Testing Spaghetti for doneness

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How do you test your spaghetti?


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LadyCook61

Master Chef
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Feb 3, 2008
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I was thinking of different ways people test spaghetti to see if it is done to their liking. Some taste test it, some go by the timer, and possibly some throw a strand on the wall or ceiling.
As for me, I go by the timer and taste test it.
 
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I throw it at my husband. If it wraps around his face without falling, it's done. :LOL:

Seriously, I time it, and then I lift it with a fork to see how pliable it is. Sometimes I bite into a piece (not really tasting it, so I didn't choose that option, but just feeling how done it is).

:)Barbara
 
Tasting it/biting it to me is the same thing and that is what I do. I start checking after 6 minutes of cooking, as different brands tend to cook differently.
 
I taste it.

Throwing it at the wall is just silly. That does not show when it is done. I am convinced the person who came up with that idea was sitting around saying "I bet I can get millions of people to throw their food at their walls."
 
A friend of mine is a wall thrower - and she leaves it there! One wall of her kitchen looks like some kind of abstract art with the various colors and kinds of pasta stuck to it. Not sure what she does with things like ravioli, there wasn't any of that up when I thought to look for it last time I was over.
 
I keep on eye on it. When it starts changing from yellow to white I do the taste test, then determine 2 minutes or whatever.
Nothing worse than over-cooked pasta, except maybe cold eggs.​
 
After spending some time in a busy restaurant kitchen, I sort of developed the 'silent timer'. You dump pasta into boiling salted water and then go off to do whatever it is you still need to accomplish for your meal. At some point, something just goes off in your head, and you think 'Oh right! Pasta's boiling... I'll bet it's done!"

I'd like to be able to say I was SO confident in this ability of mine that I simply drain and serve at this point, but I can't lie; I'd feel super-dumb if I served over or undercooked pasta. When my head timer goes off, I take a little nibble and then drain. I haven't been wrong in a really really long time, but I know the first time I don't double check it will be the time I mess it up.
 
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