• MrJameGumb@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    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

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      For small portions that probably will work. Plenty of times I’ve put pasta in only to have it stick if I don’t stir a little in the first minute or two. There’s just not enough room for the boiling to agitate the pasta enough to prevent sticking.

    • strax@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • Godort@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        You should still be salting your water. It does nothing to prevent the pasta sticking, but it does make it taste better.

          • aubertlone@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            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

          • Tyfud@lemmy.one
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            1 year ago

            It changes the way the pasta itself tastes, and is very different from adding it it the sauce.

        • Tvkan@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          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.

        • Nacktmull@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          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.

      • erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Nooo. You need the perfect amount of water so it reabsorbs it’s own juices. Succulent Cannibalism.

        • underscore_@sopuli.xyz
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          1 year ago

          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.

          • yata@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            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.

            • thegreatgarbo@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I think your comment is the source of a lot of people’s problems with sticking pasta. If there pots aren’t big enough and stove not powerful enough, a large amount of pasta can cool the water enough to stop the boiling and the pasta will stick if not stirred.