Does pasta continue to "cook" after it's cool?

[Andy M.]

Water is for emulsification purposes only and some pasta dishes like aglio e olio, Cacio e pepe, carbonara, Burro e parmigiano are made that way and other sauces like tomato or cream sauces don't require it. Water can be added to thin out or rehydrate a dry sauce but that's not the same thing.

I do this with tomato sauce also. It keeps the sauce from separating on the plate and forming a puddle. I drain the pasta but don't wait for all the water to drain off. Back to the pot, add the sauce and stir. Works for me.

 

[pictonguy]

I do this with tomato sauce also. It keeps the sauce from separating on the plate and forming a puddle. I drain the pasta but don't wait for all the water to drain off. Back to the pot, add the sauce and stir. Works for me.

Don't know If I've ever seen a tomato sauce separate and puddle, interesting. Anyway the water wouldn't be for emulsification purposes anyway but more to bring a dryer tomato sauce back to a more uniform and flowing consistancy, imo

 

[BAPyessir6]

Don't know If I've ever seen a tomato sauce separate and puddle, interesting. Anyway the water wouldn't be for emulsification purposes anyway but more to bring a dryer tomato sauce back to a more uniform and flowing consistancy, imo

The sauce (noodles?) letting off water and puddling on a plate used to happen with my mom whenever she made spaghetti but I note that she 1. Rinsed her pasta after it was done boiling , and 2. Kept the sauce and pasta separate.

 

[BAPyessir6]

does it start with p and end in y? Only thing I can think of. Doesn't make sense. Don't see how that would confuse the issue.

Pasta-y?

 

[Meryl]

I prepare my Sicilain Grandma's sauce in a cauldron. I form my meatballs as close to the same size as possible by using an ice cream scoop, then drop them into the sauce raw, to simmer and cook through for 45 minutes. Because I use shredded bread, not bread crumbs, the meatballs will increase in size by up to 50% from simmering in the sauce.

I cook the maccheroni, any amount, any shape, usually Ronzoni brand, for 12 minutes, no more, no less. Barilla is designed to remain al dente, even if you boil it for an hour! Then I dump the maccheroni into the sculapasta, shake vigorously, then dump it back into the pot. For hollow maccheroni I repeat the draining process once more. Then I add sauce to the maccheroni, just enough to coat it, and mix. Then I serve it. I don't give a tinker's damn what anyone says, the water the maccheroni was cooked in is still water, regardless of how much starch it retains, and it is not going to thicken your sauce. IT IS GOING TO WATER IT DOWN! That is an old, NONITALIAN, wives tale, like twisting your spaghetti onto your fork using a tablespoon.

This basic spaghetti and meatballs preparation has been perfected by three generations of Sicilians, in both the old country and the new, and now passed on to a fourth generation, by me. I will stand by it to my dying breath.

That's exactly how I make tomato sauce with meatballs.

 

[taxlady]

I watched the video again. The only thing I noticed that I found questionable was that he didn't spend nearly as much time trying to emulsify the plain water with the other sauce ingredients as he did when he used pasta water.

I was thinking of beurre monté, which just uses butter and tap water to make an emulsified sauce. But, then I realized that it isn't quite a fair comparison, since butter has small amounts of lecithin and other emulsifying agents, which EVOO doesn't have (at least I don't think it does).

 

[pictonguy]

I watched the video again. The only thing I noticed that I found questionable was that he didn't spend nearly as much time trying to emulsify the plain water with the other sauce ingredients as he did when he used pasta water.

I was thinking of beurre monté, which just uses butter and tap water to make an emulsified sauce. But, then I realized that it isn't quite a fair comparison, since butter has small amounts of lecithin and other emulsifying agents, which EVOO doesn't have (at least I don't think it does).

How much tap or fresh water did he use compared to the starchy water used?

How full was the very large pot that was boiling and how much pasta did he use for that amount of water?

How full were the pots comparatively speaking with the small amount of pasta used and did he use the same water that would of had the starch from the first example the second time and how full was the pot, were they the same?

Watch it again, lol.

 

[pictonguy]

I prepare my Sicilain Grandma's sauce in a cauldron. I form my meatballs as close to the same size as possible by using an ice cream scoop, then drop them into the sauce raw, to simmer and cook through for 45 minutes. Because I use shredded bread, not bread crumbs, the meatballs will increase in size by up to 50% from simmering in the sauce.

I cook the maccheroni, any amount, any shape, usually Ronzoni brand, for 12 minutes, no more, no less. Barilla is designed to remain al dente, even if you boil it for an hour! Then I dump the maccheroni into the sculapasta, shake vigorously, then dump it back into the pot. For hollow maccheroni I repeat the draining process once more. Then I add sauce to the maccheroni, just enough to coat it, and mix. Then I serve it. I don't give a tinker's damn what anyone says, the water the maccheroni was cooked in is still water, regardless of how much starch it retains, and it is not going to thicken your sauce. IT IS GOING TO WATER IT DOWN! That is an old, NONITALIAN, wives tale, like twisting your spaghetti onto your fork using a tablespoon.

This basic spaghetti and meatballs preparation has been perfected by three generations of Sicilians, in both the old country and the new, and now passed on to a fourth generation, by me. I will stand by it to my dying breath.

I make my tomato sauce basically the same way and I actually make my meatballs similarily as well, use fresh bread, but this has nothing to do with the emulsification process that is necessary for certain pasta dishes like carbonara for example. Cheers.

 

[pictonguy]

The sauce (noodles?) letting off water and puddling on a plate used to happen with my mom whenever she made spaghetti but I note that she 1. Rinsed her pasta after it was done boiling , and 2. Kept the sauce and pasta separate.

Yeah, that will do it, no doubt.

 

[caseydog]

I give, what starts with a p and ends in a y

I don't think I can answer that without being banned.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Water is for emulsification purposes only and some pasta dishes like aglio e olio, Cacio e pepe, carbonara, Burro e parmigiano are made that way and other sauces like tomato or cream sauces don't require it. Water can be added to thin out or rehydrate a dry sauce but that's not the same thing.

Yeah, it is the starch in the pasta water, not the water itself that matters. Like pictonguy posted, it emulsifies the oil and water into a sauce, and it also helps bind the sauce to the pasta.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Don't know If I've ever seen a tomato sauce separate and puddle, interesting. Anyway the water wouldn't be for emulsification purposes anyway but more to bring a dryer tomato sauce back to a more uniform and flowing consistancy, imo

I have. Tomato water separates from the tomato pulp and you get this slightly red water on the plate. I think that is what Andy is talking about. The pasta starch does help with that.

CD

 

[taxlady]

Okay, I watched it again.

How much tap or fresh water did he use compared to the starchy water used?

Now that you mention it, there did seem to be a lot more water added to the skillet in the second go. Also, the second time, I didn't see him add tap water to the skillet to prevent the garlic from burning.

How full was the very large pot that was boiling and how much pasta did he use for that amount of water?

When he was cooking the second batch of spaghetti, he mentioned that using less water would concentrate the starch. So, I think it's only fair that he used less water.

How full were the pots comparatively speaking with the small amount of pasta used and did he use the same water that would of had the starch from the first example the second time and how full was the pot, were they the same?

Watch it again, lol.

Not quite sure what you are asking. The first time he drained away as much of the pasta water as possible before adding the pasta to the skillet, to eliminate the starch from the cooking water.

When you ask how full was the pot, do you mean the skillet?

Other discrepancies: I think he used more pasta the second time, but I can't tell for sure. I think he may have not shown adding extra pasta to the skillet after he started emulsifying it. There seem to have been bits edited out. That may have been to hide stuff or it may have been to keep the video a reasonable length.

 

[caseydog]

How much tap or fresh water did he use compared to the starchy water used?

How full was the very large pot that was boiling and how much pasta did he use for that amount of water?

How full were the pots comparatively speaking with the small amount of pasta used and did he use the same water that would of had the starch from the first example the second time and how full was the pot, were they the same?

Watch it again, lol.

He did use less tap water in the video, but it wouldn't have mattered. Oil and water don't mix unless you add something to emulsify them.

CD

 

[pacanis]

I don't think I can answer that without being banned.

CD

Puppy?

 

[pictonguy]

I have. Tomato water separates from the tomato pulp and you get this slightly red water on the plate. I think that is what Andy is talking about. The pasta starch does help with that.

CD

Yeah, that is the consistency of the vast majority of tomato sauces which basically indicates it wasn't cooked long enough and the canned tomatoes used were packed in tomato juice and not puree and then not cooked long enough and in NA a plate of tomato pasta probably use double or triple the amount of sauce as compared to in Italy, In Italy to have too much sauce that it's filling a plate or bowl is a major event and you could end up in big trouble with authorities, lol. I've had that watery tomato sauce so many times in restaurants that I just don't bother ordering it anymore unless I know that won't happen and when it's reduced properly that never happens.

 

[pictonguy]

He did use less tap water in the video, but it wouldn't have mattered. Oil and water don't mix unless you add something to emulsify them.

CD

There's lots of starch in the pasta and it would have worked. He used maybe a tablespoon of tap water compared to at least 1/2 cup of pasta water and probably more. No matter how much you try to emulsify the existing starch in a pasta to make it creamy, a tbsp of water will just leave an oily mess and never emulsify simply because there's not enough water to begin with.

 

[pictonguy]

Okay, I watched it again.



Now that you mention it, there did seem to be a lot more water added to the skillet in the second go. Also, the second time, I didn't see him add tap water to the skillet to prevent the garlic from burning.


When he was cooking the second batch of spaghetti, he mentioned that using less water would concentrate the starch. So, I think it's only fair that he used less water.


Not quite sure what you are asking. The first time he drained away as much of the pasta water as possible before adding the pasta to the skillet, to eliminate the starch from the cooking water.

When you ask how full was the pot, do you mean the skillet?

Other discrepancies: I think he used more pasta the second time, but I can't tell for sure. I think he may have not shown adding extra pasta to the skillet after he started emulsifying it. There seem to have been bits edited out. That may have been to hide stuff or it may have been to keep the video a reasonable length.

If you look at the pot of water which was a lot to begin with for the amount of pasta being cooked, basically a single portion and the water line is about 1" below the rivets in the pot, then when making the second pasta the water is considerably lower and I suggest it was the same water with just some removed so any starch from cooking the first batch was in the water and why not, they were wanting as much starchy water as possible for this comparison.

 

[dragnlaw]

How full were the pots comparatively speaking with the small amount of pasta used and did he use the same water that would of had the starch from the first example the second time and how full was the pot, were they the same?

he does say to use less water to get more starch in the water that you would use.

 

[pictonguy]

he does say to use less water to get more starch in the water that you would use.

He used almost no tap water, maybe a tbsp and as hard as you try, nothing is going to work unless there's enough water, why because what there is, is mostly fat, and that's exactly what he complained about.

What he should have done was cook both portions of equal grams in the same water using a multi compartment pasta pot that can hold up to 4 different pasta's at once and cooked both portions at the same time, then one using the tap water and the other the pasta water in equal amounts, that's what should have taken place if they were professional and actually more scientific. This was sketchy to my eye and I can see why it might not be as well and to tell you the truth I'm so disappointed in Serious Eats for doing this that I'll never look at them in the same way again.