this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 31 minutes ago* (last edited 29 minutes ago)

It's not salting your water, nor the water volume to pasta ratio, nor if the water is boiling or not, nor oil in the water, but stirring early in the cooking process that will prevent sticking.

From the great Kenji Lopez-Alt:

Pasta is made up of flour, water, and sometimes eggs. Essentially, it's composed of starch and protein, and not much else. Now starch molecules come aggregated into large granules that resemble little water balloons. As they get heated in a moist environment, they absorb more and more water until they finally burst, releasing the starch molecules into the water. That's why pasta always seems to stick together at the beginning of cooking—it's the starch molecules coming out and acting as a sort of glue, binding the pieces to each other, and to the pot.

...

The problem is that first stage of cooking—the one in which starch molecules first burst and release their starch. With such a high concentration of starch right on the surface of the pasta, sticking is inevitable. However, once the starch gets rinsed away in the water, the problem is completely gone.

So the key is to stir the pasta a few times during the critical first minute or two. After that, whether the pasta is swimming in a hot tub of water or just barely covered as it is here, absolutely no sticking occurs. I was able to clean this pot with a simple rinse.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 minutes ago

I've never once had pasta sticking together in the pot, regardless of what I do.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 53 minutes ago

Just like me and my bros

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Stirring doesn't matter. The rinse after really matters for it to not stick together. (I had displeasure of eating a portion from 15kg of pasta slab that had no chance of proper rinse, bottom was charred)

[–] [email protected] 33 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (6 children)

Me who never stirs and never gets sticky pasta...

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[–] OpenPassageways 13 points 5 hours ago (6 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Lidia taught me that

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[–] AI_toothbrush 23 points 6 hours ago (6 children)

I have actually never seen this before. Other comments are saying its because you dont salt your water and i do so probably thats why. It also makes the taste better so overall recommended.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 51 minutes ago

Mario Batali over here.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 52 points 8 hours ago (18 children)

Do you cook your pasta in a large pot, with plenty of boiling water, and a good amount of salt? Usually I just stir once just after putting the pasta in, and I never have noodles sticking together.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 46 minutes ago)

It depends on the pasta (form, freshness, self-made... etc). Some has to be stirred 3-4 times others just once, in my experience.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Is this a meme I'm too Italian to understand?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

Yeah, I also don't get it. I don't stir pasta, maybe once in the middle. It never sticks.

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