVER YOU WHAT TO DO WITH THE PASTA.THE UPSIDE IS THAT IT WILL NOT TAKE LONG,AND THERE IS LESS OF A HASSLE.

No replacement parts for pasta maker
Reviewer: Anonymous California 01-08-2008
Ordered another new face plate in Nov 2007 and finally here in Jan of 2008 they admit they do not have any parts for the pasta maker. Of course they have charged my credit card and of course no e-mail or letter telling you any of this. Stay away from all Popeil and Ronco products!!!

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