A cheap pasta maker machine need not be an inferior one.  The Roma Pasta Maker is cheap for the price but built to last.  As we have seen with the Pinzon Pasta Maker and Villaware Pasta Machine it is perfectly possible to buy a decent product for under $30 that will keep your family fed and enjoying authentic Italian meals for years to come.

The reason that even a budget pasta machine can be a good buy is that their design is simple and traditional.  After centuries of making great pasta the Italian’s have come up with a straightforward design that has little that could ever go wrong.  Yes, you can pay more and get an automatic pasta maker for example, but why bother when a simple hand-cranked model will keep on turning out great fresh pasta with little or no maintenance in your kitchen?  That being said some of the other traditional models are likely to be more robust and made of sturdier metal.

But, if you plan on making occasional home-made pasta a budget model such as this one will serve you well.  The 6″ rollers will cope with home-cooking volumes of pasta.  Eight settings allow you to gradually reduce the thickness of the dough, to get fine smooth pasta.  A useful C-clamp will let you set the pasta maker somewhere solid and prevent any movement – but you will need to consider where you can place it!

There are a range of additional cutters available to help you produce Angel Hair, Spaghetti, Linguini, Lasagna, Lasagnette, Fettuccini and Half Moon & Square Raviolis.  But to be honest I wouldn’t worry too much about that to begin with.  Get your sheets sorted out and you can cut all manner of shapes by hand.  Once you are using the machine more regularly and have got your dough making sorted out, then its time for fancy shapes!

The Roma 6 inch pasta machine is one of those no-nonsense manual kitchen gadgets.  The key to success is getting your dough right.  To stiff and you will struggle to get it through the rollers.  Too sticky and you will simply end up in a horrible mess!  Practice makes perfect and you will quickly learn what great home-made pasta dough “feels” like.

Is the Roma 6 the Best Pasta Maker Machine?  Honestly, no, my personal recommendation would be the Atlas Pasta Machine or Imperia Pasta Maker..  But, is it one of the best budget models?  Definitely – you can tell from the customer reviews (click the image above for all reviews from past customers).