What am I doing wrong? I use 2.5cups of semolina flour and 3 eggs! It’s rare I get a smooth dough ball. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong. Thanks.
by Last-Anything9094
10 Comments
ftrela
Use a scale instead of measuring by cups. Unless you know exactly how much flour by weight fits in your cup, it may vary greatly from the weight used in a recipe you’re using. By weight the recipe is 100g flour and 50g egg per person. An average cup of semolina is 176g, so 2.5 cups is 440g. Given that an average egg weighs about 50g, that gives you a 34% hydration instead of the correct one for handmade pasta, which is 50%
faisent
I tend to do my dough by weight – 100g(ish, depending on humidity but you can usually not worry about it or add some olive oil if you need slightly more moisture) of flour to one egg. If you’re measuring by cups the flour might be compacted while measuring and you end up with more than you need. I also find that I have to knead semolina more than type00 (I usually do about 2/3rds type00 to 1/3rd semolina).
However pasta is pretty forgiving, far more than most people think – add in a little oil and keep kneading! You’re not looking for a Michelin star here, just something you can enjoy and keep learning to do better. 🙂
valsplays
I’m not really an expert, but I’ve made fresh pasta a couple of times, and I use “00” type flour (like low protein, soft weath flour) and use 1 egg per 100 grams of flour and it worked every time. Maybe it’s the semolina flour that makes the dough difficult to use? I can’t really identify the problem, but I hope it’ll be helpful
MrMalta
Pasta is the same concept as baking for me. Measure everything to the gram. No being a cowboy
FoTweezy
Everything reminds me of her
lancegreene
Ya, as some have said going by weight is the approach. I’ve tried and been reading that a 53-57% is the hydration level to shoot for. I’m still tweaking but doing that has given me a much more consistent result.
So about 100 grams of flour for 53-57 grams of water/egg. Obviously eggs vary so adjust your math accordingly.
Win-Objective
By weight > wacky cups/tbs/tsp measuring
IAmVonMoon
I’ve worked a successful recipe with 3 eggs and 2 cups semolina flour, a pinch of salt and water as needed
doublenougat
Just weight your egg. Use a 2:1 ratio of flour to egg. Eggs vary in weight slighty, so adjust accordingly.
If you do a dough w/o eggs 100 grams flour to 45 grams water
My_Good_Sir
100% semolina with eggs is always going to give you a super tough, dry dough. I’m sure someone will jump on me here but IN GENERAL, eggs are not used for all-semolina doughs, only water.
For rolled pasta sheets you want about 75% 00 flour to 25% semolina, just to give the smooth white flour a little “bite”.
If you are making hand-formed pasta (cavatelli etc), then all semolina is the right choice but NO EGG, just water, and the ratio will probably have to be a little higher than 2:1. Not by a lot, you will have to judge by how the dough feels.
All-semolina & water dough is much more like play-dough (i.e. more plastic in nature) and can be hand-formed into lots of fun things that would be difficult or impossible with a more resilient egg-based dough.
10 Comments
Use a scale instead of measuring by cups. Unless you know exactly how much flour by weight fits in your cup, it may vary greatly from the weight used in a recipe you’re using.
By weight the recipe is 100g flour and 50g egg per person.
An average cup of semolina is 176g, so 2.5 cups is 440g. Given that an average egg weighs about 50g, that gives you a 34% hydration instead of the correct one for handmade pasta, which is 50%
I tend to do my dough by weight – 100g(ish, depending on humidity but you can usually not worry about it or add some olive oil if you need slightly more moisture) of flour to one egg. If you’re measuring by cups the flour might be compacted while measuring and you end up with more than you need. I also find that I have to knead semolina more than type00 (I usually do about 2/3rds type00 to 1/3rd semolina).
However pasta is pretty forgiving, far more than most people think – add in a little oil and keep kneading! You’re not looking for a Michelin star here, just something you can enjoy and keep learning to do better. 🙂
I’m not really an expert, but I’ve made fresh pasta a couple of times, and I use “00” type flour (like low protein, soft weath flour) and use 1 egg per 100 grams of flour and it worked every time. Maybe it’s the semolina flour that makes the dough difficult to use? I can’t really identify the problem, but I hope it’ll be helpful
Pasta is the same concept as baking for me. Measure everything to the gram. No being a cowboy
Everything reminds me of her
Ya, as some have said going by weight is the approach. I’ve tried and been reading that a 53-57% is the hydration level to shoot for. I’m still tweaking but doing that has given me a much more consistent result.
So about 100 grams of flour for 53-57 grams of water/egg. Obviously eggs vary so adjust your math accordingly.
By weight > wacky cups/tbs/tsp measuring
I’ve worked a successful recipe with 3 eggs and 2 cups semolina flour, a pinch of salt and water as needed
Just weight your egg. Use a 2:1 ratio of flour to egg. Eggs vary in weight slighty, so adjust accordingly.
If you do a dough w/o eggs 100 grams flour to 45 grams water
100% semolina with eggs is always going to give you a super tough, dry dough. I’m sure someone will jump on me here but IN GENERAL, eggs are not used for all-semolina doughs, only water.
For rolled pasta sheets you want about 75% 00 flour to 25% semolina, just to give the smooth white flour a little “bite”.
If you are making hand-formed pasta (cavatelli etc), then all semolina is the right choice but NO EGG, just water, and the ratio will probably have to be a little higher than 2:1. Not by a lot, you will have to judge by how the dough feels.
All-semolina & water dough is much more like play-dough (i.e. more plastic in nature) and can be hand-formed into lots of fun things that would be difficult or impossible with a more resilient egg-based dough.
Know your doughs.