OK ... I need some serious advice / help. I am very new to cake decorating using fondant and/or gumpaste.

Last week, I took the first class of the second Wilton class, and in that first class they have you mix a little colored fondant with ready made GP in order to work the class. I had some left over, so the next day I decided to go buy a pasta roller attachment for my KA. The gumpaste I mixed up that night rolled so nice and beautifully through the pasta roller.

I didn't clean the roller because, at first glance, it didn't look dirty.

Yesterday and today, I decided that I wanted to make some GP flowers for practice. I sat down and used the same method to mix my colors. About 25% or so of colored Wilton fondant to Wilton ready made GP. I mixed and mixed until the color was good. I wrapped it in plastic after coating lightly with shortening.

Today, I mixed up some pink. It sat for about an hour or so until I was ready to use it. I had a small orange sized ball, but I only was working with about 1/3 to 1/2 of it. I kneaded in my hands for a minute or two, then attempted to put it through the roller. It stuck. It globbed. It made a horrid mess.

I ran a damp paper towel then a dry one through and thought I got it pretty clean. I tried to run the same fondant through again, and once again it stuck, it globbed, it left a horrid mess. Once again I tried cleaning it with a damp papertowel ran through the rollers, then a dry one. Unfortunately, the dry one got so caught up in the blades that it actually froze my rollers. Off to the kitchen store again to buy another one (roller attachment).

Came home. Used the same fondant-colored GP again. I read in another post from someone on here that you needed to roll out your GP some, then put it through the KA on settings like 1, 3, then 5. Setting 1 seemed to work ok, but when I switched to 3, it gummed up on me again. I even used cornstarch lightly on both sides of the GP and lightly on the rollers (top and bottom).

Now, I have a lovely mess on the rollers that I cannot even seem to get off with my fingernails.

I have NOT taken a damp paper towel yet to clean. I wanted to get advice first.

So here is what I would like to know:

1. How to clean the darned pasta roller attachment and get all the darned GP off of it.

2. What do I need to be doing to my GP, colored or plain white, in order to run it through the pasta roller attachment so it does NOT gum up? What settings should the pasta roller be on?

PLEASE, I am in desperate need of help on this one.

Thanks so much in advance.

Pat

Call kitcheaide .There should be an 800 with your attachements or mixer book. Or look it up online .

Call KA for what? To get them to help me figure out how to clean it? Hmmm ... I don't know about that one. I saw someone else had a problem with her pasta roller breaking and when she called KA and told them she was using fondant in it, they would not help her ... I doubt they would know how to remove GP from the rollers.

Anyone else out there have some suggestions for me? Please?
Thanks.

so, you are not adding any cornstarch or powdered sugar to your roller? i think that would be what would get it not to stick...just as if you were rolling it out yourself.

also, have you just soaked the rollers and let them dry to start over? if you left dirty gumpaste in there and then tried to roll again who knows where all those dried up crumbs went. I duno...never had this issue but this is what i would do

I had the same problem when I tried to use my pasta roller. So I gave up and rolled by hand. To me it was way faster and easier.

I use my pasta attachment for GP pretty regular. I also have another stand alone. I find it's important to cornstarch the rollers and lightly cornstarch the GP. When I clean them I only clean it from underneath with a hot (to help melt sugar) damp paper towel and then dry. No chance of it jamming.

Thanks, Winslow. I wil give the hot towel a try today.

As for soaking it in water - the pasta attachment had a sticker and is embossed with "do not immerse in water." I'm sure this might have something to do with the internal mechanisms. I'm sure you can probably hand wash it, but I'm definitely going to try the hot towel idea today to see if I can get it clean.

However, from there, I'm not sure about the actual GP. I read in another post that you are supposed to knead it until it has a sheen so it is not sticky any more?

Do not soak the rollers LOL!!! Cleaning dried gumpaste bits is no big problem. Use a damp small cloth like a washcloth or dish cloth, turn the KA on the slowest possible speed, and hold the damp cloth BELOW the rollers. Do not try to hold the cloth above the rollers even though you can see what you're doing more clearly - they can grab a little fold or wrinkle in the material and pull the cloth down between the rollers and cause serious problems. Move the cloth back and forth across the full length of the rollers, rinsing the cloth off or refolding it frequently. If there are big globs of paste, get them as moist as possible without introducing lots of water and walk away for a few minutes to allow them to rehydrate so they will wipe off. I clean my rollers off after every use with a bit of shortening on a paper towel rather than a damp cloth to be sure there are no bits left to dry on the rollers. Your gumpaste should feel smooth and elastic with no stickiness at all to go through the rollers. Humidity is a problem here, so I sometimes need to dust both sides with cornstarch before rolling. You should be able to run your hand over the front and back side with no drag or pull at all before rolling, so you may need to add cornstarch during the thinning process. And, use every number in sequence - don't skip from 1 to 3 to 5.

AI use crisco on my gumpaste when i use the KA pasta roller, it works better than corn starch.

I never use my pasta machine with fondant.  Only gumpaste.    When new, put several dry paper towels through the rollers - especially on either sides.  This will eliminate the grease applied to them at the factory.  Next (using gumpaste only) on the widest setting, put the gumpaste through the rollers.  When you get to the smallest settings, put a little Crisco on a paper towel and turn the rollers manually while rubbing the rollers with the Crisco.  Now put the gumpaste through and you should have a perfectly thin piece.