You Should Never Wash Your Pasta Machine. Here's Why

Making pasta by hand at home can be a fun way to get more involved with your food. You can use fresh ingredients, aromatic herbs, vegetables, and designs to elevate your dough. But if you have really committed yourself to making homemade pasta and bought a pasta machine, then you've likely already enjoyed all of the options that the machine's extensions make possible. 

But the one tricky aspect that you may not have considered is cleaning the machine itself. While pasta machines can easily roll out even dough, there is one thing the mechanical equipment is highly averse to: Water. 

According to Food Guy, you should never place your pasta machine in the dishwasher, nor should you wash it in the sink by hand. Even Gordon Ramsay notes that washing a pasta machine can damage your pasta (via MasterClass). Luckily, there are several ways of easily cleaning the machine at home. 

According to Pasta Evangelists, there is one method that works really well to pick up any lingering flour or dough inside the machine. This technique requires polymer clay that you can roll through the machine to collect any straggling or stuck bits of food. 

Next, you should use a brush to clean out the nooks and crannies of the pasta machine. Finally, use a slightly damp cloth (or a dry one) to go over and wipe the machine once more. However, it is vital that the entire pasta machine is completely dry before you store it in your kitchen to avoid the formation of damaging rust (via Food Guy). 

Fortunately, if you have used water to clean your pasta machine, you can reverse some of the damage. To remove rust, you can place a bit of neutral oil on the roller and roll scrap dough through until the discoloration stops appearing on the dough. Otherwise, you will need to use steel wool to carefully remove the rust after taking apart the pasta machine. 

So, take care of your pasta machine from the get-go to avoid frustrating damage and continue making homemade pasta.