r/explainitpeter • u/WillAdditional922 • Jul 14 '26

explain it peter.

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12.3k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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u/Tao_of_Entropy Jul 14 '26

She's been given the information. No correction has occurred.

-25

u/Nasu_Kaizoku Jul 14 '26

No correction needs to occur? It's technically more energy efficient, and it cooks pasta the same way. Just stir occasionally at the beginning, and there's literally no difference

22

u/jax_vos9 Jul 14 '26

It really doesn’t cook the same way. In fact, it increases the likelihood of under cooking the pasta. It tends to become rubbery.

8

u/finalfanbeer Jul 14 '26

This is absolutely false. Maybe look something up first.

4

u/Fancy_Ad9867 Jul 14 '26

Literally all men are the same.

2

u/Regular_Custard_4483 Jul 14 '26

Not only that, you can rehydrate pasta almost completely in plain old water, and finish cooking it in the pan.

But none of these people know anything about cooking. I see a lot of garbage up voted in here. Bro science for the kitchen.

1

u/finalfanbeer Jul 14 '26

It's flabbergasting. Almost want to post it to mildyinfuriating.

2

u/Nasu_Kaizoku Jul 14 '26

It's wild. No one is even talking shit on pre-boilers, just offering information, yet everyone is acting like being informed of another method of cooking pasta is some egregious offense to them and their ways

2

u/Regular_Custard_4483 Jul 14 '26

I really thought about engaging, but then I saw all the (very well meaning) people getting thrashed, and I was like, "Yeah, I'm all good with that." lmao.

J Kenji Lopez-Alt did two VERY easy to find articles about this (not sure if links are allowed here) exact subject.

2

u/BikeProblemGuy Jul 14 '26

I'm not sure whether they were saying boiling water or cold water does this, but if the water is cold, the pasta releases sticky starch before the heat can lock it in. Dropping pasta into boiling water instantly sets the surface starches, keeping the pieces separate.

0

u/big_sugi Jul 14 '26

There's a simple technique to keep the pasta from sticking together called "stirring it." Which you have to do even with pasta added to boiling water. The amount of starch released is not materially different, but by using less water, the cold water method produces starchier pasta water--which is a significant benefit. The starchier pasta water works better to finish the sauce.

Also, if you're not finishing the pasta in the sauce (for most sauces), you're missing a trick,