cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/49946653
If you give the dry pasta a gentle stir for a few seconds after adding to the water it prevents sticking during cooking. This type of adhesion is called making “squids” with spaghetti because one end will stick and the other frays. Don’t stir so hard it breaks the noodles or you are gonna have little 2 inch noodles and Nonna is gonna make fun of you. If you are breaking them any way or cooking spaghetti that is not fully immersed in water you need a bigger pot.
A similar problem is when pasta sticks together after completely draining and cooling. You can do as others have suggested and toss the freshly cooked pasta with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. If it is already stuck or you don’t like extra oil pour water over the drained pasta and it will loosen readily after a light toss. If you are serving immediately after loosening make it hot water and it doubles as a re heating method
flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
Wtf do you do to your pasta so it sticks so much? The other post is full of agreement.
The boil should be enough to prevent if from sticking. Unless you use way too little water.
zane@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
These fuckers dont salt their water. Thats literally it.
IT SHOULD BE SALTY AS THE SEA. YOUR PASTA WILL NOT STICK.
Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Salting the water doesn’t help with that as far as I know. Salting pasta water helps with exactly one thing: it tastes better.
errer@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I never salt my water and I find just one stir for 5 seconds after dumping it in the water is enough
wander1236@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The dry spaghetti from Barilla really sticks for me if it’s been more than a minute since I drained it
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
You have at most 15 seconds to thoroughly mix your pasta with the sauce.
Nobody in their right mind would ever let pasta sit without sauce.
Once I had to watch while some people strained the pasta, let it there and then started chatting about something else. They were wondering about why I was going crazy and then they complained the pasta stuck together…
Please, don’t let your pasta sit unattended. Also, Barilla is not a particularly good brand of pasta.
logi@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Don’t leave your pasta hanging.
blackbrook@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Conversely you don’t need to use nearly as much water if you are willing to just stir it a couple of times during the short period of time it takes to come back to a boil after you add the pasta.
Less energy used, less salt needed to get the water properly salty, less time to get the water up to a boil, are why I choose that method. It comes out the same in the end, both methods are valid.
rudyharrelson@lemmy.radio 3 weeks ago
I don’t have this issue when making spaghetti, but I do have this issue when making a box of mac and cheese for my kid. I use way less water for the latter, but it’s the amount of water they specify on the box.
The way I do it, the boil for both is usually not a rolling boil; the water has just started to bubble and steam. I started doing it this way years ago when someone told me that noodles typically cook (the starches gelatinize, I think) at a temperature just below boiling, so you don’t actually need a full rolling boil to fully cook pasta.
I salt the pasta water for spaghetti, but not for the mac and cheese.
If I don’t stir the mac and cheese regularly, it will aggressively stick together. The spaghetti will eventually stick together, but takes waaay longer. This never happens in practice because I manually stir every few minutes while I’m making the sauce.
ranzispa@mander.xyz 2 weeks ago
Use plenty water. If they stick together with the advised amount, use more water. Doing that won’t change the taste.
Regarding the boiling of water, it is not required. I believe pasta needs about 80°C to cook. If you have enough water and cover the pot with a lid you can turn off the fire and it will cook.
lengau@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
Add a tiny amount of oil or butter.
wizzor@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
People either don’t have enough water or have the heat too low. Enough water will give the pasta space and enough heat will agitate it.
Now that I’m here, also put a lot of salt in ypur pasta water. It should be as salty as the sea. If you make a sauce, the pasta water is a good start, the starch will make it sticky. Source: Samin Nosrat.
lengau@midwest.social 3 weeks ago
I use barely enough water to cover the pasta. (Bonus: the water used helps make a very thick sauce!)
I don’t have this problem because I add a tiny spot (maybe 2 ml?) of oil to the water.