Does anyone salt their pasta water and then put oil on top?
I’ve been working in restaurants for almost seven years now and the idea behind
these two items has been expressed very insistently that this is the best way
to do it. “Adding salt to the water makes it boil faster and the oil lightly
coats the pasta when it’s done cooking so it doesn’t stick together.” When I
heard this, I was curious if this was actually true so I decided to do some
research, combine it with my (probably millions of pounds of pasta) experience,
and provide you with the information.
So, let’s address this oil in the boiling water issue first.
I’m sure we’ve all had times where you cook pasta and it sticks together in one
huge clump. It’s horrible and disappointing to say the least (imagine having a
chef chew you out for those clumps!) I haven’t found that putting oil on the
top really helps on a small scale – which I’m sure most of you are only feeding
a few people on average. You can also toss the pasta in oil after you transfer
it out of the water so it doesn’t stick.
The real secret to cooking pasta that doesn’t clump at home
is having your sauce hot and ready to go. I would suggest having it on the
stove at a light simmer next to your pot of boiling pasta. Here is where you
may need to go and invest in a strainer with a handle (called a spider in culinary terms). Once your
pasta is done cooking, pull it out with the strainer and give it a shake to let
it drain. Then, put it straight in the sauce, cover the pot/pan and let simmer
for a few minutes and then serve. No need to empty the whole thing out in a colander
over the sink and then bring it back to the stove. In the time it takes the
pasta to drain, it won’t clump. Plus allowing the pasta to cook further in the
sauce allows it to absorb the flavor of the sauce therefore making those
glutenous little gobbles burst with flavor.
Right, on to salting the water! Let me make something clear
straight off the bat: adding salt to water increases its boiling point. This
means water will be boiling above 212° F and therefore take longer to reach
that temperature. Anyway… when salted, you will have a higher cooking
temperature and therefore theoretically cook it faster. However, in reality, you
would need roughly ½ a pound of salt (that’s right, half a pound!) per quarter
gallon of water, just to raise the temperature 3.6° F. So, I think it’s safe to
say that salting the water really isn’t going to benefit you as far as the
boiling point and cooking time are concerned.
This means the flavor is the remaining issue to address. Chefs
in the industry describe the water you use to cook pasta as “salty as the sea”
and the idea is that the salted water solution will absorb into the pasta and
therefore give it more “flavor.” I’m a bit of a salty skeptic (pun intended),
and have always disagreed with this concept. Yes, it will taste better if you
add salt to it. I think it’s unnecessary if you already have a flavorful sauce
and furthermore if you are cooking the pasta in the sauce for a few moments.
But why increase your sodium intake when you don’t have to? Every
single ingredient does not need to be seasoned if you are seasoning the entire
dish. I don’t see the point really, it’s rather redundant.
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