Fresh Homemade Pasta

You like pasta?

Well, you'll like fresh homemade pasta even more.

Is it hard?  NO!

Marcato Atlas pasta machine

You will need a pasta machine - if you're on a boat, a hand cranked one is ideal.

Then all you need is flour, water, eggs, and salt.

Makes approximately 1 lb of pasta:

• 365 grams flour
• 8 grams salt
• 2 eggs + water to make 181 grams of liquid

Why am I weighing things instead of following the more usual (American) standard of volume measure?  Well, because flour packs considerably, so the actual amount of flour you dump into your mixing bowl depends dramatically on how you packed it into the measuring cup.  And this is a recipe that is very sensitive to moisture content:  Too much and the pasta sticks to the rollers and cannot be successfully slit.  Too little and you simply cannot roll it.  So, get a scale and weigh the ingredients.

Mix with a fork, then by hand, and finally kneading on the counter until all the flour is incorporated.

Roll out into a log of roughly uniform diameter and cut into 6 equal pieces.

The initial passes thru the pasta machine are simply a continuation of the mixing, but in a shear regime that you cannot reach by hand.  Roll at position 1, fold, roll again.  Do this until all the unevenness in texture is gone.

Fold and roll again at position 3 (yeah, you can skip 2)

Roll again at position 4 (do not fold)

Roll again at position 5 (do not fold)

Hang each of the resulting pasta sheets on a rack to dry slightly.

Move the crank to the slitter portion of the pasta machine.  Slit each pasta sheet and hang the resulting noodles back on the rack, using a long spoon handle to capture and transfer the noodles.

Take the time to separate the noodles on the rack so that they don't stick together.

You can cook the noodles immediately in boiling water, or let them dry over night, or split the batch and do both.  The dry noodles will keep more or less indefinitely, but take considerably longer to cook than the fresh ones.

Trust me, it is so easy and so tasty that you'll never go back to store-bought pasta!

Only One Expansion Tank Now

(Part one of this story is here.)

Like with so many things,the preparation for this task far outweighed its actual execution.

Corroding cast aluminum expansion tank

There are only 4 bolts that hold the expansion tank on the engine, and they do not protrude into the water passage.  This means that they were not rusted or corroded - they were easily removed.  Loosening the hose clamp attaching the tank to the heat exchanger, and the tank was easily lifted out of position.  Far less work than I anticipated.

It's out!

...and the corrosion is worse than I knew

It turns out that the worst of the corrosion was at the hose attachment spud.  It was so bad here that I fear that I could knock off that spud with a sharp blow.  Good to get this failure point off the boat.

In an earlier post, I detailed the time and effort spent in trying to find a replacement fitting that would serve as a thermostat housing and provide a connection to the heat exchanger.  That search satisfied, I thought I was out of the woods.

Not so much.

Since I was in there, I know that my son would chide me if I did not replace the 40-year old thermostat.  So I started a search for a thermostat for a Perkins 4-236, 160°F.  Well it turns out that none of the diesel supply houses in Anacortes could provide one corresponding to the part number in my engine manual.  Or even in a cross-reference manual.

I thought that the thermostat looked very familiar. The one oddball thing was this little device:

Jiggle pin

I told you I did deep research...  In typically British fashion, it is called a "Jiggle Pin."  Its function is to allow air bubbles trapped below the thermostat to pass thru it when the engine is not running.  When there is water flow, the jiggle pin moves up and blocks the hole, stopping water from bypassing the thermostat.  A nice feature, but not strictly necessary, since once the thermostat opens, there is free passage for bubbles, which will then accumulate in the highest point in the cooling system.

I did find some Perkins thermostats.  In England.  For $50, not including shipping.

So I went to my local NAPA store.  I LOVE NAPA!!  No pimply-faced kid behind the counter that can't do anything without the computer (you should see their faces when I answer their question, "What kind of car is this from?" with "It's a Downeast 45 sailboat with a Perkins 4-236 diesel...  they are paralyzed) - experienced countermen who know engines.  I showed the thermostat to the counterman, and allowed as how it sure looked like one for a small block Chevy engine...  he went and got one off the shelf and with his calipers we compared the Perkins and Chevy thermostats.  Yup, the $8 Chevy thermostat is a drop-in replacement, tho without the (not strictly necessary) jiggle pin.

And then the second, and harder problem:  I needed a 1.5" hose that had one end expanded to 1.75" to fit over my new fitting.  And it had to have a right angle bend right past the expansion.  And a straight section at least 8" long to reach the heat exchanger.  Try searching for that on line!  The NAPA counterman took me into the hose room and gave me his calipers and left me to search.  It took me two minutes to find a suitable hose, a NAPA 8349.

What's left of the hose after I cut off the part I needed.  There are still a couple of useful bends there...

So, thanks to NAPA, in the space of 15 minutes I had solved both the thermostat and hose problems and was on my way back to the boat.  Can I say it again?  I LOVE NAPA!!

Done!

I ran the engine until it was hot, the thermostat opened, and the bubbles had accumulated in the expansion tank.  Job done!

Expansion tank, higher than the water heater

Ricotta, Again.

Milk is one of those strange products...  apparently they really, REALLY want you to buy it in gallon jugs.  Oh, they'll sell it to you in 1/2 gallon jugs, but for only a few cents less than the gallon jug.

So, being the frugal person that I am, I always buy the gallon jug,  even tho Jane and I frequently don't make it thru the gallon before it starts to get "strong".  Maybe "stubborn" is a better description for a person who refuses to buy the smaller container even tho it fits his purposes perfectly.

And then recently I had a thought, "I wonder if 'old' milk would make acceptable ricotta?"

And delightfully, the answer is a resounding YES!

So, now instead of it being a rare event, I make ricotta at the end of nearly every jug of milk, adding enough from the new jug to make up the difference, because usually there is not enough for a full batch left in the old jug.

And this frequency has led to some experimentation.  First, while ricotta can be made with just about any food acid (lemon juice, vinegar, etc), we like the flavor and texture of that made using buttermilk best.

Second, always add some salt to the curds as you are scooping them out into the cheesecloth to drain.  A little salt really improves the flavor.

Third, try using garlic salt instead of plain salt - it is a delightful addition to the ricotta.

Or try adding finely chopped fresh herbs to the ricotta for another delightful variation.

And since Jane always seems to have a container of heavy cream in the refrigerator, I tried substituting cream for some of the milk.  And here's where I learned something else...  Jane usually buys the "Ultra Pasteurized" variety because it keeps so well.  But as it turns out, the ultra-pasteurization process heats the dairy product to a higher temperature than regular pasteurization, making it unsuitable for cheese making:  it will not form curds.  At all.

My first attempt at cream-enhanced ricotta, substituting a full cup of cream,  produced a cheese that was way too "moist".  In fact, you couldn't really spread it on a cracker - more like you needed to use a spoon.

But problems are often a boon in disguise.  I have found that the ultra-pasteurized cream can be used in making ricotta - as a moistening agent.  But just not so much.  At a level of 1/4 cup in a batch, it produces a ricotta that is delightfully moist and rich.

Easter Egg Hunt

Perkins 4-236 Expansion Tank

Eolian has a diesel engine, a Perkins 4-236.   Because this is a marine installation, there is no radiator (instead there is a heat exchanger), and therefore no expansion space in the radiator.  For the marine installation, Perkins created a cast aluminum tank to provide the expansion space.

Tho the engine is still in its prime, the tank is failing (galvanic corrosion because it is in contact with steel?  Probably.)

One more lead-in:  An expansion tank should be the high point in the system, so that bubbles and air trapped in the system accumulate there.  But Eolian has an engine-heated water heater which is mounted above the engine, making it the high point in the system.  Long ago I added an after market expansion tank at the water heater engine cooling water inlet, so that we would not accumulate a big air bubble in the water heater, drastically reducing its heating capacity.  Eolian does not need the expansion tank on the engine.

So the fix to the failing expansion tank is simple, right?  Just remove the tank.

Not so fast.  The expansion tank traps the engine thermostat against the casting it is mounted to.  With the tank removed, we will need something else to hold the thermostat in place, and provide a connection for the 1.5" hose that carries the water from the engine to the heat exchanger.

My first thought was to contact our local diesel engine supply house, looking for a Perkins part to bolt on in place of the tank to do just that.  No luck.  Apparently Perkins made that special water outlet casting (which bolts onto the front of the head making a right angle turn upward and providing a four-bolt mounting for the thermostat and the tank), just for use with the expansion tank.  It seems that all other non-marine installations have only a two-bolt mounting pad for a standard water neck/radiator hose connection.

I considered just making a flat plate that gets bolted onto the platform to trap the thermostat, and then drilling it to accept a standard small block Chevy water neck.  I am still considering this option.

But wait...  What do you mean non-marine Perkins installations?  Where else are Perkins 4-236 engines used?  Very little research revealed that the Perkins 4-236 may have been the almost-universal industrial small diesel:

• Taxi cabs
• Fork lifts (Hyster)
• Towed air compressors
• Towed welders (Lincoln)
• Industrial tow vehicles, eg luggage tow trucks on runway ramps (Clark)
• Farm tractors (Massey)
• ... and more

Water outlet casting, thermostat, and water neck

For all these other installations, it turns out that Perkins made a whole host of water outlet casting and water neck combinations, with the resulting water flow directed to the left hand side of the engine, straight ahead, straight up, to the right, and several angles in between.

Wonderful!  A whole new universe of possibilities has opened up!

I contacted my brother-in-law back in Indiana (thanks Tom!) who is an antique tractor collector, and he provided me with several contacts for Massey tractor salvage yards, many of which provided additional contacts...  you know how this goes.  Almost everyone I talked to was very friendly and curious about my problem ("Did you say the engine is mounted in a boat??").  Finally, I found that Massey (tractors) part no. 37762701 would provide me with a water outlet facing forward, and to which I could (hopefully...) bolt a Chevrolet small block water neck.  This part is available new for a cost ranging from £19, $57, to $295 depending on where you look.

Massey 37762701

But I continued the search, this time starting with Lincoln welders, which also used the Perkins 4-236 engine.  In the way of the Internet, that led me hither and yon, but surprisingly, I ended up on a forum where boat owners with 4-236 engines were discussing using JBWeld to repair failing expansion tanks.  And one of the posters mentioned Trans Atlantic Diesels, and that they sold a number of parts that addressed exactly the problem of failing expansion tanks on Perkins diesels.  One of the solutions they sell is a combination expansion tank, exhaust manifold and heat exchanger, made by Bowman.  This was more than I wanted or needed (I've already replaced the heat exchanger with a Monel one, and replaced the exhaust manifold with a stainless steel one), but that forum poster also mentioned that supplied with this kit was a part that bolted directly onto the existing water outlet, trapping the thermostat and providing a hose outlet going to the right side of the engine...

Exactly!

Oh. My. Gosh.  This is exactly what I started out looking for originally!  So I called them.  You'll want to talk to Sheri Alexander - she is by far the most knowledgeable about Perkins engines, and in particular the marine versions, of anyone that I have talked to in this long journey.  Yup, they have such a thing!  But the one they sell with the Bowman  unit is designed for 2" hose, and my setup uses 1.5" hose...  Sherrie said they'd fabricate one for me with the 1.5" outlet for no additional charge!  And when I called back to provide the Perkins part number for my thermostat, she was already downstairs talking to the fabrication shop!

The Easter egg hunt is over.  The second part of the story, the actual removal of the expansion tank and installation of the new water neck/thermostat housing, is here.