Making salt dough at home is easy and fun! Get out the rolling pin, the cookie cutters and especially our creative imagination .. we can make ornaments and decorations for Easter or Natel, small souvenirs to give to our friends, their craft projects … or simply to entertain our children (even having fun us) with little … the realization is easy and the cost is very low . There are many variations on the theme, but not everyone knows that based on the use we have to make of it, the consistency of our salt pasta will also change … here are the tricks for a pasta suitable for any type of processing from the thickest and most voluminous ones to the thinnest ones.
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For thick and bulky workings such as flat bases, large twists: 2 cups of flour (500cc) – 1 cup of fine salt (250cc) – ¾ cup of water (about 190cc) – 2 tablespoons of wallpaper glue, satin or VINAVIL.
For medium-small, but not particularly thin processes such as leaves, fruit, animals: 1 cup of flour (250cc) – 1 cup of fine salt (250cc) – ½ cup of water (about 125cc) – 1 tablespoon leveled with glue mural or Vinavil.
For fine processing such as flower petals, dresses, hats: 1 cup of flour – 1 cup of very fine salt – ½ cup of water – 1 tablespoon of wallpaper glue or Vinavil
Preparation
Start by mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large container : salt, flour, wallpaper paste in the quantities previously chosen based on the use of the processing. Then add the water slowly and gradually, mixing the ingredients well before proceeding with the subsequent additions.
When you have obtained a mixture that is still coarse, turn it upside down on the work surface and knead it until it is perfectly homogeneous. You can also help yourself using a rolling pin. Do not add more water, even if it will seem that the dough crumbles: first mix it vigorously for a few minutes, but if it turns out to be soft, add a little dry mixture (salt, flour and glue in proportion) to bring it to the right consistency.
The consistency of the dough is fundamental for the success of the work. a soft paste does not keep the shape already during the modeling and, drying, tends to produce cracks, try to obtain an elastic but firm paste that does not stick to the hands.
As for the coloring , the salt paste lends itself to be colored in various ways: directly in the mixture with tempera and spices or work the mixture naturally, then proceeding to color the piece when it is dry with watercolors, tempera, enamels , or browning it in the oven.
We have finally prepared our salt pasta .. we just have to free our imagination and create many ideas for every occasion … and of all types: flat bases, large twists, leaves, fruit, animals, flower petals, clothes, hats etc .. we can use cookie cutters, shapes designed by us … in short, model according to our most creative flair.
Once modeled in the final objects, the salt paste must be cooked in the oven at a very low temperature (max 50 °) to avoid the formation of cracks and bubbles (if in spite of everything bubbles are formed, they can be eliminated in the first 15 minutes, by pricking pasta with a needle), this phase is very important, inadequate cooking could deform the models and ruin our splendid work.
When the salt dough is adequately dry, the oven temperature can be increased up to 80 ° -100 °, the duration of cooking depends on the thickness of the object.
