[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

That was a very technical answer. ...

I had been goading my wife for a long time to use a roti-maker, but she refused steadfastly every time saying the quality of rotis is not good to justify time-savings (no cost savings either). The technical part I researched just to understand what makes it fail, or why ladies would say quality is not good.

She also refuses to use the food processor attachment to make dough. According to her, the time taken to knead dough to get the soft consistency is much less than making with food processor and then resting the dough to get it to the soft consistency. And, washing hands after kneading is less effort than washing the jar and the blade!

Anyhow, her logic for not using rot-maker was it is really boring to eat uniform rotis, and those rotis don't stay soft and become brittle when they go cold, even if wrapped in cloth. I agree, the randomness and charring aren't reproduced, neither is an aroma released while baking.

That aroma, of dough cooking and charring while making phulkas / rotis, is the single most efficient triggers of appetite. At least for most North Indians it is the same conditioned stimulus and reaction as for Pavlov's dog. Think foggy cold winter evenings and your mother's rotis, or even at a neighborhood tandoor.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by carboy

Need an opinion about 'Roti Makers' - are they useful - do they make good rotis - do they reduce the effort. If yes, what is a good brand/type of roti maker? Or what about a roti press?

Please don't get a roti-maker, even if you are getting it free of cost. I have purchased the same and found it to be useless.

The rotis get baked only on the surface and remain uncooked from inside. I always got a stomachache after eating these rotis because they are raw from inside. Also, these rotis become hard and brittle (like a papad) even if stored for a very short while.

I have tried different consistencies for the dough, nothing works. My mother and wife have also tried several times, the results were always the same.

And making those perfectly round rotis in a roti maker is not as easy as it looks. One needs to apply a very precise pressure at the right place to flatten the ball into a roti. Believe me, it is much easier to do it in the conventional style once you get used to it.

The only time we found this appliance useful was when we had to prepare a large number of pooris. We used this only for the purpose of flattening the balls into poori shape. (We basically used it like a press).

After sales service is horrible for this kind of products, you will find it difficult to source its parts. I have been searching for a replacement handle.

Rohan

[Aroy]

Rolling rotis with a pin does make a difference as the dough is stretched while rolling and not just pressed. This does change the structure of the dough. That is why rolled rotis are soft while the pressed ones hard.

An alternative to a roti press is the pasta rolling machine. The dough comes out perfectly and the results are same as the roled ones. The only problem with pasta machine is that you get long strips and not round pieces. Well you can't have every thing. If you are making hundreds of rotis as in commercial environment then I guess a motorized machine with a round die would be the answer. All the dough left after the round shape is cut goes back to the machine to be rolled into a strip.

We have a hand operated pasta machine which is quite a pain to use as it is not fixed to the table and keeps wobbling, but the results are worth the effort. I guess a motorized one will solve this problem, but then we make pasta occasionally.

[S_U_N]

carboy has disappeared after triggering this topic of pulkas and roties.

On a related note,

here

is the biggest roti making machine that I know of. But commercial appliances are not in the scope of this thread.


@carboy: Is this for home use or you want to do something similar to Akashya Patra Foundation?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

carboy has disappeared after triggering this topic of pulkas and roties.

Not disappeared - I am reading the replies but don't have much to comment.

Originally Posted by S_U_N

@carboy: Is this for home use or you want to do something similar to Akashya Patra Foundation?

Home use only.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Aroy

... We have a hand operated pasta machine ...

Did you buy it in India? If so, where? I haven't found one in India. Last year I picked up one in France, but put it back on the store shelf as I didn't have baggage space.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Err... No, rolling doesn't change the basic character of the dough. Linkages between glutenin and gliadin chains (gluten) in the flour are produced and stretched out by kneading and resting thereafter. Insufficient kneading produces spongy dough and rotis / poories that turn out like leather.

My wife uses Rotimaker to make rotis for Lunch. For first couple of days the rotis turned out to be leathery or brittle. It was not like the rotis the demo guys showed us. Later she found the secret of making them softer. The dough consistency needed is different from hand rolled ones. It needs to slightly more watery. After this they were softer even after being cold and stored after 4-5 hours. We still have the Rotimaker though my mom who now cooks for us does not use it anymore.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

carboy has disappeared after triggering this topic of pulkas and roties.

On a related note, here is the biggest roti making machine that I know of. But commercial appliances are not in the scope of this thread.


@carboy: Is this for home use or you want to do something similar to Akashya Patra Foundation?

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Did you buy it in India? If so, where? I haven't found one in India. Last year I picked up one in France, but put it back on the store shelf as I didn't have baggage space.

1. As I had commented, this is an industrial grade Pasta Making machine at heart, with round die to cut the rotis to shape.

2. I bought my one in Khan Market, Delhi. There is a store which sells all this sort of appliances.

[jpm]

Originally Posted by arsudarsan

Not too sure about these brands. We have a sunflame at my inlaws and Glen at our home working fine. Sunflame is 1.5 years old and Glen close to an year.

Havent heard of these brands' chimneys so far. Thanks for the info. A bit of confusion still as mentioned below.

Originally Posted by LithiumSunset

Be warned of the racket some of these chimneys make! So go to a store and try and hear them while running. If you have an android phone, there is a free sound level app, for a quick comparison between models. But with two stoves you do need two chimneys for sure. I would suggest to buy both of 650 to 700 cum capacity. Do buy those with baffle filters, they are far easier to clean. Motors with metal (aluminium) housings are considered better than others but are a little more expensive.

decided to get one 750 cu.m and another 1000 cu.m. Trying to research whether I really need those baffle filters or regular Aluminium mesh filters are enough. Meanwhile, a guy from USHA suggested an auto cleaning oil-filter straightline model thus compounding my confusion. Googling on the subject only throws pathetic results (off all things, mouthshut 'reviews' come up prominently ) mostly marketing sites.

Meanwhile called up Siemens dealer in Trichy. He sincerely said to go for Indian brands and not to invest too much money on italian ones as these may need replacing every 5th year or so anyway.


So while the cubic capacity and the number of chimneys have been finalized, pretty much everything else including whether I need a straightline or decorative hood is still up in the air.


The roti maker discussion is very informative. sorry to have barged in.

[arsudarsan]

Originally Posted by jpm

Havent heard of these brands' chimneys so far. Thanks for the info. A bit of confusion still as mentioned below.





decided to get one 750 cu.m and another 1000 cu.m. Trying to research whether I really need those baffle filters or regular Aluminium mesh filters are enough. Meanwhile, a guy from USHA suggested an auto cleaning oil-filter straightline model thus compounding my confusion. Googling on the subject only throws pathetic results (off all things, mouthshut 'reviews' come up prominently ) mostly marketing sites.

Meanwhile called up Siemens dealer in Trichy. He sincerely said to go for Indian brands and not to invest too much money on italian ones as these may need replacing every 5th year or so anyway.


So while the cubic capacity and the number of chimneys have been finalized, pretty much everything else including whether I need a straightline or decorative hood is still up in the air.
.

Try to go to Viveks, Vasanth & Co etc and check the models out on display there. I did check out Sunflame, Usha, Faber and finally settled for Glen because I found it best value for money. I was looking for a 90cm chimney so that we could cover a 2 burner gas stove and an induction cook top.
Try Prestige smart kitchen stores as well. They too have chimneys.

[sgiitk]

All I would say is that I had bought a Faber chimney when they were very new to India way back in 2000-01. Worked fine till earlier this year when I decided to get an oil baffle model. I also have their cooking range and a two burner hob in daily use and all are doing very well.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Aroy

... I bought my one in Khan Market, Delhi. There is a store which sells all this sort of appliances.

Thanks, sir. I wish there was a similar shop in Bangalore.

I finally found one on Zansaar and ordered it last evening. Haven't had the courage of telling the little old lady yet, as I would get a blast for buying stuff and seldom using it!

[jpm]

Originally Posted by arsudarsan

Try to go to Viveks, Vasanth & Co etc and check the models out on display there. I did check out Sunflame, Usha, Faber and finally settled for Glen because I found it best value for money. I was looking for a 90cm chimney so that we could cover a 2 burner gas stove and an induction cook top.
Try Prestige smart kitchen stores as well. They too have chimneys.

Prestige have mesh filter models only.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

All I would say is that I had bought a Faber chimney when they were very new to India way back in 2010-11. Worked fine till earlier this year when I decided to get an oil baffle model. I also have their cooking range and a two burner hob in daily use and all are doing very well.

Thanks arsudarsan & sgiitk

Finalized on Faber. Topaz 850m3/hr 60cm and Solaris Plus LTW 90 cm 1000m3/hr. Both with baffle filters. The first is quoted at 9000 INR, yet to get a quote for the second one.

Hope After sales aint too bad.

[carboy]

The builder installed switchboards, switches in my flat are of bad quality and I am planning to replace them with a different brand of a better quality as and when they go bad. The problem is that the modular plates of all brands may or may not fit the slot (and screw holes) in the wall where it goes in. Currently, I have found that a particular brand Alme modular from Alemac goes atleast into some of the slots - i.e. the alignment with the screw holes are right. This also seems better in quality than my current switches/plates. I was originally planning for Anchor Roma, but that didn't fit at least in one of the places, I tried.

So I was wondering if any one had any experience with the Alme modular series from Alemac - http://www.alemacswitches.com/#products-page - is it of a good quality?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by carboy

The builder installed switchboards, switches in my flat are of bad quality and I am planning to replace them with a different brand of a better quality as and when they go bad. The problem is that the modular plates of all brands may or may not fit the slot (and screw holes) in the wall where it goes in. Currently, I have found that a particular brand Alme modular from Alemac goes atleast into some of the slots - i.e. the alignment with the screw holes are right. This also seems better in quality than my current switches/plates. I was originally planning for Anchor Roma, but that didn't fit at least in one of the places, I tried.

So I was wondering if any one had any experience with the Alme modular series from Alemac - http://www.alemacswitches.com/#products-page - is it of a good quality?

I have CPL switches in my house and had a hell of a time finding replacements. They are not easily available and are expensive to replace. Cannot change just one switch have to replace the whole set. However I found that the size is standard just that the switch sizes are half normal ones so if I replace with a different brand I have to let go of some functions. Eg got rid of regulator in kitchen, got rid of second switch for fan in bedroom etc I think you may find the holes and recessed unit will match up with other brands. Post some pics. My pics below show a 2 gang size of cpl range. Some of the boards at home have 6 switches and 2 regulators in that same size.