9 ms·

Italians at boiling point over how to cook pasta with less gas

15 points by WithinReason 4y ago

floxy 4y ago
Maybe one day we will be using heat pumps to pull heat out of our refrigerators and freezers and air conditioners and push it into pots of boiling water and ovens. https://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/AJP00180.pdf https://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/AJP00180.pdf I wonder how far away we are from MEMS mechanical heat pumps and the like.
foxyv 4y ago
It blew my mind what a huge difference a simple titanium sheet, wrapped around my pot and stove, can make in boil times and gas usage when I'm camping. There is a product called the Bobcat cooking system made by a small family company that makes a huge difference. https://www.flatcatgear.com/shop/bobcat-kovea-cooking-system/ https://www.flatcatgear.com/shop/bobcat-kovea-cooking-system... So much of a normal flame stove's heat goes into the air instead of the pot.
ReptileMan 4y ago
Use less water duh. 3:1 ratio is more than enough and you have more starch in the water.
- rapjr9 4y ago
  You can also add only enough water so the pasta consumes it all, though you have to watch out for sticking and all the starch that would go into the water stays with the pasta. That could affect flavor. You could also turn off the heat early and let the pasta continue to cook on the stored heat. Don't have a subscription to FT so I can't read the article.
  - ReptileMan 4y ago
    Pasta I think absorbs around 0.9 of its weight for al dente. You can use for smaller shapes but for spaghetti is too little the volume. And you have evaporation loss. Still this is one of those feel good adjustments not the effective ones.
- postsantum 4y ago
  Preheat water by holding it in your mouth for a minute and you will use less gas to boil duh
josephcsible 4y ago
The long-term solution to this is to replace gas ovens with electric ones.
- brink 4y ago
  They're more likely to go back to wood. Electricity is also up ~8x since 2021.
- dragontamer 4y ago
  > The long-term solution to this is to replace gas ovens with electric ones. Not really. Burning natural gas turns 90%+ of its chemical energy into heat. Its incredibly efficient. In contrast: turning natural gas into electricity wastes 60% of the chemical energy (only extracting ~40% of the chemical energy). ----- Burning natural gas inside our homes is surprisingly efficient use of fossil fuels, far better than centralized electricity production. Its probably the last thing to replace on the list of electrification-technologies. If all that cooking-electricity comes from a natural gas peaker plant, then you've just doubled your usage of natural gas.
  - bergenty 4y ago
    The electricity can come in a variety of other ways, doesn’t have to be just burning natural gas.
  - Kirby64 4y ago
    You're missing a few key factors that sway things in the favor of electric: * Induction burners are much more efficient, as gas generally is wasted by heat wicking around the edge of your pan. * There is a significant amount of natural gas that is lost (without being burned) via leaking out of pipes. I think the industry reports something like 3% is wasted. Given natural gas contains a lot of methane, that has a pretty large effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Removing gas lines to residences should, hopefully, reduce that amount since there are less pipes and joints running everywhere. * As others have pointed out, power mix is usually not 100% natural gas. In terms of greenhouse gas creation, it's going to favor electric production, I think, based on the current mix of electricity in most places.

15 points by WithinReason 4y ago

Maybe one day we will be using heat pumps to pull heat out of our refrigerators and freezers and air conditioners and push it into pots of boiling water and ovens. https://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/AJP00180.pdf https://bayes.wustl.edu/etj/articles/AJP00180.pdf I wonder how far away we are from MEMS mechanical heat pumps and the like.

foxyv 4y ago

It blew my mind what a huge difference a simple titanium sheet, wrapped around my pot and stove, can make in boil times and gas usage when I'm camping. There is a product called the Bobcat cooking system made by a small family company that makes a huge difference. https://www.flatcatgear.com/shop/bobcat-kovea-cooking-system/ https://www.flatcatgear.com/shop/bobcat-kovea-cooking-system... So much of a normal flame stove's heat goes into the air instead of the pot.

ReptileMan 4y ago

Use less water duh. 3:1 ratio is more than enough and you have more starch in the water.

rapjr9 4y ago
You can also add only enough water so the pasta consumes it all, though you have to watch out for sticking and all the starch that would go into the water stays with the pasta. That could affect flavor. You could also turn off the heat early and let the pasta continue to cook on the stored heat. Don't have a subscription to FT so I can't read the article.
- ReptileMan 4y ago
  Pasta I think absorbs around 0.9 of its weight for al dente. You can use for smaller shapes but for spaghetti is too little the volume. And you have evaporation loss. Still this is one of those feel good adjustments not the effective ones.
postsantum 4y ago
Preheat water by holding it in your mouth for a minute and you will use less gas to boil duh

josephcsible 4y ago

The long-term solution to this is to replace gas ovens with electric ones.

brink 4y ago
They're more likely to go back to wood. Electricity is also up ~8x since 2021.
dragontamer 4y ago
> The long-term solution to this is to replace gas ovens with electric ones. Not really. Burning natural gas turns 90%+ of its chemical energy into heat. Its incredibly efficient. In contrast: turning natural gas into electricity wastes 60% of the chemical energy (only extracting ~40% of the chemical energy). ----- Burning natural gas inside our homes is surprisingly efficient use of fossil fuels, far better than centralized electricity production. Its probably the last thing to replace on the list of electrification-technologies. If all that cooking-electricity comes from a natural gas peaker plant, then you've just doubled your usage of natural gas.
- bergenty 4y ago
  The electricity can come in a variety of other ways, doesn’t have to be just burning natural gas.
- Kirby64 4y ago
  You're missing a few key factors that sway things in the favor of electric: * Induction burners are much more efficient, as gas generally is wasted by heat wicking around the edge of your pan. * There is a significant amount of natural gas that is lost (without being burned) via leaking out of pipes. I think the industry reports something like 3% is wasted. Given natural gas contains a lot of methane, that has a pretty large effect on greenhouse gas emissions. Removing gas lines to residences should, hopefully, reduce that amount since there are less pipes and joints running everywhere. * As others have pointed out, power mix is usually not 100% natural gas. In terms of greenhouse gas creation, it's going to favor electric production, I think, based on the current mix of electricity in most places.