you add the pasta to the water that is boiling. in order to get the pasta that is al dente do you

That is a very pertinent question for boiling anything really, because whatever you throw into to the water cools it for at least a minute usually.

immediately

Monitor pasta for a while and then take a piece out and eat it

It's al dente when it's al dente time measurement in cooking is a lie

^^^

also that glass pot looks like it could shatter into a billion scalding shards at any moment and for that reason it makes me nervous and I do not like it

I throw the pasta in, stir it around for maybe 15 seconds to prevent clumping, then casually reach over and start the timer even though it probably hasn't yet re-boiled, yet. There's no point in obsessing over a few seconds in any direction. Minutes, yes. Seconds, no.

It doesn't really matter because the only way to get it cooked the way you want it is to test a piece.

al dente

good bloke iirc

It's al dente when it's al dente time measurement in cooking is a lie

― quet inn tarnation (darraghmac), Saturday, June 17, 2017 7:43 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark

I'm sorry do you see a third poll option because i dont

the third option is to not vote, friend

you're gonna feel so stupid when you see that over 6 billion people didn't vote in your fraudulent pasta poll, bud

i put the pasta in as soon as i put the pot on because it makes it taste better and produces superior pasta water

with fresh pasta i put it in boiling water and then pretty much taste it every 20 seconds and it ends up overcooked anyway

Al dente is overrated, I call it under done. And yes, you have to taste it.

https://i.imgur.com/TuKBBJT.gif

pasta underdone and pasta threads oversalty

there are many hills i'm willing to die on and they all involve pasta let's get this going

i found my thrill
on pasta hill

voted show-egg

i stand w deems

you don't need to boil the water first, just put the pasta in the water from the get go and then heat it up cmon guys

the fuck are u playing at

you add the lime to the coconut, you mix them all up

i put the pasta in as soon as i put the pot on because it makes it taste better and produces superior pasta water

― qualx, Saturday, June 17, 2017 9:58 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i guess i worded that weirdly

i don't remember where i first heard about this method but i'm certain j kenji lopez-alt has several articles about it

p sure yr a witch

1. water doesn't have to be boiling for pasta to cook
2. as noted you don't have to wait for the water to heat up
3. also as noted: trying to get accurate times for all pasta varieties & allowing for things like finishing it in a pan w/ sauce is for fools, always better to test

this is not an issue for true and good lovers of pasta

i had no idea people actually used the times on the box, wouldn't different stovetops and pots require different times

they always seem overcautious too

SORCERY

I wonder how alex is voting

you don't need to boil the water first, just put the pasta in the water from the get go and then heat it up cmon guys

― gbx, Sunday, 18 June 2017 03:57 Bookmark

reminds me of this guy (also an idiot) i once met who cooked rice by pouring it into a pot of boiling water and draining it after x minutes

chez maison snoball the routine is this:

• bring water to the boil
• put in paster
• wait for water to come back to the boil
• cook for 14 minutes regardless of pasta type

reminds me of this guy (also an idiot) i once met who cooked rice by pouring it into a pot of boiling water and draining it after x minutes

I also cook rice in exactly the same way as pasta, even down to cooking it for 14 minutes.

don't start the timer at all

14 minutes after returning to boil probably makes the pasta easier to mash (assuming you're making mashed pasta)

resultant pasta

michael_jackson_popcorn_except_with_spaghetti_in_the_box_instead.gif

for the dente i like it to be al, eat straight from box, no water needed boiled or otherwise

resultant pasta

― qualx, Sunday, 18 June 2017 09:05 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Highest excellence

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/002/008/chefexcellencememe.png

start timer immediately. putting pasta in boiling water does lower the temp of everything but not enough to cook the pasta more slowly. also different amounts of water will return to boil at different times. the water is close enough to boiling. consistency is key.

i don't remember where i first heard about this method but i'm certain j kenji lopez-alt has several articles about it

― qualx, Saturday, June 17, 2017 10:31 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, this is where i first heard about it -- works like a charm

i like the way harbl thinks

i have a phd in pasta science

you're not fucking kidding pal! You've educated this savage, my overdone al dente is all in the pasta now.

i don't remember where i first heard about this method but i'm certain j kenji lopez-alt has several articles about it

― qualx, Saturday, June 17, 2017 11:31 PM (yesterday) Bookmark

i like this dude generally but sometimes he's like "throw an ice cube into your chocolate chip cookie dough, trust me" and it makes absolutely no difference

loool

water doesn't have to be boiling for pasta to cook

my personal observation is that pasta will cook just fine at 8000 feet of elevation, where the boiling point of water is definitely less than 212 degrees Fahrenheit or 100 degrees centigrade.

i like this dude generally but sometimes he's like "throw an ice cube into your chocolate chip cookie dough, trust me" and it makes absolutely no difference

― 龜, Sunday, June 18, 2017 10:45 AM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

total but in this case....it does.

it super does

• start with cold salted water and pasta in pot
• heat to boil
• soon as it starts boiling (or right before) turn off the heat and remove the pot to a cool burner
• let it sit and taste pasta frequently until al dente
• reserve starchy pasta water for sauce
• drain noodles and give them a good shake or two in the colander but return them to pot with a healthy coating of starchy water
• they will be good

that is a lot of work

I won't sleep until I know veg has tried this

Monitor pasta for a while and then take a piece out and eat it

never timed it in my life. timing is for like oven stuff or boiled eggs.

that is a lot of work

― nice cage (m bison), Sunday, June 18, 2017 5:04 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's....almost exactly the same amount of work?

Is there a pilaf equivalent for pasta?

I was lead to believe that pilaf meant toasting the rice in oil before boiling.

qualx i love u but that is a wack pasta cooking method.

14 minutes for pasta eugh. Resultant paste indeed.

(Mind you my other half cooks instant noodles for like 10 minutes til theyre slop so what do I know)

I taste it and also have a beer while cooking

qualx i support u

Only time i have cooked pasta that long is risoni, in a soup recipe thats a sort of a chowder, so cooking the risoni for 20 mins makes it very starchy and thick.

14 minutes may be appropriate for some pasta shapes for example my favorite, rigatoni. i usually do 13.

I cannot imagine how many infinities I would need to have experienced before it occurred to me that I might time the pasta on this occasion so that in all subsequent attempts at cooking pasta I might essay a method with a higher chance of getting the pasta wrong

8 mins for angelhair. 10 for all regular types of spag, riga, penne etc. possibly a min or 2 longer for a particularly thick/weird shape like bowties.

I dont like sloppy pasta :(

...tho now I am wondering, might this vary depending on things like water hardness, elevation from sea level, gas v electric?

Pasta is easy to cook. In 30 years of cooking it I've probably over or undercooked it a handful of times. I sometimes appreciate stupid pointless threads but...

qualx i love u but that is a wack pasta cooking method.

― Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:27 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i'm thinking maybe you didn't read my directions all the way through, the last step is the most important

if you're not gonna try it now you need to at least make it a new years resolution, new year new veg new noodle cooking method

NO

awesome you're gonna love it

commie

lot of sicko opinions in this thread

never timed it in my life. timing is for like oven stuff or boiled eggs.

Actually, I have the same question for boiling eggs..

龜? Is that dayo? Is it?

reportedly

I had viewed the pasta in first method as my own secret method but now that gbx and qualx have blown the whole thing open, yes, the other method was created by someone who wanted to waste your time.

I usually plan on waiting to the water to be boiling, then get impatient and put he pasta in early, then it stays in until wherever else I'm cooking is done. I don't have a timer, but even if I did, I doubt I'd use it for pasta.

trayce my pasta is NOT SLOPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

listen y,uo set the timer so that you can go and do more important things like checking this thread for updates

my apartment is a no-hovering zone

I'm just sayin, if I cooked it for 14 mins it would be! (well, it would be to my tastes, I guess thats what all this is about)

pasta in water, with salt. wait till it boils, give it a wee stir. maybe stir it once more during the cooking time check it after 7 or 8 minutes, depending on how close to being done it is give it a minute/several minutes more.

i'm making pasta right now

oh sh-

lol that glass pot is $200
https://www.amazon.com/MoMA-Glass-Pot/dp/B00LOGK9TQ/

Actually, I have the same question for boiling eggs..

A transparent body of dense, borosilicate glass demystifies the culinary magic happening inside the pot, turning dinner prep into a spectacle worth savoring

just boil the water and cook the pasta

i mean this is not a wheel that requires reinvention

harbl it's been 9 minutes what is the status i am literally dying over here

just boiling the water now

sorry, i guess that counts as pot-watching

6 minutes left till my timer goes off and pasta is done

Can i hav a taste im hungry

Ill tell u if it's al dente

update: i usually get whole foods rigatoni and cook it for 13 minutes and it's perfect. i got de cecco and cooked it for 13 minutes and it's slightly hard. it's fine though. i like it this way!!!!

I wonder if different strains of durum wheat would make a diff.

I dont know why I keep wondering this.

this stuff is cut thicker i think

Ive tested whole wheat/brown rice spaghetti w regular and the former does take longer

Or spaghettini whatever it's called

Yeah now I think about it, a while back I tried some fancy "high protien low GI" white pasta a while back and 15 mins in, it was as tough as boots.

a while back a while back

Was this a while back

is there an equivalent of al dente for people who don't have teeth?

Blended

flourpaste

i was supposed to be eating less food but that pasta was so worth it i love pasta so much

i didn't know my 1/4 lb of pasta had 14 grams pf proteins anyway

A transparent body of dense, borosilicate glass

Be careful: Borosilicate glass is distinct from brosilicate glass. Brosilicate glass wears a white South Carolina Gamecocks hat (backwards) and makes a clumsy pass at your second-hottest female friend. It might - MIGHT - try to get your Bluetooth speaker to play Brad Paisley.

Bro

beer pong in yr spaghetti

we need lex totest poll options imo

xp

lol'd so hard at that

:D

alfred otm

someone shine the lex batsignal, i need the lols

I put my pasta in ice water and then drink boiling water constantly for eleven minutes

I use gin to boil my pasta, then use it for martinis.

i didn't mention this in my directions but if your starting water isn't cold enough you should definitely put some ice in it (i've had to do this when it gets really hot out and the sink doesn't want to give us cold water), thank you for reminding me

You all are crazy. You boil the salted water, add pasta, stir, bring back to boil, and then start testing around 9-12 minutes or so, depending on how you like your pasta.

As for hard boiled eggs, you put the eggs in water, bring to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat and cover. Wait 8-12 minutes or so, depending on how you like your eggs, then remove eggs and run under cold water, or better yet, submerge in an ice bath. Then, if you're my wife, you return them to the carton and write a little hard to see "HB" (for hard boiled) on the carton, so that when I go to make a cake the next day, I crack open an egg for the batter only to discover it is hard boiled. Much hilarity ensues.

xpost oh my giddy aunt wtffff

lol josh that hardboiled egg labelling is worthy of home of the absent-minded thread <3

don't write on the carton, write on the egg

write on yr soul

i need to upbraid qualx some more on this pasta cooking thing tho

ICE water?

ICE WATER?

ice water.

take the convenience of instant pasta and turn it into some kind of bizarre culinary ikebana

surely you see how insane this is

fuck him up, vegemitegrrl

i might try the ice cubes thing

don't worry once you try it you'll be converted

i've only had to use cubes once, and obviously did not have enough of them to turn an entire pot of water into ice water as i only have 2 trays

i don't remember why the water has to be cold to start but hell if i'm going to ruin the perfection of a night's pasta because it's humid outside

everyone's invited to my place to be proven wrong

I sous-vide the pasta, raising it from 4°C to 100°C across the course of six hours, a degree at a time, then throw it away and drink the water.

I'm willing to believe the qualx method works and may even be good, can't be bothered to try it though

it's barely any more work you dillweeds

If you slowly raise the temperature of the water, the pasta won't even notice it start to boil and won't try to escape.

http://www.titantalk.com/forums/attachments/titan-general-discussion/118976d1301695230-whats-modified-addiction-stuff-i_like_where_this_thread_is_going.jpg

boiling eggs: place in small pan of cold water, bring to boil and after about 4 mins take one out, if water starts to dry instantly on the egg it is perfectly soft boiled.

I start the timer on 3 minutes from when the water starts bubbling and that is usually soft boiled perfection for me, and maybe add 30 seconds if it is a very large egg.

Boil for three minutes, take one egg out and throw it out the window, if it doesn't find its way back then the whole batch is suspect and should be tossed

the scientific name for fertilised eggs making it to the supermarket shelves is "balls of corruption".

In a sealed calorimeter, use a Carnot thermal engine to raise the temperature and pressure of the water-pasta mix, until the eutectic triple point is reached. The pasta is now perfect but cannot be removed or eaten.

I always like the term 'wind eggs' for eggs without a yolk, or empty shells. Unfortunately it sounds too much like a euphemism for a fart.

no, that's a butt egg

gonna make cacio e pepe tonight bc this thread

make sure you have enough ice cubes on hand

oh definitely

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

now that that is settled, we can all go back to cooking pasta exactly as we've always done it

I always find there's something soothing about this video ('boiling vigorously' fwiw):

https://youtu.be/XjHkybaxqKY

and it's resulted in making the best possible carbonara as something of a white whale in my life. I was in Rome recently and went as always to Cantina Cantarini, where I had the carbonara, and dammit how do they do it? It was incredible. I simply can't get to that level. I mean I know they've been doing it for 100 years, local ingredients etc, but it's infuriating.

I sous-vide the pasta, raising it from 4°C to 100°C across the course of six hours, a degree at a time, then throw it away and drink the water.

― attention vampire (MatthewK), Tuesday, June 20, 2017 5:20 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

If you slowly raise the temperature of the water, the pasta won't even notice it start to boil and won't try to escape.

― Eallach mhór an duine leisg (dowd), Tuesday, June 20, 2017 6:07 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Boil for three minutes, take one egg out and throw it out the window, if it doesn't find its way back then the whole batch is suspect and should be tossed

― quet inn tarnation (darraghmac), Tuesday, June 20, 2017 10:16 AM (three weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dy
Ing

I made angel-hair pasta the other day and thought of this thread

I missed this thread so did not experience the pure horror of seeing people admit to/boast about putting pasta into cold water and eggs into boiling water. *side-eye*

OTOH I have often been really, really interested in knowing what a solid 3" x 1.5" block of pasta tastes like

boil yr own frittata

OTOH I have often been really, really interested in knowing what a solid 3" x 1.5" block of pasta tastes like

D:

I don't think the taste would be the issue, so much as the texture.

i inagine the result would be p close to the overcooked "spaghetti" they served us at 7th grade camp which resembled albino earthworms ie a tasteless gelatinous nightmare

fuck, imagine biting such a brick if it was perfectly al dente though. Just the thought is giving me ... feelings.

this thread will be the literal death of me

(ghost here) he's dead now

I'm visualising slicing the brick of goo like a loaf, and pouring bolog sauce on it and... arrghrgehrgehwre

(mind u tho - thats not that far from doing polenta in such a manner so I dunno why Im so icked)

I like pasta.

Itt ghosts

how have i not opened this thread yet

and it's resulted in making the best possible carbonara as something of a white whale in my life. I was in Rome recently and went as always to Cantina Cantarini, where I had the carbonara, and dammit how do they do it? It was incredible. I simply can't get to that level. I mean I know they've been doing it for 100 years, local ingredients etc, but it's infuriating.

Carbonara - cream or no cream? I've always preferred the latter, mixing in some of the pasta water.

unless I'm making a broth-y soup or using the pasta in a cold salad, or its a type of pasta that only takes 2-3 minutes to cook (e.g. angelhair, rice noodles), I actually take the pasta out of the water a few minutes before it's done and then cook it for the remaining few minutes in the sauce. You end up with better texture, and flavor due to the sauce permeating more of the pasta.

xp cream or no cream, iirc you once posted online a carbonara recipe which had onions in, i hope you have repented of that sin.

^

no cream.

pretty much every dish should have onions in it.

there are dishes that don't have onions? I don't I've ever cooked one tbh.

I put onions in almost everything too. Certainly every pizza, pasta, stir-fry, soup, chili, stew.

Not waffles or pancakes (though maybe I should!).

Also: in my household, onions are red unless otherwise specified. My wife has to specifically instruct me to get yellow or white onion when a recipe calls for it.

When making tomato based sauces do any ILX bon vivants just use cheap tinned tomatoes? Last year I went through a period of making my own passata, but fuck doing that anymore - peeling tomatoes and sieving them is tedious work, and if the tomatoes aren't good it is pointless. Sometimes I think some of the pricier brands of passata do make a superior flavour of sauce, but saying that I have made some delicious sauces with plain supermarket brand tinned tomatoes.

Long-cooking tomato sauces do just fine with tinned tomatoes.

i use tinned san marzanos

some v cheap tinned tomatoes are bad but yes I always use tins & my tom sauce game is v strong

tinned all the way

Even the Italian nonnas I have known all use tinned tomatoes (good italian ones if you can get them). They were all like "lol fuck cooking with fresh ones, thats a waste of time"

THIS is the pasta thread I was hoping had been bumped

It doesn’t really matter when you start the timer because it’s merely to remind you to start checking the pasta. imo.

Some very Edward Learian pasta and egg recipes upthread.

Thread is an excursion into madness

That’s every thread

true

I had fancy orrechiete for dinner with onion, pesto and a bit of fresh tomato with some of the starchy cooking water tossed in. Was delish.

I live in fear of overcooked pasta. I think I tend to eat it 2-3 minutes before most people would stop cooking it, but I do cook it more in the sauce.

I'm the exact opposite, I live in fear of undercooked pasta, and have a tendency to make it too soft.

I also do that thing where I cook pasta super al dente, toss it in sauce, then put it into a hot pan with a little oil and parm, crack an egg on top, put a lid on and steam the egg. That way I get a nice runny egg on top and a crusty bottom.

That sounds seriously good

Always set timer for 1 minute less than package says, comes out reliably al dente. Except for farfalle which needs a minute longer.

Part of my problem is I don't like al dente nearly as much as everyone else. I'm a bad Italian!

yerac, a runny egg on top sounds good, but i'm not sure about a crusty bottom

Always set timer for 1 minute less than package says, comes out reliably al dente. Except for farfalle which needs a minute longer.

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Monday, July 30, 2018 10:04 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

farfalle is a pasta outlier. if the middle folds are al dente then the outside 'wings' are probably too soft. dried folded pasta is a no-no imo.

I had fancy orrechiete for dinner with onion, pesto and a bit of fresh tomato with some of the starchy cooking water tossed in. Was delish.

― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, July 30, 2018 11:36 AM (ten hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

love onion being a keystone of a pasta dish

xp yep exactly. and I'd rather have the outside be lil beyond al dente than have the middle be crunchy eww eww.

I like a crispy bottom because my favorite part of the lasagna is the crispy, chewy bit.

Basically, a faster way to get that baked pasta feel.

sorry yerac i was being facetious with my earlier post

t/s sauce or lasagne sheets at the bottom of the dish?

lasagna sheets

off topic, but the egg part reminds me that I've always wanted to try shakshuka

shakshuka is great

I was youtubing a quite daft UK based Italian chef last year, i forgot his name but i know he was an associate of the late Carluccio. What I picked up from him was to mince the onions, garlic, carrots, celery etc to absolutely tiny fragments - i was doing pasta sauces way too chunky for years.

CRUSTY BOTTOM

I put an olive oil, balsamic, clove of garlic sliced and a dash of sauce mixture on the bottom so it makes the lasagna sheet on the bottom roasty, garlicky. Plus I don't cook my noodles beforehand and just use the dry sheets.

^sounds like a good idea

My family always had lasagna on xmas and easter. Unlike Yerac, everyone hated how the top layer was prone to getting dry and crunchy. My aunt (who married into the family) solved that by protecting the top with foil. I think my mom still resents the fact that it took an "outsider" to figure out such a simple solution haha. I make sure every speck of the top layer of noodles is covered liberally with sauce, which prevents crispiness even moreso.

I'm ok with a little pasta crunch

i'm sorry, Yerac, but that's two days in a row that you've blown my mind!:

this is brilliant: That way I get a nice runny egg on top and a crusty bottom.

and that other pasta thread revive that had the buzzfeed article which led to Miyuki's insta. that showed those beautiful, inspired, refined noodle creations was like some life-changing stuff.

ty!

Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana does that dish, The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna.

xpost No problem! I was looking all over my kitchen trying to find textured things to run my pasta against because of that instagram. So many possibilities.

do you manage/worry about the egg holding the integrity of its shape of sorts or do you just plop raw egg on top and just leave it be? sry if that doesn't make sense and if this should be in aks Yerac thread

I make a little nest in the pasta. The oil and parmesan on the bottom helps with getting the crispyness going before I put the egg on. If I don't have a good lid for the pan I am using I will sometimes add some water to help create the steam for the egg. Today I had a hard time getting the egg to cook (all the whites solid) so I had to add a little water like 3 times. Normally my problem is that the egg cooks too fast and the yolk is no longer runny and I get sad.

Residual heat is often quite enough to cook an egg sufficiently; c.f. carbonara

I incubate plain al dente pasta for three weeks until an egg forms on the top