Norpro Stainless Steel Ravioli Maker with Press - Homemade Pasta Dough Press Tool for Italian Dumplings, Perfect for Kitchen, Cooking, and Gift Giving

I like the tray and it fits in my drawer so I don’t have to find a spot in a cabinet, and then dig to find it when I need it.Took me a couple of trials to get them right, as I’ve only ever made ravioli by hand a few times.Once I did, it was much easier and faster.Just make sure you flour the mold first a bit, before lining your dough in it.I still had to cut a bit with a knife, but maybe it was my dough.Hand wash only, as it’s made of some aluminum alloy I think, so it’ll tarnish and alter. I also would dry it with a towel, instead of just letting it drain, for same reason.I bought it because I wanted to replicate my mom’s hometown’s agnolotti recipe that I had never made before. Although they’re not supposed to be shaped like a ravioli, this was easier to do for first time making them. They were delicious!The holes aren’t huge, it makes a nice size ravioli, so I was impressed. I don’t think I’d have liked a smaller or bigger size.Twelve ravioli is just right.Price was right. Others are much more expensive and cheaper ones didn’t seem too good from reviews.I’d buy again, and recommend it.If you have or plan to get a pasta machine, this is a must-have. I've had mine for a couple of weeks now and have made cheese and spinach ravioli, which was amazing! It's very easy to use: I went ahead and rolled out my pasta strips, cut them into 4" X 12" rectangles with a plastic ruler and pizza cutter, and stacked them with a little rice flour sprinkled between each to keep them from sticking. Just slap one piece of pasta onto the metal base, press the dough into place with your fingers, and lay the plastic tray that kind of looks like an egg carton on top so you can press it down. It stretches the dough a bit to form the pocket into which you put your filling. Remove the plastic piece and fill your little pockets with the filling (it actually goes pretty quickly). Then place another pasta rectangle on top of this and pat down with your hands. They recommend an egg wash or water brushed along the edges to help seal the two pieces of pasta together, but I did not find this necessary at all. I used a wooden pastry roller and rolled back and forth several times until I could see the metal ravioli edges on the bottom plate come through both layers of pasta dough. Then pull apart gently- no extra cutting required. I made 48 raviolis on my first try- none came apart while being boiled. BTW boiling only takes about two minutes. I pre-heated a large cast iron skillet, tossed in some butter and olive oil, fresh basil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and transferred the boiled raviolis with a slotted spoon right into the hot pan. I tossed them gently a bit- just long enough to coat the ravioli and to sear/brown the edges of the pasta a bit for added texture and taste. They were absolutely delicious!!! Only thing to bear in mind is if you have to make a large number of ravioli, it is best to cook them in batches of 12-18 only. Otherwise it takes too long for your water to return to a boil; and your hot fry-pan doesn't get overcrowded. One last thing: The box it comes in is sturdy and great to keep the appliance in. And it has everything you need printed on the back: pasta and filling recipes, instructions, and photos. I highly recommend this.Making ravioli, in my limited experience, is not easy. It takes care, attention to detail, and good tools.Oh, and lots of time!I am pretty far from perfecting my technique, and I still get frustrated with the process (sometimes to the point of literally screaming in the kitchen).If you feel you're up for the challenge, though, you could do much worse that purchasing one of these to help make the process a little easier.I've used other tools, and this is the best and quickest (where "quick" is a relative term).Here are a handful of pointers so maybe you can learn a little from my mistakes:- be careful not to roll your dough too thin or it won't have the stretching room it will need- don't make it too dry either or it won't have the flexibility it needs when you're working it- both of the above are totally subjective, so you'll have to experiment to get it right (and here lies one frustration factor)- flour the side of the dough well where it touches the metal tray or the pressed ravioli will not release (more frustration)- be thoughtful about rolling it to the proper width so that it will fit properly on the metal tray of the press while also not wasting loads of your lovely fresh dough- air inside ravioli is bad. it will cause them to burst while boiling.So...- fill the indentations with enough filling so that the top surface (pasta and filling) across the metal tray is as level as possible before you brush with egg wash and lay on the top dough layer. This will help minimize the amount of air you will get inside the sealed ravioli- lay the top layer of dough down gently working from one end or edge to the other and pressing down as you go so that you eliminate as much air as possible from between the layers- after you've rolled over the tray to separate the individual ravioli, you may want/need to do a final quick check on some or all of the ravioli to press out any remaining air. I use a toothpick to prick a little hole near one corner, and then work from the opposite corner to press out air and firm up the seal on each little packet.finally! you might think you've worked hard enough by now, but while you're going through tray after tray, trying to work quickly before your dough dries out, you might get busted at the end unless you do the following...- be careful about the moisture level in your filling! if it is too wet, the dough on your completed ravioli will get soggy while you are working on the rest, and this may result in things sticking together when you least want them to right as you are finally about to toss them into the gently boiling water (never a rolling boil, because that will either burst the ravioli, or cook them on the otside before they're finished on the inside).- add breadcrumbs to filling to adjust moisture level (more experimentation)- flour the outside of each finished ravioli thoroughly. if you get too much flour in your cooking water, you can always change it out for fresh water, but you can't fix two or more ravioli that have formed a tragic sticky glob of glued together raw ingredients.That's about it. The product itself is great. The process gets easier with lots of practice.I'm thinking there's a reason why ravioli recipes (and techniques) are the sort of thing that get passed down from generation to generation, because it ain't easy coming up with the whole thing from scratch (or from a book).I tried to make ravioli without this, and it was not pretty!! This is a great product, my ravioli turned out perfectly! Make sure you spray the metal with oil before putting your dough down. This is a very fast and simple way to make professional looking/tasting ravioli at home! I bought the 'normal' size. There is a large size too. I liked this one, just the right size. Highly recommend.A little getting used to but with this product I was able to make ravioli easily and they turn out pretty. My only problem I had a first was not with the product but I did not put enough flour on the pasta dough so they were sticking to the frame but that is my fault and not the product. So if you use make sure you lightly flour your pasta dough and the ravioli will come out a lot easier. Great productI had read the reviews prior to buying. The first batch was proving difficult to get out, I had forgotten to spray with cooking spray. The next batches were so easy and quick. Don't forget to spray before getting started.Made my first raviolis yesterday. Went great. They were a bit smaller then expected but in the end, the size was perfect. Keep in mind that the metal top that does the shaping does not cut all the way through; you will still need a roller cutter (for pizza or the one specific for raviolis).This product does good size ravioli. Don't put in the dishwasher, you going to ruin it!