Cooking thread: Add salt/oil to boiling water when cooking pasta?

[WelshBloke]

Lots of salt when cooking, no oil.

Drain pasta before its ready, dump in the sauce and add a ladle full or so of the cooking water. Heat till the pasta is cooked and has sucked up the excess liquid and flavour.

 

[Anubis]

If you want to raise the boiling point, you can either add a pinch of salt, or move to Denver Colorado. Which one sounds easier to you?

Although,

"Among many urban legends[9] related to the effect of ebullioscopic increase, one of them leads to adding salt when cooking pasta only after water has started boiling. The misconception is that since the water boils at a higher temperature, food will cook faster. However, at the approximate concentration of salt in water for cooking (10 g of salt per 1 kg of water, or 1 teaspoon per quart), the ebullioscopic increase is approximately 0.17 °C (0.31 °F), which will arguably make no practical difference for cooking."

Yet there there must be something more to it. I know I have started boiling water for pasta, seen it begin to boil, and then after adding and stirring in some salt it immediately stopped boiling, it seems like a .17C increase wouldn't cause that sort of affect.

no but putting in a room temp wooden spoon will

 

[GasX]

You put the salt in when the water is boiling to protect your pot from damage.

Stir in a spoonful of sauce to your pasta bowl before serving to prevent sticking.

 

[ch33zw1z]

My understanding is this:

Salt will increase the boiling point of water, effectively cooking the pasta quicker. It also adds flavor, if you're a "salt nut".

Oil will stick to the pasta, decreasing those clumps that can form. It also adds healthy fat when the right oil is used.

We don't add either when cooking pasta.

 

[jsalpha2]

The oil is to make it easier to clean the pot. Pasta will stick to the bottom of the pot, even if you stir frequently. You can rub the oil on the inside of the pot before putting the water in, like treating a cookie sheet. When you dump the pasta into the colander, nothing will stick to the pot. Salt is optional, check with your doctor.

 

[WelshBloke]

The oil is to make it easier to clean the pot. Pasta will stick to the bottom of the pot, even if you stir frequently. You can rub the oil on the inside of the pot before putting the water in, like treating a cookie sheet. When you dump the pasta into the colander, nothing will stick to the pot. Salt is optional, check with your doctor.

But then you have a greasy pan to clean rather than a pan with a bit of starchy water in.

 

[GasX]

Why do people keep saying salt raises the boiling point?

 

[ch33zw1z]

Why do people keep saying salt raises the boiling point?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling-point_elevation

 

[spidey07]

Why do people keep saying salt raises the boiling point?

Why do you think they put it on roads?
Boiling point elevation
Freezing point depression

This is true for any salt, not just NaCl.

 

[Chiropteran]

no but putting in a room temp wooden spoon will

Even without stirring it occurs. Although there is still some temperature transfer by putting the cooler salt into the boiling water.

This has really made me think about it though, I want to do an experiment when I get home from work today.

 

[Gibsons]

If you want to raise the boiling point, you can either add a pinch of salt, or move to Denver Colorado. Which one sounds easier to you?

The boiling point would be lower in Denver, not higher.

 

[Chiropteran]

The boiling point would be lower in Denver, not higher.

How do you know I'm not currently sitting at a 2 mile elevation?

Point accepted. Makes it even harder to increase boiling point by changing elevation, unless you have a really deep hole nearby to cook in.

 

[GasX]

You would have to add 58 grams of salt just to raise the boiling point of a liter of water by one half of a degre Celsius.

In other words, fuck you, a pinch or two of salt does not change the boiling point in any meaningful way.

It adds flavor and makes the water boil more vigorously for a few seconds. That's about it...

 

[ch33zw1z]

You would have to add 58 grams of salt just to raise the boiling point of a liter of water by one half of a degre Celsius.

In other words, fuck you, a pinch or two of salt does not change the boiling point in any meaningful way.

It adds flavor and makes the water boil more vigorously for a few seconds. That's about it...

Yea, pretty much. So what's the problem?

 

[SillyOReilly]

How do you know I'm not currently sitting at a 2 mile elevation?

Point accepted. Makes it even harder to increase boiling point by changing elevation, unless you have a really deep hole nearby to cook in.

Who's to know that you aren't sitting on a BBC?

 

[GasX]

Anyone going to talk about adding oil to make it a biphasic liquid to the change the boiling point that way?

 

[MrColin]

Oil only. It helps break the foam down so it doesn't boil over.

^that's what I was taught too but I haven't proved it empirically, yet (spaghetti tonight...hmmm).

I add salt for flavor too. People have told me that it significantly raises the boiling temperature and speeds up the cooking, they are wrong.

 

[spidey07]

Salt is for flavor. Starches need lots of salt for good flavor. Most people don't put enough salt in their water when cooking pasta. Lots of water and tons of salt, many tablespoons.

 

[Chiropteran]

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cooking-pasta-properly.aspx

Add salt, but not oil

You may have heard that you can avoid sticky pasta by adding oil to the pasta water. This can prevent sticking, but at a great price. Pasta that's cooked in oily water will become oily itself and, as a result, the sauce slides off, doesn't get absorbed, and you have flavorless pasta.

Adding oil may keep the pasta water from bubbling up and boiling over the rim, but this can also be achieved by making sure you use a large pot and also by reducing the heat a little (but still maintaining a boil). This is a much better solution than greasing your pasta and sacrificing flavor.

Salted water flavors the pasta. A generous amount of salt in the water seasons the pasta internally as it absorbs liquid and swells. The pasta dish may even require less salt overall. For a more complex, interesting flavor, I add 1 to 2 tablespoons sea salt to a large pot of rapidly boiling water. By the way, the claim that salted water cooks food faster (because of its higher boiling temperature) is exaggerated; you're not adding enough salt to raise the temperature more than about 1°F.

 

[JoeyP]

Salt in the water while cooking, olive oil in the pasta sauce after cooking.

This. All you need to avoid pasta from sticking together while it cooks is a rolling boil, lots of water, and a few good stirs. Most people don't use enough water and wonder why it sticks together.

 

[Ksyder]

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/cooking-pasta-properly.aspx

nice site :thumbsup:

 

[Dr. Zaus]

The salt in the water should be about sea-water (not more)

The oil is only if you are using a pot too-small and you are going to have a 'foam over'; the oil keeps it from doing this.

I agree that having the pasta sticky is good for adding things, though a sprinkle of evoo at the end is very nice.

 

[LightRider]

I don't much care for pasta.

 

[Howard]

I put in about a pound of saffron per gallon of water. Anything less would be... uncivilized.

 

[MonKENy]

I don't much care for pasta.

lmao, well said