[Food] The hot/cold water pasta debate

TomandJerry · Oct 22, 2020

When adding water to a saucepan to do pasta, do you:

A) Add hot water from the kettle so it gets a head start?

Or

B) Add cold water and heat it up fully from the hob?

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Mackenzie · Oct 22, 2020

Cold.

Beanstalk · Oct 22, 2020

Heavily salted cold water, and always reserve about a cup of pasta water before draining to add to the sauce. Game changer.

Eeyore · Oct 22, 2020

A. Every time.

KZNSeagull · Oct 22, 2020

https://www.mumsnet.com/

Weststander · Oct 22, 2020

The Antonio Carluccio method was always to add the pasta to a large pan of salted boiling water.

dazzer6666 · Oct 22, 2020

Beanstalk said:
Heavily salted cold water, and always reserve about a cup of pasta water before draining to add to the sauce. Game changer.

Thread closed

Bozza · Oct 22, 2020

Cold.

What sort of monster would do otherwise?

studio150 · Oct 22, 2020

About an inch of cold water in pan on full heat, then put kettle on, when boiled add hot kettle water to pan.

Hampster Gull · Oct 22, 2020

The largest pan you have, loads of salt, cold water, then bring to the boil

wellquickwoody · Oct 22, 2020

Mustafa said:
better for the water than using a kettle.

Please, tell me more............ :lolol:

clapham_gull · Oct 22, 2020

Boil water then add salt.

Salted water takes longer to reach boiling point.

Sometimes use a kettle, sometimes use a pot but my pan will always be hot when adding the water.

As above always reserve some of the pasta water to add to the sauce. It helps make the sauce bind to the pasta.

Don't drain pasta over the sink, remove it from the water with a slotted spoon or tongs ad add straight to the hot sauce hopefully being heated up in a frying pan.

Lastly never buy "fresh" cut pasta from the supermarket.

Complete rip off, has no shelf life and is more difficult to cook if like a "bite".

The only fresh pasta is the pasta you make yourself or buy from a specialist shop.

Guess what it isn't fresh, it's just not that dried out. They saw you coming....

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Notters · Oct 22, 2020

Whichever is cheapest, which depends what sort of hob you have.

McTavish · Oct 22, 2020

You can actually put pasta in cold water and then bring it to the boil. You don't even need very much water. You do, however, need to stir constantly. Have a look at this article.

I cooked the spicy sausage recipe here last week and it was fantastic.

beorhthelm · Oct 22, 2020

studio150 said:
About an inch of cold water in pan on full heat, then put kettle on, when boiled add hot kettle water to pan.

exactly this.

beorhthelm · Oct 22, 2020

Mustafa said:
Boil a glass of water in the kettle and a pot, let them both cool, and taste them.

The boiled water in the kettle won't taste nice because the rate of evaporation is so much greater, which causes the dry solids in the water to become more concentrated to the point that it taints the water with an undesirable taste.

good theory, but the solids are there to affect taste either way and you dont lose enough water to make an appreciable difference to concentrations. the reason is boiling deoxygenates the water. can be compensated by re-aerating, pouring from on high to get splash and bubbles forming (obviously carefully...)

wellquickwoody · Oct 22, 2020

Mustafa said:
Boil a glass of water in the kettle and a pot, let them both cool, and taste them.

The boiled water in the kettle won't taste nice because the rate of evaporation is so much greater, which causes the dry solids in the water to become more concentrated to the point that it taints the water with an undesirable taste.

This is exacerbated once boiled even further in the pot.

We are particularly prone to this in the South due to our hard water. You might find a "film" on your tea if you boil your kettle more than once, for example.

Is there anything else you want to know?

I get your point, especially the hard water bit, but in both cases the water ends up dead right?

wellquickwoody · Oct 22, 2020

Mustafa said:
What do you mean by dead water?

My attempt at comedy/stupidity, my bad.

beorhthelm · Oct 22, 2020

Mustafa said:
Not true at all. It takes little energy to boil water dry, and every time you boil water you are increasing the concentration of solids. Aeration will only further dissolve the solids, rather than having the effect you describe. Would like to know where you got this theory from?

from brewing :cheers:

the deoxygenation affects not only taste but ability of yeast to ferment so its quite a big deal. if you lose 10% volume in boil, you'll increase the concentration of solids 10%, of say 200-300mg/l is naff all. then you'll put a couple of grams of salt in so :shrug:

sure boiling the same water over and over will make a significant difference eventually, but one-two boils not going to notice concentration.

Iford Albion · Oct 22, 2020

Albion players and their favourite pasta shapes

Aaron Cannelloni
Adam Lasagne

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[Food] The hot/cold water pasta debate

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