Spaetzle Presses?

Question

I was recently in Germany, and I fell in love with spaetzle, the German variation on pasta...does anyone know where I can buy a spatzle press in the states? Online would work, but I'm still in high school and can't spend a fortune. haha.

Answer 1

The only thing that I can think of would be the old Moulinex the one with a crank that was used to make  mashed potatoes or a meat grinder equipped with a smaller cutting blade. I just buy the dry ones from the store.

Answer 2

http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=...

Answer 3

I to am a chef well former chef, and like "Vil P" said a colander is a good substitute or I use a slotted spoon with rather large holes, the batter is simple, 3 eggs, 1 cup water, 2 cups AP flour, salt, pepper, a bit of veg oil (2tbsp) and a dash of nutmeg.

You make it up like a thick pancake batter, and either with the colander and forcing it through the hole or like I do I take the batter, now put a pot with a good amount of water on to boil ad a bit of salt and oil, and while the water is boiling I dip the spoon it and let the batter run through the holes into the water, then allow them to cook, they float when done, then with a clean slotted spoon remove them to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Once all of the batter is done and cooked drain the spatzeli and ry on paper towel on top of a cookie sheet, and at dinner time, heat some butter in a pan (you can use bacon fat too) and toss them in the pan slightly toasting and browning them lightly, a sprinkle of chopped fresh or dried parsley and your ready to serve.

If you need anymore tips, just drop me a line, I made these little dumplings or knodel in German probably 200 times over the 20+ yrs I was a chef in Canada, Jamaica, Singapore and Japan.

if yur looking for an authentic spatzeli cutter/machine, check out the European delis or a store that sells gourmet kitchen gadgets, there are place on the internet, but as you said cost is important, they run for around $15 US to $70-80 US for the best kind, look around or let me know and maybe I can help you.

Answer 4

If you can't find any press just buy any colander bowl or perforated gastronome pan and press the mixed  direct to the boiling water. Or just used a piece of stainless sheet and instead of pressing them cut them before you put in the boiling water. This is the way a lot of Germans and Austrians doing but in a piece of wood.

Answer 5

You are so right, spaetzle is delicious! So, I searched it a bit and I found an article about spaetzle in wikipedia. The history and the preparation of spaetzle is there.

Good luck and I really wish you good appetite!!!

Answer 6

You can use a colander in place of the press.  Just put your batter/dough in the colander over your boiling stock/water and force the batter/dough through the holes with a spatula.  Takes a bit of doing but it's not terrible!