Sure salting pasta water results in tastier pasta, but does it really lead to more efficient cooking?
The salt-in-pasta-water seems to be a common enough debate while making pasta at home or out with friends. Do you salt the water? How much? When do you add it? Do you think it really makes a difference? So this week we set out to research the science to see if it really does serve a wider purpose other than flavor.
Adding salt increases the boiling temperature of water, so it takes a bit longer to get your pot to boil. With questions of food and science, we always turn to Harold McGee first, author of On Food and Cooking. In his section on Boiling Points, he notes that it takes one ounce of salt per quart of water "to raise the boiling point a negligible 1°F." So we're not talking much here.
Most people believe in salting the water just as it comes to a boil, or right after. So how much salt do you add? At my house, we add a little less than a tablespoon for every pound of pasta we cook. I'm afraid to say that this isn't based on science, but merely on taste. As the folks at Fine Cooking note, "A generous amount of salt in the water seasons the pasta internally as it absorbs liquid and swells. The pasta dish may even require less salt overall." So we're leaning a little more towards the flavor side of things and farther away from the science on this one. If an ounce of salt only raises the boiling point of water 1°F, you'd need a whole lot of salt to make a noticeable difference cooking-wise. We lay this one to rest with a conclusion that salted pasta water leads to tastier pasta. And tastier pasta makes everyone happy. Case closed.
Related: Forgot to Salt the Pasta Water? Take a Tip from Chez Pim
(Image: Emma Christensen and Megan Gordon)
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I can't taste the difference in salted-water pasta and non-salted-water pasta so I've stopped putting it in. We consume way too much sodium as it is so why add more? If I think the dish needs a little salt after it's served I'll add a little - but this hardly ever happens.
I always throw in a 3 fingered pinch for every pound of pasta I'm cooking. I wait for the water to boil first because I don't want to damage the bottom of the pot. Honestly don't think it adds so much sodium that people should be worried about it, there are so many other common foods that have 10x more sodium-that's the stuff you should be worried about cutting out.
I do believe that it seasons the pasta, but it's a subtle difference.
The amount of salt you put in the water has little to do with the amount of pasta. Salt absorption by the pasta is based off of the concentration of salt in the water so you need to base the amount of salt off of the amount of water you are cooking in. If I recall correctly, Ruhlman suggests 2-3 tablespoons of kosher salt per gallon of water. I generally use about that much
I never salt. We don't like it now that we are used to less salt in everything.
I've never been able to tell the difference. I always put it in, but there are times I've forgotten and haven't missed it. I think there's usually enough salt in the sauce and that's where most of the flavour comes from, anyway.
I thought salting the pasta water was also about making sure the noodles don't stick together?
I thought salting the water was about making the noodles taste better. I don't generally salt my pasta water, but I've always wondered if it made any difference in taste.
You should do a taste test for us, Megan!
I put olive oil in the water...
I once ate a pasta salad a friend had made at a picnic. The pasta was so fantastic, I asked her where she had gotten it. It turned out to be the same kind I used, but she added lots more salt when she cooked it. So I've done the same since then.
I add it for taste, don't care about anything else.
little salt and bit of olive oil in the water. great for pasta and for boiling veggies. i've tried not salting the water and i definitely tasted a difference.
According to an old Julia Childs (and later quoted by some recent TV chef, Ramsay perhaps), the water should be salted to about the same strength as sea water.
It changes the flavor of the pasta, and the way it takes on water. So, when reproducing a recipe, certain assumptions are made about the preexisting saltiness of the pasta.
Adding an oil float to the pasta boil does two things:
1. It reduces foaming
2. It helps keep the noodles separated after straining
(3. And if you use olive oil, it reinforces that flavor).
Many have said that they have tried it both ways, and either cannot tell the difference, or prefer it unsalted.
In all things food and drink, it's a matter of taste, if you have tried the recommended way, and modify it to suit your preference, that's cooking!
I thought you weren't supposed to add oil to the pasta water - it won't let the sauce stick once the pasta and sauce are tossed together.
I didn't used to salt my water, but after tasting the difference I do it every time now. I add it before it starts boiling though..
@the dave, Good Eats and many places have proven oiling boiling water, the oil sticks to a negligible amount of pasta. It doesn't to much for sticking pasta more than a mental help.
As far as I always heard and was taught, you salt the water heavily not to raise the boiling point, but to season the pasta. I was taught properly cooked pasta shouldn't need any salt afterwards.
I like to add fish.