Lello Pasta Maker Review

The Lello Pasta Maker is an electric pasta machine that’s been on the market for well over a decade. It has lost its glory and I’ve updated this review to reflect this. The Lello used to be a great pasta maker, but there are better models out there. I updated this review in 2020 because I don’t think this machine is the one most people should get.

Alternatives to the Lello Pasta Maker

There are currently three great alternatives I can recommend to the Lello. The Philips Pasta Maker is currently my recommend pasta extruder (Philips Pasta Maker review). The same company sells a smaller version as well, the Compact edition, which is great if you want to save storage space.

If you’re looking for an electric model, refer to my guide on choosing the best electric pasta machine.

Lello 2730 Pasta Maker, my personal review (reviewed in 2015, this opinion is still current).

If you’re looking for a Lello machine, I recommend you read my review of the Philips Pasta Maker instead.

The Lello 2730 Pro Pastamaster has been on the market for over a decade, and the question whether it can still hold up against the newer electric pasta makers start popping up more frequently than ever. This review on the Lello will tell you what you can expect from this pasta maker on a daily or weekly basis, but will also be compared to a few of the newer (and maybe better) players on the market.

The Lello is an electric pasta maker, but it is different from the classic pasta rollers that you might know. The Lello 2730 is an electric pasta extruder, and not a pasta roller. The difference between an pasta extruder and a pasta rolling machine is that it extrudes the pasta through the shaping discs, instead of rolling and cutting the shapes.

One of the reasons why I have a special little place in my heart for pasta extruders, is because they can make shapes that regular pasta rollers can not. Where a classic pasta roller is mainly used for making shapes such as lasagne sheets, spaghetti, fettuccine and more types of “longer pasta”, a pasta extruder can also make short shapes such as penne and maccheroni. Besides the fact that it can make more different shapes of pasta, the Lello 2730 Pastamaster is fully electric and mixes and kneads the dough for you. And of course, it also extrudes it for you. So the question remains; can a machine that sounds as amazing as this actually deliver what it promises?

Lello 2730 3000 Technical Specifications

While the technical specifications of a machine like a pasta maker certainly don’t tell you everything you need to know, they can still be important. One of the most important aspects is how much pasta this machine can produce in a specific set of time. The Lello claims it can make up two 3 lbs of pasta in 20 minutes, but I recommend that you don’t push the machine to this extend.

Kneading and mixing the pasta dough takes a lot of power, and I found that the ingredients for 3 lbs simply push the Lello to its boundaries when attempting to make this amount of pasta. I could see that the 300-watt motor was having a lot of trouble when mixing the 3 lbs of pasta dough. I ended up getting this big batch of pasta extruded in 30 minutes, but since I rather not stress the machine to its boundaries I decided that for the next batch of pasta I would set for 2 lbs of pasta. I did get my 2 lbs of pasta in the promised time span of 20 minutes, but this still is a difference of 1 lbs.

The Lello 2730 Pasta Maker has a built in overheating protection, which means that it will automatically shuts the pasta maker off when it gets too hot for its own good. While I did not experience this, which is hopefully a good sign that it wasn’t overheating, this will improve the lifespan of the Lello.

The pasta maker isn’t a very light machine, as it weighs 21 lbs (or 9.5kg) and it isn’t the most comfortable kitchen appliance to carry around. If you don’t have much room in your kitchen left and will have to carry the Lello around the house every time that you intend on making pasta, this pasta maker isn’t the best option. In comparison, the Philips weighs 4 lbs less and has a design that is more aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.

Lello 2730 Pasta Maker Shaping Discs

The Lello comes with a total of eight different shaping discs that you can use to make different types of pasta. This is a whole lot more than a classic pasta maker can make, which usually offers pasta rollers and cutters that can make lasagne, spaghetti and fettucine. Of course, additional attachments can be bought for most of these machines. For this reason the Lello actually surprised me when I was reviewing this machine. The shaping discs (or dies if you want to call them that) can make the following shapes: spaghetti, lasagne, angel hair, linguine, fettuccine, bucatini and maccheroni. With this amount of different shapes you’ll be good to go and make a bunch of different pasta varieties.

The quality of the pasta discs is what you would expect from plastic discs; they do the job just fine but can’t be compared to pasta discs that are made from metal. Plastic disks don’t tend to have the same lifespan of their metal counterparts. The problem isn’t that they simply break on a quicker rate, but they tend to wear off more quickly and this results in less profound textures on some of the pasta shapes that have a more rigid texture. I haven’t seen the discs of the Lello pasta maker wear off during my review, but with common use of the discs you can expect them to not show the same quality as when you bought the pasta machine.

All in all, the shaping discs are what make the Lello 2730 stand out in comparison to other pasta makers of the same price level. Many of the other electric pasta extruders tend to come with less basic shaping discs, and you will have to buy more shaping discs to expand the types of pasta you can make with them.

Daily use of the Lello Pastamaster 2730

There is quite a difference between using a pasta extruder such as the Lello and a manual pasta maker such as the Marcato Atlas. For one, when using a manual pasta maker you have to mix and knead the dough yourself; using a kitchen machine to mix the dough or mix and knead the dough by hand. A pasta extruder takes these two tasks out of your hands, which can be quite a delight if you make pasta on a more regular basis. From experience I found out that getting the dough right with a pasta extruder can be a little more tricky, and the same goes for the Lello.

With the review of the Lello Pastamaster in the back of my mind, using the machine I found out that even with years of experience of making pasta dough I quickly learned that the pasta dough was either too dry or too wet for it to be properly extruded. It took me a few times to get the dough right, and from reading various customer reviews on the Lello at Amazon I learned that I wasn’t the only one experiencing this. After experimenting with the right amount of pasta flour and liquids for the perfect pasta dough I managed to get a mix that I was satisfied with.

Using the various pasta discs (yes, or dies) I found out that switching these was as simple as one would expect. I made use of various of the pasta discs that came with the Lello 2730 and they all performed as I expected; the shapes has a nice texture and held my various sauces perfectly. As I have mentioned before, they are made from plastic and are more prone to wear out than discs made from metal.

The fact that the machine feels sturdy shows that the manufacturer did put some time into the design of the machine itself. While I don’t like how it looks, since I own it the machine hasn’t shown any signs of defect. I was wary of this as other reviews on the Lello Pasta Maker did receive models that showed defects.

My biggest issue with the Lello Pastamaster is that it makes quite a lot of noise in comparison to other pasta extruders that I have used. It wasn’t a pleasant experience to use the Lello while I was talking with my friends during our weekly dinner session, as the noise during the mixing and kneading was too loud to have a nice conversation with my friends. When you are on your own it doesn’t resemble that much of a problem, as you don’t have to talk to others. But if you want to have a meaningful conversation and make pasta at the same time that you are using the Lello I would advise you don’t buy this machine.

User Reviews on the Lello Pasta Maker

I tend to take not only my own personal experience of the pasta makers into my reviews, but also those of others that own the machine. I did not experience any significant problems with the Lello, but others have reported that they did run into a few issues that restricted them from using the pasta maker as intended.

Multiple owners of the Lello complain about that noise that the machine makes, also describing it as loud and annoying. While this can be expected from a machine that has to mix and knead the dough thoroughly, it is still a nuisance when working with others in your kitchen.

While my model of the Lello Pastamaster felt very sturdy and didn’t have any lose parts, I was shocked to read that a lot of other owners had a different experience. Loose and broken parts after using the machine for a few times resulted in a bad review score of the machine, which I can completely understand. If the chance of receiving a bad model is 1 in 5, as I can make out from the user reviews, it can be a bit risky choosing the Lello in favour of other high end pasta extruders in the same price range.

My own experience with the Lello was that the promised speed of 3 lbs of fresh pasta in 20 minutes was exaggerated, and I am not the only one that came to this conclusion. While a batch of 2 lbs is quite a lot of pasta in that time span, I was disappointed that the Lello couldn’t live up to its promises.

Cleaning the Lello Pastamaster is something that a lot of owners also complained about; it can take up quite a bit of your time. I preferred making two batches of fresh pasta with the Lello since this meant I had to clean the Lello only once instead of twice.

Lello Pastamaster VS Philips Pasta Maker

Since the recent price drop on the Philips Pasta Maker, this high end pasta maker has become a lot more affordable and landed in the same price class of a lot of other electric pasta extruders such as the Lello. The question that I had in the back of my mind when I started reviewing the Lello was whether the Lello could hold up against the high end Philips Pasta Maker.

Overall, the Philips Pasta Maker makes a lot less noise than the Lello and weighs a lot less. In addition to that, I don’t mind placing the beautifully designed Philips Pasta Maker in my kitchen, where as I rather hide the Lello when I am not using it. The overall user friendliness of the Philips also outscores that of the Lello, as the Philips comes with a manual that is very explicit about how to use the machine and also comes with a interesting recipe book.

Even the process of cleaning the Philips Pasta Maker is easier, as you can simply remove the mixing compartment from the pasta extruder and clean it under the sink.

My only criticism on the Philips Pasta Maker is the fact that it only comes with four shaping discs, instead of the eight you get with the purchase of the Lello Pasta Maker. 

There are more cons than pros to the Lello. The Philips comes at a great price and its the better choice of the two pasta makers. It’s a bit sad, but the Lello machines aren’t worth buying anymore.

The Philips has a better built quality, uses more recent technologies and has more options when making pasta. In addition to all of that, the Philips has been receiving a lot of positive feedback since its release, where as the Lello is getting a lot of complaints since its release in 2005.

Feel free to read my Philips Pasta Maker review and see for yourself why the Philips is likely to be the better choice for you.

Should you buy the Lello Pastamaster?

The Lello used to reign as the best electric pasta maker for consumers, until the Philips Pasta Maker came into the picture. The Philips can do everything that the Lello promises, but where Lello fails to deliver, the Philips gave me a pleasant experience in the months that I have been using it. I am not the only one that stands behind this, as numerous reviews on Amazon can tell you.

If you are looking for an electric pasta maker in the price range of the Lello, my advice is quite simple: forget the Lello and make the right decision, buy the Philips Pasta Maker (Amazon) and you will have a more pleasant experience in the coming years.