I wonder wtf you guys do to your pasta, it’s like the easiest thing to cook… Boil water, add salt, wait for the time written on the box (or just look at it, you’ll see when it’s done).
Half the time written on the box, believe me if you want a perfect “al dente”. Anyway the problem of everybody outside Italy is that they boil the water with the pasta in.
What are you people doing to your pasta… I don’t even know what universe it would do that. How would it do that? Is this some American thing where American pasta isn’t made from wheat anymore but instead corn syrup?
If you don’t take care, and don’t stir, spaghetti might stick badly.
If you have enough water, hot enough, salt a bit, see to it that when you put the pasta in the water it’s not in a big lump, then it’s going to be okay.
I like to stir after a minute or three, but it’s mostly to see everything is okay like water temp.
Beginners might chuck it in colderer water, not stir spaghetti or whatever. Been there done that ☺️
I have never stirred pasta before, and never had it stick even once. Are you sure you’re waiting for the water to reach a full boil to add the pasta? At that point that air bubbles should be knocking it around enough that you don’t have to bother.
Did you ever make spaghetti? When you put a bunch of them in the pot, one end of the bunch still sticks out and the bunch just stands there, so no amount of bubbles is going to “knock them around”.
All you gotta do is push the ends that’re stocking out under once it’s soft enough. No stirring necessary. I suppose you can if that’s easier for you, but I don’t bother.
Editing in real quick though, I’ve never cooked high end pasta, so maybe that’s different. I’m broke, so it’s always the cheap stuff for me
I have never stirred pasta. I need you to understand this. I’m old, I’ve never once stirred pasta. I’ve made a lot of pasta.
I wait for the water to boil, I put salt in and question if this even does anything but I do it anyway, I put the pasta in then seven minutes or so later it’s done.
Did you ever make spaghetti? When you put a bunch of them in the pot, one end of the bunch still sticks out and the bunch just stands there while the lower ends stick together.
I have made endless spaghetti and this has neverever been the case for me, ever.
Are you american? i gotta know if this is some american food is weird thing. american food is often weird. this is not something the rest of the world talks about.
Yeah, I’ve read those theories, I’ve also seen people say it does nothing. I’ve forgotten and it’s made no difference. But I still do it. It’s worth noting you have to add a lot of salt to meaningfully change the boiling temperature.
Also, if the pan isn’t large enough the pasta will stick I think. I say I think because despite having cooked pasta hundreds of times I’ve never had this happen lol
Hmm I call the large “pans” that you boil water and make sauces in pans, but I assume you don’t in your country- presumably the USA? I’m not even sure what you would call them instead tbh
After cooking the pasta just short of done, many toss them in the sauce pan and let them finish cooking in the sauce for a more even pasta-to-sauce-distribution. Saves you the hassle of portioning your sauce.
Your stir at the beginning to ensure that each piece of pasta is properly engulfed by water. But after that there really shouldn’t be much need of stirring, the pasta moves around in the water on its own.
If you cook in 5-10l of water you will dilute the starch and the pasta won’t stick. Also if you mix the sauce through the pasta post cooking and let it rest for 5-10 mins it will soak up the sauce
All the oil is doing is helping the pan not boil over while on a high heat as it makes the formation of bubbles at the surface more difficult. So… it kind of helps because you can cook more easily at a high heat but yeah it does nothing for the pasta.
And of course as long as your cooking pot is large enough and you are actually being present, then there shouldn’t be any risk of it boiling over and thus no need for any oil.
I think your comment is the source of a lot of people’s problems with sticking pasta. If there pots aren’t big enough and stove not powerful enough, a large amount of pasta can cool the water enough to stop the boiling and the pasta will stick if not stirred.
For small portions that probably will work. Plenty of times I’ve put pasta in only to have it stick if I don’t stir a little in the first minute or two. There’s just not enough room for the boiling to agitate the pasta enough to prevent sticking.
yes, this is the answer! patience! a proper boil that stays boiling until the pasta is done. no sticking ever. salt and oil are never needed in the cooking water.
It’s not the same effect. Then the sauce will be salted, and the pasta will maybe absorb some of that salt.
But, in my opinion, that’s an inelegant solution.
I personally do not want any more salt in the pasta sauce than what’s already in there. I do, however, want my pasta to take in a little salt from the water.
For those reasons, I add a little salt to my water as it’s boiling
I read that quote regularly. Any clue who it originates from? I think it’s a romantic overstatement and does not hold as a general pasta rule. Salty pasta water is needed when you use a sauce or a pesto that has little salt in it. However, when using a particularly salty sauce or pesto, your end result can easily turn out too salty, if you put too much salt in the pasta water. When I make japanese miso-butter pasta for example, I don’t put any salt in the boiling water, because combined with the miso-butter, that would make the end result way too salty.
Seawater is two teaspoons salt per cup of water. That’s a little more than half a cup of salt per gallon of water. That is an unhealthy amount of salt.
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