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I am at a point in my life where I can quite reliably tell whether pasta is ready by just stirring it in the water with a cooking spoon. I don't know what it is

by lqet 5y ago

I am at a point in my life where I can quite reliably tell whether pasta is ready by just stirring it in the water with a cooking spoon. I don't know what it is, they just "feel" ready, or they don't. I was exposed to considerable training data as a student. But I can only do this with "standard" pasta I regularly cook, that is penne, spaghetti, fusilli [0], maccheroni, gemelli, farfalle, linguine, etc. As soon as I try exotic new pasta [1], I have to fall back to tasting it every minute like some amateur. Cooking pasta with a timer has never worked for me. [0] https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog1792508/AOG100.jpg https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog1792508/AOG... [1] https://www.barilla.com/en-au/products/pasta/collezione/casarecce https://www.barilla.com/en-au/products/pasta/collezione/casa...

aceazzameen 5y ago
Following the cooking time on the bag for "al dente" pasta has given us pretty consistent results. Some brands more accurate than others. But yeah, at this point I can tell when it's ready by stirring too. There's been plenty of moments where I've forgotten to set the timer and then have to guestimate the time left and feel readiness by stirring. Do it often enough and you just know when it's done. I used to taste it til ready when younger, but haven't had to bother in ages.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  I thought this marketing effort was pretty inspired: Barilla Pasta created Spotify playlists that were the right length for their various pastas. https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/barilla-spotify-how-long-to-cook-pasta-playlists https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/barilla-spotify-how...
treme 5y ago
my chef friend told me Italian grandma way is to stir and feel & hear the sound, fwiw.
cheese_goddess 5y ago
Yeah, that's how I cook my curds when I make hard cheeses, also. I use an egg beater to stir curds while heating them up until they're the right size and consistency. Normally you're supposed to take some curds in your hand and squeeze them to test the consistency, but I don't want to stick my hands in the curds because it's a pain sanitizing them before and after (the hands, not the curds, haha). So I just pay attention to the way the curds feel as they hit the tines of the egg beater. When they're ready, they feel ready. Human touch is such an underrated sense! The intuitive, sub-liminal information you get from it is unbelievable. Edit: this article shows the process of cooking curds: https://cheesemaking.com/collections/recipes/products/alpine-washed-rind-cheese-making-recipe https://cheesemaking.com/collections/recipes/products/alpine... See step 4 "Cook curd" and look at the two pictures in the list for the traditional testing method.
carlob 5y ago
Weird to me that you consider casarecce exotic, whereas I had to google gemelli, because I don't think I've heard that name before. I've also been exposed to a lot of training data since I spent 80% of my life in Italy.
- Alex3917 5y ago
  > I had to google gemelli, because I don't think I've heard that name before It pairs well with gorgonzola cheese and a cream sauce.
vba616 5y ago
I am at a point in my life where I usually cook the exact same type of pasta 95% of the time, so I know the exact amount of time it takes. But when I don't, I bite off the end of a piece and look to see if there's a tiny dry center or not. I don't know if I've ever had an issue cooking Barilla pasta for the amount of time specified on the box, regardless.

by lqet 5y ago

aceazzameen 5y ago

Following the cooking time on the bag for "al dente" pasta has given us pretty consistent results. Some brands more accurate than others. But yeah, at this point I can tell when it's ready by stirring too. There's been plenty of moments where I've forgotten to set the timer and then have to guestimate the time left and feel readiness by stirring. Do it often enough and you just know when it's done. I used to taste it til ready when younger, but haven't had to bother in ages.

sokoloff 5y ago
I thought this marketing effort was pretty inspired: Barilla Pasta created Spotify playlists that were the right length for their various pastas. https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/barilla-spotify-how-long-to-cook-pasta-playlists https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/barilla-spotify-how...

treme 5y ago

my chef friend told me Italian grandma way is to stir and feel & hear the sound, fwiw.

cheese_goddess 5y ago

Yeah, that's how I cook my curds when I make hard cheeses, also. I use an egg beater to stir curds while heating them up until they're the right size and consistency. Normally you're supposed to take some curds in your hand and squeeze them to test the consistency, but I don't want to stick my hands in the curds because it's a pain sanitizing them before and after (the hands, not the curds, haha). So I just pay attention to the way the curds feel as they hit the tines of the egg beater. When they're ready, they feel ready. Human touch is such an underrated sense! The intuitive, sub-liminal information you get from it is unbelievable. Edit: this article shows the process of cooking curds: https://cheesemaking.com/collections/recipes/products/alpine-washed-rind-cheese-making-recipe https://cheesemaking.com/collections/recipes/products/alpine... See step 4 "Cook curd" and look at the two pictures in the list for the traditional testing method.

carlob 5y ago

Weird to me that you consider casarecce exotic, whereas I had to google gemelli, because I don't think I've heard that name before. I've also been exposed to a lot of training data since I spent 80% of my life in Italy.

Alex3917 5y ago
> I had to google gemelli, because I don't think I've heard that name before It pairs well with gorgonzola cheese and a cream sauce.

vba616 5y ago

I am at a point in my life where I usually cook the exact same type of pasta 95% of the time, so I know the exact amount of time it takes. But when I don't, I bite off the end of a piece and look to see if there's a tiny dry center or not. I don't know if I've ever had an issue cooking Barilla pasta for the amount of time specified on the box, regardless.