RDG
Senior Cook
Sorry : I never heard of rinsing pasta. This is the reason of my question.....
Pasta question
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Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
thumpershere2 said:
Again from a technical standpoint, Adding salt to a pot will, if left for an exptended period, cause corrosion. Dissolved salt acts to enhance electrical current flow (transmision of electrons from one atom to another). This happens whenever a base metal such as iron or aluminum comes into contact with a dissimilar metal or reactive gas, such as oxygen or nitrogen, and with many PH positive, or PH negative chemicals. What happens is that the base metal gives up electrons to the reactive substance changing the structure of the elemental metal. In the presence of oxygen, aluminum, iron, and copper will corrode and lose the properties that make them useful to us.
Of course, these unprotected metals will corrode over time anyway. Salt dissoved in solution just acts as a catylist to speed up the process. Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion and isn't harmed by adding salt to the water. The same is true of non-corrosive cookware such as enamaled cast-iron, glass, ceramics, clay-earthenware, teflon, other plastic non-sticks, etc. A well seasoned cast-iron pan is also resistant to corrosion.
For any high-carbon tools you might use, such as knives, and unprotected metalic pans such as a steel wok, or aluminum cookware, as long as you thoroughly wash the salt away from the pan with fresh water (unsalted), your cookware will not be harmed. The same is true of scuba gear that's been used in a salt-water envinronment; but that's a different topic.
So go ahead and salt the water if you want. It won't hurt your pots, as long as you clean them. And acidic, and/or alkaline foods will also damage unprotected base-metal pots for the same reasons.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
cara
Master Chef
RDG said:
I think no italian would ever ever do that - taht is what my ex boy friend told me (half-italian), but almost the rest of the world does - don't ask me why..
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Rinsing pasta removes some of its starchines, which gives it a sweeter flavor and a more distinct mouth feel (texture). There is room for both methods in your cooking. Don't limit yourself.
For instance, if you are using the pasta with a starchy sauce, such as a bechemel based sauce, you don't need the added starch of the pasta to get the sauce to adhere. And rinsing the pasta allows its character to present itself on the pallate. In a pasta salad, on the other hand, you might want the starchiness to help hold the dressing to the pasta surface, preventing it from draining away. The same is true when using a tomato-based sauce.
If I'm using pasta in a stir-fry, cornstarch added to the pan liquor will allow a flavor sauce to form that will easily stick to rinsed pasta, and allow the pasta to easily distribute itself in the dish without clumping together.
Think about what you want the pasta to do, how you want it to taste, and what kind of pasta you are using. For bolder pasta flavor, rinse it. If you want a more starchy flavor (and yes, wheat starch does have a flavor), then don't rinse. Will the added starch enhance the meaty flavor of a good beef or chicken broth, or will it distract?
In my home made chicken noodle soup, I want the starch to help add both body and flavor to the broth, along with the collagen extracted previously from the bones. I use freshly made pasta to achieve this, and the noodles stay in the broth.
The key, IMHO, to good cooking, is to forget what your mother, or grandmother, or best freind told you. To be sure, learn what you can from them. But then, open you creativity and do what they told you not to do. You might just stumble onto something that you like better. I know I have, and more times than I can count.
My creativity comes from a knowledge base developed from extensive reading, and a whole lot of experimenting, and fine tuning (almost every night for almost thirty years now, and fequently before then). I tried what my Mom taught me, and took what I liked from her. I did the same with my Dad, my Grandparents, and the authors of "The Joy of Cooking". I learned from them all. And I found that some of what they did was phenominal. And I found that I could dramtically improve on other methods they used. You are the same as me, with the ability to imagine new things, to try them, and make up your own minds.
That's my cooking philosophy, and that's why I teach cooking techniques in my cookbooks, with an emphasis on expanding on what I give you. I certainly am not the greatest cook who ever lived. But I'm a better cook than those who taught me, because I have a passion for it, and have worked with it. And I've put all of that info up in my head, to pull from when needed. And yes, I'm probably sounding very full of myself right now. But I'm really a humble guy who can look at what I can honestly do, as well as at my failures and weaknesses. Don't ask me to teach baseball. But I can help you learn to cook. And the biggest hurdle in cooking is blindingly following something someone else told you.
For isntance, I will never state that any one kind of tomato is the best for tomato sauce, because another variety may just be what's needed to get a desired result for a particular recipe.
The popular San Marzano that is bandied about on this sight may be great for an Italian Red Sauce, but would it work as well in a gazpacho, or for a white chili? Would it have the acidity I'm looking for in my salsa? Or maybe a home-grown brandywine is better for that. I'm growing some yellow tomatoes that I want to try out, see what they are best used for. Only experimentation can give me that knowledge.
I'll get off of my soapbox now.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
For instance, if you are using the pasta with a starchy sauce, such as a bechemel based sauce, you don't need the added starch of the pasta to get the sauce to adhere. And rinsing the pasta allows its character to present itself on the pallate. In a pasta salad, on the other hand, you might want the starchiness to help hold the dressing to the pasta surface, preventing it from draining away. The same is true when using a tomato-based sauce.
If I'm using pasta in a stir-fry, cornstarch added to the pan liquor will allow a flavor sauce to form that will easily stick to rinsed pasta, and allow the pasta to easily distribute itself in the dish without clumping together.
Think about what you want the pasta to do, how you want it to taste, and what kind of pasta you are using. For bolder pasta flavor, rinse it. If you want a more starchy flavor (and yes, wheat starch does have a flavor), then don't rinse. Will the added starch enhance the meaty flavor of a good beef or chicken broth, or will it distract?
In my home made chicken noodle soup, I want the starch to help add both body and flavor to the broth, along with the collagen extracted previously from the bones. I use freshly made pasta to achieve this, and the noodles stay in the broth.
The key, IMHO, to good cooking, is to forget what your mother, or grandmother, or best freind told you. To be sure, learn what you can from them. But then, open you creativity and do what they told you not to do. You might just stumble onto something that you like better. I know I have, and more times than I can count.
My creativity comes from a knowledge base developed from extensive reading, and a whole lot of experimenting, and fine tuning (almost every night for almost thirty years now, and fequently before then). I tried what my Mom taught me, and took what I liked from her. I did the same with my Dad, my Grandparents, and the authors of "The Joy of Cooking". I learned from them all. And I found that some of what they did was phenominal. And I found that I could dramtically improve on other methods they used. You are the same as me, with the ability to imagine new things, to try them, and make up your own minds.
That's my cooking philosophy, and that's why I teach cooking techniques in my cookbooks, with an emphasis on expanding on what I give you. I certainly am not the greatest cook who ever lived. But I'm a better cook than those who taught me, because I have a passion for it, and have worked with it. And I've put all of that info up in my head, to pull from when needed. And yes, I'm probably sounding very full of myself right now. But I'm really a humble guy who can look at what I can honestly do, as well as at my failures and weaknesses. Don't ask me to teach baseball. But I can help you learn to cook. And the biggest hurdle in cooking is blindingly following something someone else told you.
For isntance, I will never state that any one kind of tomato is the best for tomato sauce, because another variety may just be what's needed to get a desired result for a particular recipe.
The popular San Marzano that is bandied about on this sight may be great for an Italian Red Sauce, but would it work as well in a gazpacho, or for a white chili? Would it have the acidity I'm looking for in my salsa? Or maybe a home-grown brandywine is better for that. I'm growing some yellow tomatoes that I want to try out, see what they are best used for. Only experimentation can give me that knowledge.
I'll get off of my soapbox now.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
Last edited:
RDG
Senior Cook
Effectivelycara said:
I think no italian would ever ever do that - taht is what my ex boy friend told me (half-italian), but almost the rest of the world does - don't ask me why..
. To Rinse pasta means.....What? To have something...washed? No taste. But, as Goodweed has said, there is space for all the methods.About the possibility that rinsing could change the behaviour with sauces....may it be because you, perhaps, cook pasta too much? When you cook too much, outside there is a skin of a like-glue material, not good at all. Cooking spaghetti , f.i. for the needed 8 minutes, pasta is clean, good for salades and sauces. Sorry, I don't know what is, it's only a question.
Trip
Senior Cook
Just figured it out (sorry to start the debate lol) started rinsing pasta because that is what DH does, I suppose if you live with something long enough you start to emulate it... got some good info though thanks.
