File:Consolidated Macaroni Machine Corporation Short Goods Pasta Extruder P01.jpg

English: A pasta factory with a short goods pasta extruder built by Consolidated Macaroni Machine Corporation in Brooklyn, New York.

This was one of the first pasta extruders to combine mixing, kneading and pressing dough in a single machine. Before this machine, those three operations were done on separate machines, so pasta was made in batches. Combining all three operations in one machine allowed for continuous production of pasta. Flour, or Semolina, went in one end of the machine and formed pasta went out the other without anyone handling or touching the product.

The left side of the picture shows a partial view of the old style machines used in making batches of pasta: mixer for mixing the dough, gramola for kneading the dough and press for pressing the dough through a die to form the pasta. This continuous extruder, with the three operations built into one machine must have been new to the factory because it still had the old style batch machines.

Of historical note - the old style batch machines made excellent pasta because you pressed the dough through the die with a straight piston instead of extruding it using a screw style auger. This method helped preserve the integrity of the dough structure and strong dough structure gave pasta a firm bite. To compensate for this, modern extruders that are designed for making artisan quality pasta use longer screws with slower rotations.