I used to use a manual pasta machine to make my own Ramen noodles, but I recently bought a Philips automatic noodle machine and I would like to review whether this is suitable for handmade Ramen !
Product Details
This time I bought a noodle machine called “PHILIPS HR2660/00“. I researched and compared various things, and there was a slightly smaller one, but I chose this one because I can make 5 types of noodles with it. Another expensive machine had an automatic weighing, but mine does not as I thought that I should do the measurement myself. Also, I read various people’s blogs, and there were Japanese people using this machine to make Ramen noodles, Udon, Soba etc…
How to use
It’s really easy to use. First, you must connect it to an outlet, measure the flour and water, put the flour inside and then the lid on and press the START button. After that, just add the water you measured little by little. The machine rotates and circulates the water on its own, so the water is distributed evenly.
Good Ramen noodles need to be chewy, but the kneading from the machine is a little bit weak and if you just let it work on its own, you will end up with noodles that are crackling and tasteless. So, I put the noodles that came out automatically back inside and kneaded them again.
- Flouer 500g
- water 180g
- Kansui (Baking soda) 2.5g
- water 6g
After kneading and putting the noodles back in it several times, it was finally completed.
I left it to age in the refrigerator for one day to allow gluten to form.
Honest opinion
This time I tried them with Hiyashi chuka (cold Ramen). Wash the boiled noodles with cold water and you’ll have delicious chewy noodles!
However, when I tried it as soy sauce Ramen, the noodles were not tasty at all. It didn’t have any firmness and was bland. I believe, the push-type noodle machine did not knead the dough enough and, as a result, the noodles were not chewy. The soup was delicious tho.
I believe the best thing to do is to use this machine to mix flour and water. This machine is indeed good to mix the ingredients evenly. However, I would then recommend to use a regular manual pasta machine afterward to knead the dough that formed. You should extrude the dough in sheet form, layer it and combine it several times with a manual pasta machine. That way, the kneading will be better and it will reflect in the texture of the noodles.
I felt it was the best way to do.
I’ve only used it a few times so far, but of course it’s perfect for making regular Italian pasta! I will also try it again to make Ramen noodles !
