4 ms·

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 ha

by 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!

by duped 4y ago

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!