Pasta Drying Rack or Other Ideas

[dcole]

I make a lot of pasta in the fall and am short on counter space. Does anyone know of a pasta drying rack with a lot of space to put pasta on or does anyone do anything creative for that matter?

[Novelli]

I just use some wooden coat hangers. Never had a problem.

[inaplasticcup]

We just talked about that at the What's For Dinner thread the other day. I think it's quite resourceful.

[twodales]

You can use cookie racks sometimes too. I have ones that stack and I used them last night for this very purpose.

[inaplasticcup]

Never thought of that, td. Makes perfect sense!

[escondido123]

Is this pasta that has been cut into strands, like a fettucine or such? I'm curious as to how you store it once it has dried. Thanks.

[dcole]

I really like the clothes rack, thats a great idea.

I cut my pasta right after rolling it. Typically I only roll and cut enough for what im cooking...ill keep the unrolled dough in the fridge. I need the space to store the cut pasta before i boil it, for large groups, thats a lot.

To store, cut the pasta and then make little nests with it. It doesnt need to be refrigerated or frozen and will last at least a few weeks. I was skeptical about not needing to freeze it because of the eggs, but sure enough, you do not.

[Dave_in_PA]

For small batches, I've put a heavy mixing bowl on an upper shelf and hung the pasta on chopsticks with the "handle" end under the bowl.

I loved the driveway marker idea.

Lock the cats out of the room, any of this stuff would drive them crazy.

[fourunder]

I loved the driveway marker idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are a golfer, then they can double as training aids and alignment sticks too.....at 10% of the cost of similar items marketed as golf items.

[Jay F]

+3

[fourunder]

Consider a wooden clothing drying rack.....or other materials and designs like the one below.

http://www.google.com/products/catalo...

[inaplasticcup]

What fourunder said. I use an IKEA clothes rack.

[fourunder]

If space is a problem, or you simply do not want to store the larger accordion type gizmo....you can purchase simple wooden dowels and prop them across two chair backs with towels underneath to prevent slipping. If you shop around, they are can be as little as .60-99 cents. You could also use fiberglass rods they sell in home improvement stores that are designed to be used for driveways as reflectors/markers.

http://www.amazon.com/Cindoco-48012-Length-Color-Coded/dp/B0007TVNFA/ref=sr_1_6?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1317307628&sr=1-6

http://www.3tproducts.com/shop/pc/vie...

[Rella]

How long do you have to dry pasta after rolling out, before you cook it that same day?

I was under the impression that:

1. roll out the pasta

2. put it in boiling wter for a very short minute/two minutes

3. use it.

Why do you dry the sheets?

Thanks.

[inaplasticcup]

Drying the pasta for a short period of time before cooking it seems to have the effect of setting the molecules in place, if you will. Gives the pasta a chance for it to retain its shape and textural integrity a little better than if you put freshly rolled and cut pasta straight into a pot of boiling water. At least in my experience it does. :)

In the pictured instance, I was particularly interested in letting it dry for a bit because they were going to be used as lasagne, and I didn't want them to get too soggy while baking for a long period.

[Rella]

Some years ago I hung a bunch of spaghetti on a drying rack before I boiled it.

I posted recently a fettucine that I had made, for which I just rolled it up loosely, dusted with a little flour and let it sit for a short while. I didn't hang it.

I can understand hanging/drying for a while on a rack for sheets.

Have I not -- or do I imagine it -- seen fresh pasta in markets that are just rolled around loosely and don't look brittle at all. Do your sheets get brittle.

Just trying to understand the difference/necessity.

PS, my links that I try to post do not work for me. I'm wondering if it is my computer's problem/setting, or a problem with the chowhound site.

At Amazon it is the

Eppicotispai Natural Beechwood Collapsable Pasta Drying Rack

[inaplasticcup]

Ahh. I see the issue with your link. Either you accidentally typed it in or your computer did something wiggy, but there is an *l* before your *http*.

I'm pretty sure that if I'd left the sheets hanging long enough, they would have gotten brittle. In this case, I let them hang dry for about 25 minutes. And I can see how noodle strands, if coated with enough flour and bundled in such a fashion that there's sufficient aeration, would be able to dry well enough on their own in that position. With sheets, it's hard to get both sides aerated.

I just use my clothes hanger as drying rack because I need the clothes rack for other purposes anyway, and my kitchen is really too small for me to take up space with something that would get such occasional usage.

[Rella]

Sorry to bother anyone, but I'm going to try to paste the link in again to see if it works yet.

http://www.amazon.com/Eppicotispai-Na...

I see that it worked this time. Don't know what the problem was.
Thanks.