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My dirty little secret I've only dared to shared with my closest friends (fearing social ostracism) is that I cook by pasta by putting it in cold water and then

My dirty little secret I've only dared to shared with my closest friends (fearing social ostracism) is that I cook by pasta by putting it in cold water and then turn the heat on. Roughly when the water starts to boil I start periodically checking the doneness of the pasta. Works just fine for me. Would never dare to it when cooking with friends however (only slightly /s). However, it would be neat with a device similar to the one in TFA, but more sophisticated. Having some internal model of pasta doneness as a function of the time in the water, and the water temperature over time.

Scoundreller 4y ago
I see this in lots of 'how to boil an egg' guides, where cooking time matters. When explaining it on the internet, the best way is to dump the egg into boiling water, and drain and cool with cold tap water after X minutes, because it removes other variables. Buuuuut, if you learn your pot and water volumes and starting water temperatures and heating rate, you can cook your egg faster by starting with cold water, and maybe even knowing when to turn off the heat once the water is hot.
- filleokus 4y ago
  For eggs I've seen people use something like this [0], which I guess can be helpful if you switch pots a lot. Also trickier to test if a (boiled) egg really is boiled then with pasta. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Perfect-Timer/dp/B00004UE75?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Perfect-Timer/dp/B00004UE7...
- mattmaroon 4y ago
  This assumes you’re trying to cook to an even heat internally (like a boiled egg) rather than an intentional gradient (like pasta noodles, a steak, etc.)
- archi42 4y ago
  Starting with cold water, the cooked mass is heated more evenly, since the heat has more time to transfer to the core. For potatoes that's the recommended way, but if you want the eggs yellow to be soft, this might make it harder. I only read this today, and I recommend anyone to just experiment and give new ideas some attempts.
  - 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
    The trick to fix that is to submerge the eggs into boiling water for a minute. Pull them out. Wait for another minute. Put them back into the water and complete cooking.
- aeyes 4y ago
  It is also the only way to cook an egg without an egg piercer.

Scoundreller 4y ago

I see this in lots of 'how to boil an egg' guides, where cooking time matters. When explaining it on the internet, the best way is to dump the egg into boiling water, and drain and cool with cold tap water after X minutes, because it removes other variables. Buuuuut, if you learn your pot and water volumes and starting water temperatures and heating rate, you can cook your egg faster by starting with cold water, and maybe even knowing when to turn off the heat once the water is hot.

filleokus 4y ago
For eggs I've seen people use something like this [0], which I guess can be helpful if you switch pots a lot. Also trickier to test if a (boiled) egg really is boiled then with pasta. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Perfect-Timer/dp/B00004UE75?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Egg-Perfect-Timer/dp/B00004UE7...
mattmaroon 4y ago
This assumes you’re trying to cook to an even heat internally (like a boiled egg) rather than an intentional gradient (like pasta noodles, a steak, etc.)
archi42 4y ago
Starting with cold water, the cooked mass is heated more evenly, since the heat has more time to transfer to the core. For potatoes that's the recommended way, but if you want the eggs yellow to be soft, this might make it harder. I only read this today, and I recommend anyone to just experiment and give new ideas some attempts.
- 2muchcoffeeman 4y ago
  The trick to fix that is to submerge the eggs into boiling water for a minute. Pull them out. Wait for another minute. Put them back into the water and complete cooking.
aeyes 4y ago
It is also the only way to cook an egg without an egg piercer.