It won’t stick together like that if you actually wait for the water to come to a proper boil before you add the pasta
A bit of oil helps too
Oil that floats to the top of the water? Don’t see that helping much
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.
It eventually gets absorbed by the pasta and makes it creamier. Unless you have too much water.
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.
You should still be salting your water. It does nothing to prevent the pasta sticking, but it does make it taste better.
I thought it was a texture thing. Otherwise, you could just add some salt to your sauce.
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
It changes the way the pasta itself tastes, and is very different from adding it it the sauce.
pasta water should be as salty as the sea!
For fresh pasta yes, dried you don’t need as much salt
Sea water has a salinity of around 35g/kg.
No one wants pasta water as salty as the sea - although unsalted water doesn’t sound much more appealing.
No one except everyone who wants their pasta to taste good. You need to add a ton of salt because most of it is going down the drain at the end.
Edit: ok, I stand corrected.
What you just said is that you want to add in the range of 50-70g of salt depending on the size of your pan. That’s too much salt
I use 2 tablespoons per pound of pasta.
that’s exactly how much I use too, the one time I tried to make it actually taste like seawater nobody would eat it.
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.
well nobody is drinking the pasta water
Damn, you guys are missing out.
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.
Pasta water should be as salty as the sea, and it has nothing to do with sticking.
I’ll give you half as salty as the sea. not full hog
Nooo. You need the perfect amount of water so it reabsorbs it’s own juices. Succulent Cannibalism.
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).
Some bad celebrity chef at some point told Americans that you have to put olive oil in the water to prevent sticking.
Like…no. Just stir it occasionally lol
Stir at the beginning for 45 seconds so that the pasta don’t stick then let the boiling water move the pasta and cook them. Simple.
put olive oil in the water*
*This recipe is sponsored by Sovena.
Like…no. Just stir it occasionally lol
Why? It doesn’t stick while its in the water either way (for me at least, maybe the starch content varies enough to change that around the world).
I don’t think they boil the water. Must be that. No other way I can think why it would stick.
If you don’t stir the pasta adequately after adding it to the pot that can make it stick together. Source: my husband does this all the freaking time.
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.
Sometimes I just hold the pot handle and swish it around slightly. Never had a problem with sticking. It seems like an infomercial problem.
Yeah, he usually just dumps it in and walks away. 🥴
I usually just snap mine in half, and throw it in boiling water with a bit of salt. I haven’t stirred pasta in years.
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
pan
*visible confusion*
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.
Or not stir at least once I guess.
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.
It’s a shitty pasta fault. Good pasta does not stick, simply boil water add salt put pasta in.
If you throw the pasta on the wall and it sticks, it’s done. If you don’t want to use the wall, use the inside of the microwave’s door.
Or put it in your mouth and taste like a normal person.
Please don’t throw your pasta.
Cooking pasta correctly is an art, but there are some basic rules to follow if you want consistent results.
If you want to avoid this situation in particular, take the pasta out just before it’s done along with about 1/4 cup of the water and add both to your sauce and finish cooking the pasta there. You’ll end up with pasta that is cooked perfectly with a sauce that readily adheres to each noodle and no stickyness
This is the way. Once I learned the pasta water trick, I never looked back.
Don’t you just end up with shitty, watery sauce?
The pasta water helps thicken the sauce and makes it more stickier, same way the cornstarch water slurry works.
No
Let me rephrase: how do you NOT end up with shitty, watery sauce?
Well, you only use a bit of the pasta water, it depends how much tomato sauce you’re making.
Pull out about a cup of the pasta water.
Dump the pasta. Don’t rinse the pasta, ever.Now either slowly pour in a bit of the pasta water into the sauce, stir it, look at it, there should be a sheen. The pasta water makes the red sauce very silky.
Or, take a frying pan, turn the heat on. Add butter and olive oil. When the butter gets melted, dump diced veggies (or not) into the pan. Cook the vegetables to almost desired tenderness. Dump garlic in for no more than one minute.
Dump some pasta water in, just a little, and throw the pasta on top. Mix it up. After a short time, 15 seconds maybe, pour the red sauce on top of the spaghetti and veggies, stir.
After about a minute or so, add pasta water, just a bit. Stir. Taste. Is it shiny and silky? If not add a little more water. Repeat until it’s tasty.Rinsing the pasta is fine for making a cold pasta salad or something like that, removing the free starch stops it from sticking. But for a dish with sauce, definitely don’t rinse.
How much is one cup? A big one or a small one? I have several
237 mL. It’s a US unit.
Edit: I just realized I have a 2-cup measuring cup and I’ve never noticed how weird that sounds until now.
12 tbsp.
use the biggest one you have. fill it up to the top then throw that shit away.
I have never once oiled my pasta water. I have also never once had my pasta stick. Just add enough water, boil, salt, pasta. Cook til it’s done, I literally never stir the pasta. Test for texture every so often. Drain, save some water for marrying with the sauce better.
Edit cool -> cook ty autocorrect.
Save the rest of water to make risotto next day.
Not the way I salt my water… Yuck
This shouldn’t happen unless you overcook your pasta. When the water starts boiling, toss in some salt and then the pasta. Wait for length of time on the pasta package. Then remove from heat and drain. If it still gets sticky, buy a better quality pasta.
If you cook with less water, you need to stir.
Never had pasta stick in the boiling water, dunno what some people are doing to their pasta here. Best thing is just taking it right from the boiling water to the sauce before it’s done, add some pasta water in there, last thing toss a bit of olive oil in. Throw basil on top to serve if extra fancy.
About with what others have said, you should not stir it so often or you damage it! Usually I stir it only about twice during the boil.
Gluten free pasta is much worse. If you don’t stir it a lot for the first 3-4 minutes it WILL stick together.
I swear, it doesn’t matter what I try, pasta always sucks. Doesn’t matter if I constantly stir, add oil, anything. It always sticks.
Your pasta water should be salty as ocean water. It’ll help.
I’ve never oiled my pasta water before. It’s really simple: use the minumum amount of water to fully boil the pasta, salt the water, wait until the water comes to a full boil, then put the pasta in, regular spaghetti takes about 6-7 minutes to become al dente.
Oil the pasta after you strain it is the way you prevent it from sticking together.
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
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Noodles are tasty
That’s all I know, and at this point I’m afraid to learn more
I’m
Albin kinda rhymes with Italian so it must be true
Everything is an illusion bro… 🫣
