caseydog
Master Chef
I'm with all the other people who have said, "stir your boiling pasta." I'd add to that to make sure you have a big enough pot, and enough water for the amount of pasta you are making.
CD
CD
If pasta sticks together after it's cooked, is it overcooked?
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Kathleen
Cupcake
I always drain it well before adding sauce. I keep a bit of the cooking liquid just to use if the sauce is not coating as well as I would hope.
Even for pasta salad? That's the only time I can think of that I rinse pasta.
Jade Emperor
Head Chef
Nope. I’m with the others. I only rinse my pasta if it’s for pasta salad.
And I very much agree: stir the pasta as it’s boiling, use a bigger pot and more water than you think you need.
And I very much agree: stir the pasta as it’s boiling, use a bigger pot and more water than you think you need.
When I cook short pasta, I break all the "rules". I put the pasta in a pot. I pour room temperature water on it until it covers the pasta and about another inch or so. Then I turn the heat on. I stir it. When it comes to a boil, I give it another stir and put the lid on and set a timer for one minute. Then I turn off the heat; give the pasta another stir; put the lid on the pot and set the timer for a few minutes less than what the package says. When the timer goes off, I check on the pasta. This works really well and if you don't use a lot of water, the starch in the pasta cooking water will be more concentrated. I scoop the pasta out of the pot with a spider and let the drips go straight into the sauce.
caseydog
Master Chef
I almost never make any kind of pasta salad. I know that macaroni salad, which uses mayonnaise, calls for rinsing your pasta, but I despise macaroni salad (sorry K-Girl), so I never make it.
I boil pasta in a lot of salted water (although not the amount of salt the celebrity chefs call for), strain it quickly in a colander, and add it to my sauce. I add pasta water as needed to get the pasta and sauce to get along with each other, and serve.
I use a big pot, even for a small amount of pasta. That helps a lot with preventing sticking. Too much water isn't going to hurt anything (from my experience), but too little water will produce some goopy, stuck together pasta.
CD
Yeah, I've always saved a bit of pasta water, but never have I ever ended up using it.
I rinse past for two reasons.
1. if going to use it for a cold salad.
2. If going to reheat at a later time, a quick rinse and add butter.
It has been ages since I've ever made pasta as in for #2 so - what would I do now? No idea.
buon mangiare How ever you like your pasta!
I rinse past for two reasons.
1. if going to use it for a cold salad.
2. If going to reheat at a later time, a quick rinse and add butter.
It has been ages since I've ever made pasta as in for #2 so - what would I do now? No idea.
buon mangiare How ever you like your pasta!
larry_stewart
Master Chef
I always sale the water ( unless I forget , which happens) but never to the point where its as salty as the sea.
I use the box's time (assuming it's boxed, not fresh) as a general guide, but always start checking a few minutes before. I personally like the pasta slightly more cooked than al dente. Not mushy, but just a little less firm.
If Im going to finish it in a sauce, I may take it out a little early, transferring it directly in with the sauce using a spider, tongs or whatever. Some of the liquid transfers as a result.
If Im placing the sauce on top ( which I usually prefer), Ill draw the pastern a sieve, give a very quick rinse , then put a portion in a bowl, mix with a little butter ( because I like the undertone of butter flavor with the sauce). Then I place the sauce on top. I don't mix the sauce in, I just kind of take bites of pasta with the sauce. The sauce Ultimately makes its way down to the bottom. What I like is the mushrooms ( which I almost always put in my sauce) stay in top, so I can strategically get a mushroom in each bite.
I rarely use the starchy pasta water as part of any sauce, but on occasion, and deeding on the sauce, I may add some. I've never notice much of a difference using starch water, and prefer to control the thickness of the sauce in other ways.
Ive also never noticed a quick rinse affecting whether or not the sauce adheres to the pasta.
If I go for seconds, and the pasta is sticking a little in the sieve, I do another quick rise with hot water just to break apart the strands, the do as above.
If we have leftovers ( unsauced), I will do a quick dip of pasta into boiling water, then take it from there ( the pasta always breaks up)
If it is a sauced dish that has been left over, especially a a cream like saucer whatever, just the act of eating it up usually de-clumps it.
I use the box's time (assuming it's boxed, not fresh) as a general guide, but always start checking a few minutes before. I personally like the pasta slightly more cooked than al dente. Not mushy, but just a little less firm.
If Im going to finish it in a sauce, I may take it out a little early, transferring it directly in with the sauce using a spider, tongs or whatever. Some of the liquid transfers as a result.
If Im placing the sauce on top ( which I usually prefer), Ill draw the pastern a sieve, give a very quick rinse , then put a portion in a bowl, mix with a little butter ( because I like the undertone of butter flavor with the sauce). Then I place the sauce on top. I don't mix the sauce in, I just kind of take bites of pasta with the sauce. The sauce Ultimately makes its way down to the bottom. What I like is the mushrooms ( which I almost always put in my sauce) stay in top, so I can strategically get a mushroom in each bite.
I rarely use the starchy pasta water as part of any sauce, but on occasion, and deeding on the sauce, I may add some. I've never notice much of a difference using starch water, and prefer to control the thickness of the sauce in other ways.
Ive also never noticed a quick rinse affecting whether or not the sauce adheres to the pasta.
If I go for seconds, and the pasta is sticking a little in the sieve, I do another quick rise with hot water just to break apart the strands, the do as above.
If we have leftovers ( unsauced), I will do a quick dip of pasta into boiling water, then take it from there ( the pasta always breaks up)
If it is a sauced dish that has been left over, especially a a cream like saucer whatever, just the act of eating it up usually de-clumps it.
Jade Emperor
Head Chef
A chef taught me to do it the other way round.
Cook the pasta, then drain it, turn the stove hob down, return the pasta to the pan and add the sauce into the pasta pan. You get a larger pan to mix the sauce together and there is also some residual liquid and starch in there.
Cook the pasta, then drain it, turn the stove hob down, return the pasta to the pan and add the sauce into the pasta pan. You get a larger pan to mix the sauce together and there is also some residual liquid and starch in there.
I sometimes do this, particularly when I'm making a bolonaise sauce.
I like that idea for when I use long pasta. If I remember, I'll give it a try. If I am cooking short pasta, it's not in the big soup pot. Well, if I was cooking for a lot of people, it would probably be in the big soup pot. When I cook a sauce, it's generally in my braiser, so lots of room to stir in enough pasta for a few people. As I understand it, the reason to stir the pasta into the sauce, is so it can finish cooking in the sauce.
Jade Emperor
Head Chef
Yes, but the method I use has the sauce cooking alongside the pasta. So they are both hot. I’m just adding the sauce to the pasta, not the pasta to the sauce. Same outcome. 
BAPyessir6
Senior Cook
No longer than 5 minutes. Though it probably "should" be 30 seconds or less.
BAPyessir6
Senior Cook
I saw a really good YouTube video about this same topic About a year ago, by a guy I enjoy watching named Ethan Chewboski (sp?). It's so fascinating to learn about different cooking techniques. I assume he probably took this method from Serious Eats.
I do something similar. I turn the heat off and put the lid on, but I have an electric stove, so it stays hot. Once it has started boiling, it really doesn't need more stirring. I don't know if that would apply to this guy's method, but it does with mine. It's almost exactly what I learned by watching Kenji Lopez-Alt demonstrate this. I can probably find a link to that video fairly easily, if anyone wants to watch it.
I only sort of agree that the shape of the pasta doesn't matter. Even if you use a pan that is wide enough for a long pasta to lie flat on the bottom, you won't be able to stir it well enough at the beginning. That's why, when I described my method above (in post #45) I said, "When I cook short pasta, I break all the "rules".
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I cook my spaghettin in a large flat pan (frying pan). I do not have a problem stirring it. It does not stick.
Do you start it in room temperature or cold water? That's what I was talking about. Kenji cooks long pasta in a large flat pan, but not using the start it in cold water method. He tested all sorts of stuff and measured and compared. I don't have to test it and risk wasting some perfectly good long pasta to decide that it's likely to stick at the beginning of the process. Of course it's easy to stir, once the pasta has absorbed some water and become flexible.
I take a large frying pan (probably about 12"). I put in tap water straight from the kitchen sink tap. It is cold water as I do not believe one should use the hot water tap to collect water for cooking food.
I then put the large pan set on a heat source to maximum heat.
When the water in the large pan starts to boil I grab a handful of dry spaghetti and fan it out best I can in my hand (pretend you are going to use the spaghetti as a whisk). Start swirling the fanned end of the spaghetti around slowly into the boiling water of the large pan.
As the spaghetti starts to soften, gently start pushing the spaghetti further into the boiling water of the pan. When you can no longer hold onto the spaghetti I use a large scooped pasta fork to continue to swirl the spaghetti around in the pan.
Once I see that the spaghetti strands are all separate and moving around on their own in the boiling water of the large pan, I may or may not adjust the heat under said pan to keep a good boil going so that they keep moving but not so fast a boil as to cause an overflow of said boiling water in said large pan.
Picture of large pasta forks.
I then put the large pan set on a heat source to maximum heat.
When the water in the large pan starts to boil I grab a handful of dry spaghetti and fan it out best I can in my hand (pretend you are going to use the spaghetti as a whisk). Start swirling the fanned end of the spaghetti around slowly into the boiling water of the large pan.
As the spaghetti starts to soften, gently start pushing the spaghetti further into the boiling water of the pan. When you can no longer hold onto the spaghetti I use a large scooped pasta fork to continue to swirl the spaghetti around in the pan.
Once I see that the spaghetti strands are all separate and moving around on their own in the boiling water of the large pan, I may or may not adjust the heat under said pan to keep a good boil going so that they keep moving but not so fast a boil as to cause an overflow of said boiling water in said large pan.
I would never cook pasta in cold water, but "risotto" pasta yes, which is different. You're adding the raw pasta to the sauce already cooking in a big frying pan and then keeping on adding boiling/simmering water, until it's cooked.
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