A lid-style spaetzle maker looks like a flat colander.
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If you’re planning on making Graham Elliot Bowles’Grilled Steak and Peppered Spaetzlerecipe fromFine Cooking#115, (or you just love those little Eastern European egg dumplings), consider a spaetzle maker as your next culinary purchase. There are two kinds on the market, and here’s what you need to know about them:
| A lid-style spaetzle maker looks like a flat colander. It sits securely atop a pot of boiling water and comes with a plastic scraper for pushing the batter through the holes. This model is made byKüchenprofi. |  |
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| A hopper-style spaetzle maker has a lip on one side that helps it sit snugly atop a pot of boiling water. After you spoon the spaetzle batter into the box-shaped hopper, you slide the hopper back and forth over the grater-like base so the batter falls through the holes into the water. This model is made byNorpro. |  |
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Photos: Scott Phillips
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I make spaetzle in a large saute pan -- filled with boiling water, of course. The hopper-style maker is preferable in that circumstance because the pan is wide, and I can rest the end of the thing on the far edge, and make more spaetzle, quicker.
I have owned and used a hopper-style spaetzle maker for years and it works great. It is very simple, very quick - fool-proof actually. And it's a snap to clean. Years ago, when I bought mine, I told a friend, who owned and cooked in a big German restaurant, about it. They had been making spaetzle some other more laborious way. I bought one for her and she was delighted. After 30 years, I believe they are still using it in their restaurant.
I have seen both used in Europe. It is my impression that the lid type requires a softer (more peanut butter) consistency dough than the hopper style. Anyone else think that?
I guess the lid-type appeals to me because it has less moving parts to clean.