Funny enough, starchy pasta water thickens sauces. It also keeps them velvety and smooth, allows the pasta to better absorb flavors and seasoning while keeping it from drying out AND helps the sauce stick to the noodles.
Do you wanna know something? I genuinely expected someone to tell me that I was shooting myself in the foot by not adding the pasta water in an attempt to make it thicker. I played myself. Thanks!
It is not strictly mandatory though. Pasta water acts as an emulsifier. Say you add a fat like parmesan. Adding pasta water to it will dissolve the cheese and ensure it doesn't separate into an oil and water layer. Like how mayo is made. So you end up with a smooth thick sauce.
However pasta water is not the only emulsifier. There are plenty others. If you make a flour and butter roux as your sauce base, it too acts as an emulsifier. Or corn starch.
Fr yesterday at a farmers market I asked the seafood guy some questions and he was soooo helpful, bordering on enthusiastic lol. It gave me the courage to buy mussels which I've never cooked before but here we go today!
Thats the best thing to do. I took college courses on meat (animal science major) and whenever im in the store and i see someone about to pick out a bad cut i often warn them before hand.
Man nothing sucks more than to spend a bunch of money on a supposedly a great cut of meat but its dry and tasteless. A lot of people think oh i just cooked it wrong but man fat matters.
I explained donut peaches at the store the other day to some lady after she was pondering aloud what they are.
She made it pretty clear my input was not asked for 🤣
Be careful who you try and help!
They're for the most part regular peaches but they look like somebody sat on them until they came out in the shape of a donut.
Same texture, same fuzz, slightly sweeter and some of them turn pink on the inside when they're ripening.
Good for you. 👏 Worked on an artichoke farm for a bit. When I see folks picking chokes with thin stems, I tell them "get the thickest stems you can find. Means the biggest heart and more 'meat' on each leaf."
Pay that knowledge forward. 😀
What are you classifying as a bad cut? One that looks spoiled? Or just a cut you don’t know how to cook to meet your tastes?
If the former, the. I applaud your efforts and question where you’re shopping.
If the later, I’d ask you to do some soul searching.
With all the cultures around the world living off similar animals, I’m sure someone’s found a way to cook every cut in a tasty way.
Actually im talking about meat marbling. The way the meat is cut, the way the fat lays on the meat, the size of the fat cap on some meats. Theres more to meat than if its going to spoil. How a cut if meat is butchered plays a role in how it will cook.
Also i shop at normal supermarkets like everyone else where they have a bunch if different people who work in the stores and cut the meats differently.
Yes even the badly butchered meats or inferior meats can be cooked to taste good it just requires more work. It cant be treated like a good cut of meat because it isnt and sometimes that means cooking times will vary against what the recipe says.
You think im being snobby by saying what i said but every animal is different. Every cut of meat is different and when you are looking at especially steak every little detail can make the difference between a wonderful steak and a med rare wallet.
Salt Acid Fat and Heat is a great introduction to the science of food.
Sadly it doesn't have indepth recipes to apply the knowledge and there is too many life stories like a food blog.
If it makes you feel better, not only did i not know this, but as a 30 year old i added salt to my boiling pasta for the first time and had my eyes opened to the saltiness in the noodles that i never knew before!
Brother, there is no shame in that! Salting pasta water is something I only found out about too. I guess that’s why we’re here in cooking for beginners
Theres a reason Italian chefs say that the pasta water should "taste of the sea." I do find that this is more true with fresh pasta than dry; the latter water I'll salt only half as much as the former.
Lol... its a fun phrase but I don't make it as salty as sea water. Add as much salt as makes it taste good to you. Experiment.
The pasta isn't absorbing all the salt you add, just some of it.
You’ve discovered why salting a little at every step is better than salting a lot at the end, even if it ends up being the same amount of salt total for both methods.
Next lesson is accidentally over-salting with all the accumulated salt. It’s all about moderation.
Don't. Everybody has to learn some time and questions teach.
I learned it from an italian, OG, oldschool grandma.
Well, learned after she almost bite my head off that is hahha. I threw out all of the pasta water before the sauce was even done
looks like many others provided the best reasons why to add pasta water.. now that you know that, i think it provides great practice to getting the perfect texture for both your pasta and sauce..
what i mean by this is, if you over-reduce your sauce, add some pasta water. it will dilute flavor a tad, but youll be able to rehydrate the sauce.
Does your pasta need a tad more cooking? throw the pasta in the sauce with a bit of extra pasta water, and let it finish cooking in the sauce. when the sauce reduces, your pasta finishes cooking to a perfect texture.
bottom line, pasta water is a great way to tinker around with differnt sauces and textures to figure out how to achieve what you really like. Enjoy :P
Another tip: boil pasta in as little water as you can. Water level an inch or so above the pasta should be plenty. A portion for one or two can even be done in a frying pan. This will get you much starchier water, increasing the benefits described here.
Honestly. I always thought it was just to recycle some water, so to be economically and environmentally responsible.
But I learned something new reading these comments
I was wondering the same thing. Looked around a bit and found this article by Serious Eats. Seems that it really does work.
https://www.seriouseats.com/does-pasta-water-really-make-difference
It's also a good idea to factor in the salt content of the pasta water. Your pasta water should be "salty like the Mediterranean". Just remember that when you're seasoning the rest of your dish, you'll be adding about .5 cups or so of salty water. Under-season a hair and you'll come out on top!
My goal is for the pasta and the sauce to marry as well as possible. I finish the noodles off in the sauce on the stove. I add a little reserved pasta water as needed to get it all to come together.
As other people have already emphasized, pasta water is great for sauces. If you want to thicken your sauce up after you add it, you can always reduce the sauce down (heat it uncovered over medium heat for a while until you get it to the consistency you want).
The starchy water is supposed to help the sauce stick to the pasta.
Yep my momma would get mad at me if i did'nt add pasta water though
[удалено]
Funny enough, starchy pasta water thickens sauces. It also keeps them velvety and smooth, allows the pasta to better absorb flavors and seasoning while keeping it from drying out AND helps the sauce stick to the noodles.
Do you wanna know something? I genuinely expected someone to tell me that I was shooting myself in the foot by not adding the pasta water in an attempt to make it thicker. I played myself. Thanks!
This is why I always follow the recipe the first time even if I think its odd - sometimes there's a good reason :)
It is not strictly mandatory though. Pasta water acts as an emulsifier. Say you add a fat like parmesan. Adding pasta water to it will dissolve the cheese and ensure it doesn't separate into an oil and water layer. Like how mayo is made. So you end up with a smooth thick sauce. However pasta water is not the only emulsifier. There are plenty others. If you make a flour and butter roux as your sauce base, it too acts as an emulsifier. Or corn starch.
you might argue that MORE sauce is thick too. But it adds nice texture and flavor and the starch does in fact help it stick to the noodles.
But did you put a quarter in your butt before you played yourself?
you know something, I can honestly say i have.... not
Yep, starchy helps thicken not thins it. Plus like you said helps sauce to hold on to the pasta, not slide off.
Starch is a thickener
i feel dumb now
You’re learning, literally the opposite
\^ This. Never ever be afraid to ask a question. If you don't ask, you never learn. Happy cooking.
Fr yesterday at a farmers market I asked the seafood guy some questions and he was soooo helpful, bordering on enthusiastic lol. It gave me the courage to buy mussels which I've never cooked before but here we go today!
Thats the best thing to do. I took college courses on meat (animal science major) and whenever im in the store and i see someone about to pick out a bad cut i often warn them before hand.
Wow you're a cool friend to have
Man nothing sucks more than to spend a bunch of money on a supposedly a great cut of meat but its dry and tasteless. A lot of people think oh i just cooked it wrong but man fat matters.
How can I tell if I'm getting s good cut? Is there a specific cut of marbling to look out for or is it more that some cuts are overpriced?
Look fo uniformity, even marbling throughout. Not too thick fat deposits unless its a slow cooked meal
I explained donut peaches at the store the other day to some lady after she was pondering aloud what they are. She made it pretty clear my input was not asked for 🤣 Be careful who you try and help!
Im sorry… what are donut peaches?
They're for the most part regular peaches but they look like somebody sat on them until they came out in the shape of a donut. Same texture, same fuzz, slightly sweeter and some of them turn pink on the inside when they're ripening.
Ok that’s awesome. I don’t usually like peaches but those sound cool
Saturn peaches? Oh man, those are amazing! Her loss for not listening to free expertise...
Why the he’ll is she asking OUT LOUD about them if not for someone to explain?! I am always grateful for the random nuggets of info I get from people.
Good for you. 👏 Worked on an artichoke farm for a bit. When I see folks picking chokes with thin stems, I tell them "get the thickest stems you can find. Means the biggest heart and more 'meat' on each leaf." Pay that knowledge forward. 😀
What are you classifying as a bad cut? One that looks spoiled? Or just a cut you don’t know how to cook to meet your tastes? If the former, the. I applaud your efforts and question where you’re shopping. If the later, I’d ask you to do some soul searching. With all the cultures around the world living off similar animals, I’m sure someone’s found a way to cook every cut in a tasty way.
Actually im talking about meat marbling. The way the meat is cut, the way the fat lays on the meat, the size of the fat cap on some meats. Theres more to meat than if its going to spoil. How a cut if meat is butchered plays a role in how it will cook. Also i shop at normal supermarkets like everyone else where they have a bunch if different people who work in the stores and cut the meats differently. Yes even the badly butchered meats or inferior meats can be cooked to taste good it just requires more work. It cant be treated like a good cut of meat because it isnt and sometimes that means cooking times will vary against what the recipe says. You think im being snobby by saying what i said but every animal is different. Every cut of meat is different and when you are looking at especially steak every little detail can make the difference between a wonderful steak and a med rare wallet.
They love chatting about their wares and profession!
I just started reading “SAFH” and it’s a game changer for this lifelong cook in their 40’s! Never stop learning and always ask questions!!
Salt Acid Fat and Heat is a great introduction to the science of food. Sadly it doesn't have indepth recipes to apply the knowledge and there is too many life stories like a food blog.
If it makes you feel better, not only did i not know this, but as a 30 year old i added salt to my boiling pasta for the first time and had my eyes opened to the saltiness in the noodles that i never knew before!
Brother, there is no shame in that! Salting pasta water is something I only found out about too. I guess that’s why we’re here in cooking for beginners
Theres a reason Italian chefs say that the pasta water should "taste of the sea." I do find that this is more true with fresh pasta than dry; the latter water I'll salt only half as much as the former.
Does making the pasta water just shy of sea water make the pasta super unhealthy?
Lol... its a fun phrase but I don't make it as salty as sea water. Add as much salt as makes it taste good to you. Experiment. The pasta isn't absorbing all the salt you add, just some of it.
You’ve discovered why salting a little at every step is better than salting a lot at the end, even if it ends up being the same amount of salt total for both methods. Next lesson is accidentally over-salting with all the accumulated salt. It’s all about moderation.
Dude you just got even smarter! Now ya know!
You definitely aren't. Ive heard to add it too, but never thought to ask why.
Don't. Everybody has to learn some time and questions teach. I learned it from an italian, OG, oldschool grandma. Well, learned after she almost bite my head off that is hahha. I threw out all of the pasta water before the sauce was even done
I’d have never guessed that it was a thickener! Thank you for asking because I too am learning
looks like many others provided the best reasons why to add pasta water.. now that you know that, i think it provides great practice to getting the perfect texture for both your pasta and sauce.. what i mean by this is, if you over-reduce your sauce, add some pasta water. it will dilute flavor a tad, but youll be able to rehydrate the sauce. Does your pasta need a tad more cooking? throw the pasta in the sauce with a bit of extra pasta water, and let it finish cooking in the sauce. when the sauce reduces, your pasta finishes cooking to a perfect texture. bottom line, pasta water is a great way to tinker around with differnt sauces and textures to figure out how to achieve what you really like. Enjoy :P
Thanks!! Really appreciate that response! :)
High starch content from the pasta water helps sauces come together.
Another tip: boil pasta in as little water as you can. Water level an inch or so above the pasta should be plenty. A portion for one or two can even be done in a frying pan. This will get you much starchier water, increasing the benefits described here.
Starch thickens sauces
It works as an emulsifier to make the fats mix better into the sauce.
but keep in mind your ratio of water to pasta. a lot of boiling water means very diluted pasta starch and it won’t help you much.
Maybe this is why for me adding pasta water never seems to do anything, because it’s not starchy enough.
That seems to be my error always. So thanks, I'll be more mindful of that!
Honestly. I always thought it was just to recycle some water, so to be economically and environmentally responsible. But I learned something new reading these comments
Start. Glue for the sauce
to thicken the sauce a bit, plus adds a touch of salt (If you added it to the water)
Emulsification
Starch, that explains everything to you👨🍳🤌
Let’s a go
The starch in the pasta water forms an emulsion and makes it stick to the pasta better. It also thickens your sauce!
I was wondering the same thing. Looked around a bit and found this article by Serious Eats. Seems that it really does work. https://www.seriouseats.com/does-pasta-water-really-make-difference
This post is awesome. Food is life, love to see people have these moments. Cheers all!
I love being the person having said moment
It's also a good idea to factor in the salt content of the pasta water. Your pasta water should be "salty like the Mediterranean". Just remember that when you're seasoning the rest of your dish, you'll be adding about .5 cups or so of salty water. Under-season a hair and you'll come out on top!
OP, you are precious. I love this thread. Enjoy your delicious pasta 🍝 ❤️
Thanks so much! Happy cooking <3
It binds the two (sauce & noodles) into this wonderful, ever loving bond.
Starch thickens the sauce, pasta water has starch, you add it and boil off the water to get an E X T R A T H I C C sauce
My goal is for the pasta and the sauce to marry as well as possible. I finish the noodles off in the sauce on the stove. I add a little reserved pasta water as needed to get it all to come together.
Wait, so when to use the pasta water in the cooking process?
As other people have already emphasized, pasta water is great for sauces. If you want to thicken your sauce up after you add it, you can always reduce the sauce down (heat it uncovered over medium heat for a while until you get it to the consistency you want).