“Bronze-cut” or “bronze-extruded” is worn as a badge of honor on the packages of high-quality dried pasta brands, ours included, but why? What makes this particular method so superior in dried pasta production? Today, as part of our Dry Pasta Jan series, we’re getting nerdy about bronze dies, and why they’re so important for creating a restaurant-worthy bowl of noodles at home.
To make dried pasta, semolina (a coarse flour made from durum wheat) + water are combined into a loose dough that –after some essential resting time that allows the gluten to relax and the dough to fully hydrate– is pressed through carefully shaped dies. Using the force and friction of a mechanical extruder, the dough moves through the die where its shape is dictated by the pattern of each individual opening, as well as the speed at which each noodle is cut on the die’s exterior. This process is what creates all the numerous pasta shapes you’ll find on the grocery store shelf.
This process is universal for making dried pasta, but there is variation based on the type of die used: bronze or teflon. Bronze is the more traditional and “old world” choice, while teflon is a relative “newcomer” to the scene, only beginning to be used mid-century, after its accidental discovery in 1938. Bronze has historically been the gold standard (heh) for this process because it’s a soft metal and is ideal for withstanding the heat generated during the pasta-extruding process. There’s a porous nature to the actual bronze dies that leaves microscopic imprints on each piece of pasta that passes through. This creates a grippy texture on the outside of the pasta, something that’s imperative for sauce-cling (more on that later).
So, why did teflon enter the picture? In most large-scale manufacturing facilities, teflon-lined bronze dies are being utilized because it’s inexpensive to produce + replace, speeds up production thanks to its slick surface, and creates a shiny, uniform texture and appearance. While uniformity is a valued characteristic when mass-producing a good, all that smooth surface area doesn’t quite hit the mark in your pasta bowl.
Texture is the most important aspect we focus on when making pasta and conceptualizing dishes at Flour + Water, which is why we’re so obsessed with bronze dies. The use of bronze dies creates the ideal coarse texture that allows the sauce to adhere to the pasta when it’s finished in its sauce. The tiny nooks and crannies on the pasta’s surface grabs onto that sauce, ensuring each bite is packed with flavor.
The other advantage of these rough edges is that the amount of exposed starch on the outside of the noodle greatly increases the free-flowing starch that will leach out into the pasta water. Using that pasta water in your pan sauce will create a more homogeneous consistency thanks to its thickening and emulsifying qualities. If bronze is gold, pasta water is… well, also gold.
But that’s a Shift Notes for another day.