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> "is reminiscent of the sea" Had lots of funny moments in my life relating to salting pasta water. Almost all the people I know put like two pinches of salt i

by 4ggr0 4y ago

> "is reminiscent of the sea" Had lots of funny moments in my life relating to salting pasta water. Almost all the people I know put like two pinches of salt into the water. Which causes them to look at me like I'm a psycho when I pour salt in for almost a full second, straight out of the container. I can +1 both of your tips, I follow them both since I learned to cook and they're a (small but effective) game-changer.

raldi 4y ago
For our big pasta pot, I put in a literal handful.
- 4ggr0 4y ago
  I can try to measure the amount I put in, but I'd guess it would be pretty close to a handful, yeah.
duped 4y ago
I agree it's kind of absurd to "salt" your pasta water with a pinch of salt (you're doing nothing!), but for me it's a lot more efficient to let the sauce to have the saltiness than to waste handfuls of salt going into water that I'm going to dump out. INB4, "save your pasta water." I don't have a big kitchen or freezer, a pot full of water is a giant waste of space for me.
- nameless912 4y ago
  Most people just dip a coffee mug in the pasta just before they drain it to keep some water back. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone freezing pasta water. As for "salty water vs. salty sauce", the better way from a culinary perspective is both. Over salting one thing to compensate for another thing often leads to uneven flavor; if everything is salted roughly appropriately it all kinda comes together without any extra effort. I suggest trying it, hell maybe even do an A/B test. It's subtle, but salt penetrating the pasta during cooking makes it taste that much better.
- stephen_g 4y ago
  The thing about saving pasta water is about not throwing it all away when draining the pasta - just keeping a little back to toss in with the pasta and the sauce. It's not saving it for later.
- gpderetta 4y ago
  Boil the water to evaporation and recover the salt! disclaimer: it might be /slightly/ energy inefficient. But salt your water, salting the sauce is just not the same.
- bobbylarrybobby 4y ago
  The reason to salt the water is not to add saltiness to the pasta but to raise the water’s boiling point.
  - williamdclt 4y ago
    it's really not, it doesn't change the boiling point any sort of meaningfully.
- williamdclt 4y ago
  - Lots of salt in the sauce means you'll have very salty sauce with undersalted pasta. It might work out fine if the sauce coats really well, but will still be slightly different. - Ingredients cook differently when salted. Not sure about pasta specifically: I _think_ I can taste a difference between pasta cooked in salted water and pasta salted after being cooked, but I'm not certain. - Definitely don't keep pasta water around, it's just for the sauce you're currently making
  - duped 4y ago
    This is missing the forest for the trees. The point is not to make restaurant quality pasta and sauce, it's to not have to buy salt from the store every week. It's wasteful for little benefit. I can't ever say I've felt like cooking pasta without salt is "under salted." Is it as savory and delicious as what I'd buy at a restaurant? No - but having done it like that in the past I just think the benefits are marginal for how much you waste.
    - williamdclt 4y ago
      I wouldn't say it's "forest for the trees", but I see the point that it's a choice of trade-offs. I make pasta _very_ often, I love it and want it to be as good as it possibly can, so I'm very happy optimising for taste. FWIW I use a tablespoon of salt per portion, and get a 1.3kg pack of salt every few months: hardly a huge waste!
gpderetta 4y ago
About as salty as the sea is also my rule of thumb (of course how salty is the sea you are familiar with varies :) )
- williamdclt 4y ago
  Unless you really love salt, you want much less salinity in pasta than the sea (1-2% for pasta, 3.5% in the sea). Kenji Alt-Lopez says that you want your pasta water "as salty as you remember the sea is", not as salty as the sea actually is because it's way too much!
  - gpderetta 4y ago
    Maybe it is not exactly as salty as the sea :)
- themeiguoren 4y ago
  If you’ve ever been at sea and tried to use seawater to cook pasta, you’ll realize that it’s too much salt. 1:1 seawater to fresh water turns out perfect (and saves your fresh water).

by 4ggr0 4y ago

raldi 4y ago

For our big pasta pot, I put in a literal handful.

4ggr0 4y ago
I can try to measure the amount I put in, but I'd guess it would be pretty close to a handful, yeah.

duped 4y ago

I agree it's kind of absurd to "salt" your pasta water with a pinch of salt (you're doing nothing!), but for me it's a lot more efficient to let the sauce to have the saltiness than to waste handfuls of salt going into water that I'm going to dump out. INB4, "save your pasta water." I don't have a big kitchen or freezer, a pot full of water is a giant waste of space for me.

nameless912 4y ago
Most people just dip a coffee mug in the pasta just before they drain it to keep some water back. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone freezing pasta water. As for "salty water vs. salty sauce", the better way from a culinary perspective is both. Over salting one thing to compensate for another thing often leads to uneven flavor; if everything is salted roughly appropriately it all kinda comes together without any extra effort. I suggest trying it, hell maybe even do an A/B test. It's subtle, but salt penetrating the pasta during cooking makes it taste that much better.
stephen_g 4y ago
The thing about saving pasta water is about not throwing it all away when draining the pasta - just keeping a little back to toss in with the pasta and the sauce. It's not saving it for later.
gpderetta 4y ago
Boil the water to evaporation and recover the salt! disclaimer: it might be /slightly/ energy inefficient. But salt your water, salting the sauce is just not the same.
bobbylarrybobby 4y ago
The reason to salt the water is not to add saltiness to the pasta but to raise the water’s boiling point.
- williamdclt 4y ago
  it's really not, it doesn't change the boiling point any sort of meaningfully.
williamdclt 4y ago
- Lots of salt in the sauce means you'll have very salty sauce with undersalted pasta. It might work out fine if the sauce coats really well, but will still be slightly different. - Ingredients cook differently when salted. Not sure about pasta specifically: I _think_ I can taste a difference between pasta cooked in salted water and pasta salted after being cooked, but I'm not certain. - Definitely don't keep pasta water around, it's just for the sauce you're currently making
- duped 4y ago
  This is missing the forest for the trees. The point is not to make restaurant quality pasta and sauce, it's to not have to buy salt from the store every week. It's wasteful for little benefit. I can't ever say I've felt like cooking pasta without salt is "under salted." Is it as savory and delicious as what I'd buy at a restaurant? No - but having done it like that in the past I just think the benefits are marginal for how much you waste.
  - williamdclt 4y ago
    I wouldn't say it's "forest for the trees", but I see the point that it's a choice of trade-offs. I make pasta _very_ often, I love it and want it to be as good as it possibly can, so I'm very happy optimising for taste. FWIW I use a tablespoon of salt per portion, and get a 1.3kg pack of salt every few months: hardly a huge waste!

gpderetta 4y ago

About as salty as the sea is also my rule of thumb (of course how salty is the sea you are familiar with varies :) )

williamdclt 4y ago
Unless you really love salt, you want much less salinity in pasta than the sea (1-2% for pasta, 3.5% in the sea). Kenji Alt-Lopez says that you want your pasta water "as salty as you remember the sea is", not as salty as the sea actually is because it's way too much!
- gpderetta 4y ago
  Maybe it is not exactly as salty as the sea :)
themeiguoren 4y ago
If you’ve ever been at sea and tried to use seawater to cook pasta, you’ll realize that it’s too much salt. 1:1 seawater to fresh water turns out perfect (and saves your fresh water).