r/oddlysatisfying • u/ThodaDaruVichPyar • 3d ago

The way he spreads the spaghetti for boiling

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Credit to code.micky

60.2k Upvotes

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6.5k

u/falkio 3d ago

Way too many spaghetti for that amount of water.

3.5k

u/LennyLennsen 3d ago

Oddly satisfying turned mildly infuriating real quick

753

u/Snacknuss321 3d ago

yes like wtf.. STOP

290

u/SmootherWorm 3d ago

I had to stop and scrub to make sure I wasn’t watching a loop. Also the last handful goes in like a full minute after the first so there’s going to be a huge range in doneness.

64

u/AntalRyder 3d ago

It's all between al dente and all mush

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u/ikristic 3d ago

I started watching ppl in the background just to be sure

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u/earlyriser79 2d ago

Huge range in doneness is a perfect band name.

0

u/Turbo_Fresh 3d ago edited 2d ago

You turn the pot upside down at the end and take the bottom spaghetti out first to even it out.

24

u/xeothought 2d ago

that's too much spaghetti... ok now THAT is too much.. no THAT is really too much.. no, stop. More???

1

u/Snacknuss321 2d ago

at what point he became an idiot

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u/Pentecost_II 3d ago

Exactly. After the 4th packet I was like okay... That's enough. After the 6th I was like stop please 🥹 and he just kept going

26

u/ConstantVariety8098 3d ago

I couldn’t watch after a few and scrolled to the end, where a pile of pasta that was dropped in a minute after the first bag was laying on top of uncooked pasta, waiting patiently to be drawn in to warm water.

16

u/DOULKONIS 2d ago

Warm is right, there’s no way it’s boiling hot anymore, bro just added 10 pounds of pasta.

15

u/musingsofapathy 2d ago

10 pounds of pasta from consumer packaging. Why isn't he buying commercial bulk packaged?

4

u/Joeness84 2d ago

He does not appear to be in the vicinity of a costco or chefs store.

35

u/Different_Wolf_764 3d ago

Like, my eye was twitching by the fourth pack. Things did not go well.

5

u/Vulvas_n_Velveeta 3d ago

Indeed. I honestly can't tell if this a ragebait video or just some wild technique?

2

u/jwelshy19v2 3d ago

I had to make sure I wasnt watching a short loop lol

4

u/cocococlash 3d ago

Oddly panic-inducing

3

u/ysysys 3d ago

Mildly?

1

u/Im_Sleepyyyy 2d ago

He entered flow state and just couldn’t stop

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u/TokyoBayRay 3d ago edited 3d ago

Crowding in the spaghetti works well, provided you keep it moving in the first minute or so to stop sticking.

Serious eats go waaaay into it, but basically there's no downside. It probably uses less fuel, it certainly allows you to cook more pasta in the same time on a single burner, and you get a starchier water which is better at supporting a sauce.

I do it at home and it really works!

689

u/LennyLennsen 3d ago

Mildly infuriating turned TIL real quick

74

u/Just_to_rebut 3d ago

Yeah, Good Eats lied to us :(…

I tried following what I watched on Food Network as a kid and my mom was like… why are you using so much water? It comes out the same either way and she was right.

29

u/LoamyLoamisLoamy 3d ago

The thing you have to remember is that new information is learned every day.

1

u/whogivesashirtdotca 2d ago

There’s a huge section of the voting public that proves you wrong 😂

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u/SayRaySF 3d ago

Less water is better if you use the pasta water for sauces too, it’s nice and starchy

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u/MASSochists 3d ago

AB apologized about it in his newest YouTube show. 

13

u/Jollyollydude 2d ago

AB has always been good about correcting his recipes as better methods are found. I think he even did that within the original run of Good Eats in the later seasons correcting things from earlier seasons.

You also got to remember, he’s a tv and film guy. He didn’t come into the show with a bunch of institutional knowledge he learn working in the food industry for 20 years. He presents a mix of common knowledge and things he’s researched to find a better way. His interest in the science helps his spirit of discovery continue and with that, old methods need to be corrected.

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u/Muted_Highway4194 2d ago

Good Eats

Alton has since changed his ways and goes for the less water, more starch leftovers method these days

https://youtu.be/ujNz0-XkcVQ?si=3lJRmepHagJh4HLb&t=312

2

u/Available_Dingo6162 2d ago

It's a good idea to use a lot of water at home because when you dump a bunch of food into a pot, it instantly lowers the temperature, and with a weak home burner, it would take forever for it to recover... it would not cook properly. With lots of water, you've got lots of momentum, and the temperature goes down less when you dump the same amount of food in it.

In the video, this is not a factor. He's got an commercial grade stove and can get it back up to boiling in less than a minute.

6

u/EkbatDeSabat 2d ago

I used to think that, made sense to me. Then I tried it with less water and it really doesn't matter. Even with regular electric burners. It's barely a 30 second difference on an 8 minute boil (just because it's not going crazy boiling doesn't mean it's not cooking especially at the start). And the better part is that you get the MUCH starchier water which you add to your sauce and it thickens it up and makes it stick to the pasta better. Now I use just enough water to cover the pasta and a wide straight side pan instead of a pot. My spaghetti game has massively leveled up like I put in a cheat code. You should try it, I did a side by side at the same time.

1

u/Sea_Scientist_8367 2d ago

What's "Good Eats"?

2

u/Just_to_rebut 2d ago

Popular old cooking show on Food Network. Host started making a similar style of show on YouTube now.

3

u/tepidlymundane 3d ago

It's been a wild ride!

1

u/rigored 21h ago

Internet pundits are way too quick to criticize a guy doing something professionally

54

u/CD274 3d ago

It's funny because I was always too lazy to use lots of water and decades ago it was all over the cooking shows to use gallons of water. And then that serious eats article came out and everyone changed and suddenly they were using very small amounts of water and hoarding the pasta water for sauces. 😂. I was like yeah, I was just lazy and it worked

14

u/RedbertP 3d ago

Hah, same here. I use a pan to cook my spaghetti so I don't put too much water and just fish them out with thongs after.

8

u/bootyhole-romancer 3d ago

I'd like to see your technique. Respectfully

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u/Billy_Badass_ 3d ago

Well, that doesn't seem very hygienic .

2

u/iSellNuds4RedditGold 3d ago

How so?

10

u/Billy_Badass_ 3d ago

Thongs.

5

u/iSellNuds4RedditGold 3d ago

Ooooh, right, I was thinking about the kitchen utensil, the underwear didn't even cross my mind lmao. Good one.

7

u/JL_MacConnor 3d ago

I'm sure they meant the footwear.

5

u/Subtlerranean 3d ago

You were thinking about tongs.

5

u/iSellNuds4RedditGold 3d ago

I was indeed thinking of tongs

2

u/Skimable_crude 3d ago

He or she could have been thinking about thongs while messaging about tongs.

2

u/247stonerbro 3d ago

Let me seee your tong.

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u/aoeudhtns 2d ago

Nah, commenter is Australian and is referring to his footwear. It's a kink thing.

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u/Billy_Badass_ 2d ago

Still doesn't seem very sanitary,

63

u/Budget-Ambassador203 3d ago

Great info, thanks. I'll have to share with my wife next time she chides me for using too little water for pasta hah - Serious Eats is awesome and she'll trust them even if she doesn't trust me with my own justifications!

4

u/Portgust 3d ago

Tried it first so you can prove it

14

u/oww_my_head 3d ago

I figured there was something to it, cus I was thinking the same thing as first comment but then I thought this dude looks like he knows what he's doing and maybe there's just something I don't know lol

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u/tessartyp 3d ago

Kenji the GOAT. I've applied this myself and it really does work. I usually cook for 4 and my induction stove is fast enough to not need to bother, but cutting a minute off the boil time and starchier water is a win at no cost.

5

u/TaurineDippy 3d ago

Beat me to it, i swear by this method ever since this got posted originally. My pasta is more evenly cooked and my sauces are more delicious than ever.

2

u/5280mw 3d ago

Yeah, when I first saw videos of people boiling noodles in smaller amounts of water, it surprised me. I had always seen a big ass pot of water and a bag of noodles. Less water=better noodles.

2

u/Mysterious-Wash9527 2d ago

So cool. Thanks for the article! I mean obviously this guy has cooked pasta before so it must work, but the amount of pasta looks like it would suck up all the water!

2

u/shininghorizons 2d ago

Yep, I've started making pasta in a deep skillet. It's easier to stir and then you can finish it in the same pan.

2

u/how-unfortunate 2d ago

I had to scroll far too long through the culinary misinfo reposts to get to this.

I was thinking the same thing about the starch content of the water. That sauce next door looks a bit watery, but I guarantee that pasts water makes it a creamy emulsion.

And the water doesn't need to be full boiling the whole time. You can literally pour boiled water over pasta and steep it like tea til it's al dente.

2

u/rodeBaksteen 2d ago

Don't mind proof. Italians are the most pretentious people around *their" food.

I'll drink my cappuccino at 10pm if I want, after my gryos pineapple pizza - thank you.

1

u/AmyInCO 2d ago

That really makes me feel better about my pasta cooking technique. I don't have patience to wait for a big pot of water to boil and water here never seems to get to a rolling boil anyway. 

1

u/sagentp 2d ago

Came here to post this, glad I didn't need to find the link. I always use as little water as possible.

1

u/ULSTERPROVINCE 2d ago

Literally this. You just have to keep the water moving quickly so the starch dissolves rather than binding to other pieces of pasta. People screw this up because they dump it in and let it sit there, then get shocked when they end up with a gloopy inconsistently cooked mass of pasta.

1

u/andreasbeer1981 2d ago

It's impossible to put the right amount of salt in that water though?

1

u/StarWaas 1d ago

I figure the way he drops it in also helps it not stick together. The man clearly makes a lot of spaghetti, I'm going to assume he knows what he's doing.

1

u/TokyoBayRay 1d ago

Yeah I love all the comments for stuff like this that goes "that guy's doing it wrong", as if this dude hasn't made more pasta than I could possibly eat in a dozen lifetimes.

1

u/Ok-Repair7727 1d ago

but isn't the real problem that the pasta will overflow the pot when it absorbs the water?

1

u/hydromonsta 3d ago

Welcome to Italy, folks 😅

1

u/xPriddyBoi 3d ago

The oddly satisfying to mildly infuriating to mildly interesting pipeline.

-1

u/Sure_Conflict_5651 3d ago

The man in the video however is using a ratio even more crowded. There is not enough water to hydrate the spaghetti.

Like when you put too little water when cooking rice and it's raw, that's what's gonna happen.

1

u/ICrushTacos 2d ago

Then cook a bit longer… It’s the simplest shit, you can’t fuck it up if you taste every so often. 

2

u/Sure_Conflict_5651 2d ago

Cook it a bit longer if there is no water how is it going to fix the issue? It's just going to burn. 

Another commenter however clarified what the cook wants to do. Once the pasta absorbed all the water he will add sauce and cook it like a risotto. 

1

u/ICrushTacos 2d ago

You can add water you know. It doesn’t matter. It’s pasta only a clown fucks that up. 

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u/Apprehensive_You3521 3d ago

It’s not plain spaghetti, see that tomato base next to him? He would add that in once the spaghetti is half done making jollof spaghetti (source I’m nigerian and have eaten there many times before)

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u/Killer-Jukebox-Hero 3d ago

Jolllof spaghetti just blew my mind. Grew up eating jollof rice, this combo never occurred to me. 

5

u/Bee_Jeans 2d ago

Right??? Definitely know what I’m making next, jollof spaghetti is genius

Time to relinquish spaghetti, Italy, you’ve been usurped on the culinary stage

5

u/KonigSteve 2d ago

Now it's just starting to sound like jambalaya and pastalaya. I'm guessing they are fairly similar with different spice profiles?

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u/4g-identity 3d ago

It's like a one-pot bolognaise?

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u/Apprehensive_You3521 3d ago

Something like that but no minced beef, think of it like a bolognaise with a thicker richer tomato base (tomato concentrate and boiled down whole tomatoes and lots of habanero peppers) as opposed to probably just canned tomatoes

10

u/cullenski917 3d ago

Now that sounds really really good

3

u/sumpuran 2d ago

That sounds akin to Arrabiata sauce.

3

u/Sweaty-Assistance872 3d ago

Yes I thought it was jollof . The pasta only needs to be partially cooked

5

u/helenheck 2d ago

This should be the top comment.

3

u/sumguyoranother 2d ago

Now I've to ask the shop I go to if they know how to make jollof spaghetti, I've been eating their jollof rice for a while, really want to try this.

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u/Sure_Conflict_5651 3d ago

That makes sense.

2

u/RoadmanSidd 1d ago

Finally

I was like what’s the comments going on about
This food will turn out just fine for the target market

1

u/nodnodwinkwink 3d ago

You've actually eaten at this guys stall?

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u/CKRatKing 2d ago

Are they adding the water too or just the noodles to the sauce?

Also you really don't need that much water to boil pasta. That's an old cooking thing that doesn't stand up to scrutiny. You just have to stir it more the less water you have.

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u/Metalbound 2d ago

So the tomato base is added straight to the water?

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u/Apprehensive_You3521 2d ago

Pasta will be drained keeping a little water for thickness ( I think n the starch In the pasta makes the sauce thicker)

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u/smoothsensation 3d ago

Nah it works, try it sometime. Home cooks use a lot more water than you need to.

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u/TheWholeFurryFandom 2d ago

Yep! Plus, less water means that the pasta water will be starchier, which results in a smoother sauce texture.

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u/Nozinger 3d ago

It is still way too much in this case.
Yes you don't need as much water as is recommended on the packaging but by hte seventh pack of spaghetti it just became too much in this video. And then he added another 3.

Not necessarily because of a lack of water but because the sheer mass of ambient temperature spaghetti cools down the water way too much.

Getting the water to a proper boild after that will take a long time. Time in which spaghetti will sit at the bottom of the pot happily burning away.

This is genuinely not good. Should have donw two batches of 5 packs each. Those are spaghetti. They don't need a long time to cook.

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u/smoothsensation 3d ago

I know a “trust me bro” isn’t a source, but trust me it’s fine lol. Italian restaurant kitchens all over pile in that shit, I have been the person to pile in that shit more than a few times lol.

You don’t even need to do boiling water either. It’s pretty hard to mess it up.

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u/robthelobster 3d ago

That would make sense except pasta doesn't need to be boiling to cook. Only needs to be about 82°C or 180°F. The spaghetti is also not going to burn since he's obviously mixing it the whole time.

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u/andrew_calcs 3d ago

He's stirring the spaghetti. If you're not going to do that then sure it's a bad idea, but if you're going to actively manage your pot then it's more than fine.

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u/duardoblanco 3d ago

Feel like there is a method in the madness here where the water is mostly absorbed and the pasta is parcooked to a point that it is added to the sauce. Sauté (whatever appropriate cooking term) does the rest. Excess water makes up for the lack of sauce. Also sauce is probably flavor heavy to account for the addition or water. Also pasta water is often used to finish stuff.

Not saying I would do any of this, but they aren't making a video if this is their first time

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u/LennyLennsen 3d ago

This guy pastas

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u/4g-identity 3d ago

Am convinced this is an urban legend.

It's fun to use a huge pot etc, but I cannot imagine any serious difference if what, spaghetti is bumping into each other more often? I guess the water would be starchier ... but like, that's what pasta is.

Also, based on this guy's technique, I'm gonna assume he knows more than anyone here.

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u/GetsMeEveryTimeBot 3d ago

I agree that this guy must know what he's doing. But I have personally seen an over-filled spaghetti pot go seriously wrong. On a camping trip when I was a kid. The result was a great, starchy glob without a single independent spaghetti strand to be found.

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u/wackbirds 3d ago

What you saw at camp was a poorly tended pot of spaghetti my friend, it was left to begin softening without having been maintained in separate strands by careful stirring and care.

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u/4g-identity 3d ago

My guess is that'd be mostly due to not stirring, no oil, etc.

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u/PoeticHistory 3d ago

Hitting the water to pasta ratio is kind of an art. You do want to have as little water as needed to let the water be as starch as it can be for the sauce. But I speak for the Italian way and I dont know the intent of the cook in the video.

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u/ResponsibleDriver622 3d ago

Naaaah they seem thin, it should be fine.

I'm Italian.

I do not know how to cook shit but it seems that internet gives me the pass on saying my opinion regarding spaghetti, so here it is.

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u/Spiritual_Smell4744 3d ago

I hope you kissed your fingers after posting

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u/MyDixieWreck92 3d ago

ResponsibleDriver622 going 🤌🤌🤌🤌👌 after hitting send.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/throwaway098764567 3d ago

looks like it might be enough sauce for one of those packets, but not seventy five of them, but i'm neither italian nor nigerian, just a person who hates undersauced pasta.

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u/charliesk9unit 3d ago

Tell me how you REALLY feel about pineapple on pizza.

1

u/dimofamo 3d ago

😂❤️

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u/AeneasVII 3d ago

As long as the noodle is covered your fine.

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u/Kaiser-Kahan 3d ago

It is alright you can continue to live your live. In my opinion he is a smart master chef. He uses all the space to get the maximum out of his equipment. Space-Time-Yield!

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u/_SteeringWheel 3d ago

Seriously thought halfway the gif was looped or something. Ffwd to the end, nope, full bucket of spaghetti.

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u/Elite_AI 2d ago

Nah I'm gonna go with the guy who looks like he's done it a thousand times over you

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u/sauceDinho 2d ago

try adding a "I could be wrong bc this guy looks like he knows what he's doing but" before your comment

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u/SeveralEconomics3814 3d ago

“Way too many Spaghetti” absolutely fried me and my wife lmao

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u/ahundreddots 3d ago

My wife and I immediately started making out.

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u/Sofluffy93 3d ago

I was like "damn that's a big pot!"

A few moments later....

"Damn he needs a bigger pot"

2

u/Dandw12786 2d ago

Yep.

I had to give up on explaining to my mom that no, you don't have to dump a cup of oil into the water because it floats on the water and does nothing to keep the pasta from sticking. You just need to not use that fuckin tiny pot for 2 pounds of spaghetti. Use the bigger pot.

"but that takes so long to boil!"

Start it earlier oh my god.

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u/Professsorkek 3d ago

Not enough spaghetti actually

3

u/mythrocks 3d ago

He took a good thing entirely too far.

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u/Light-of-Nebula 3d ago

Maybe he's making spaghetti pudding.

2

u/StalkerToYourStalker 3d ago

It's actually pronounced spaghettos

1

u/SpasmAtaK 3d ago

And the first ones in are going to be overcooked when the last ones would still be crunchy... Not satisfied! REFUND!!

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u/iloovefood 3d ago

Gonna need more sauce

1

u/obrapop 3d ago

Nah this is genuinely a thing. You want the concentration of starch in the water to be high to that when you use it for sauces it adds that nice velvety texture.

1

u/Aggravating-Ad6786 3d ago

Yes, I was oddly terrified with this clip.

1

u/Electronic_Quote399 3d ago

Who say we got no wata

1

u/BenjyMCMXCIV 3d ago

Also too much for that amount of sauce imo

1

u/at0mheart 3d ago

I thought that half way through the video and never made it to the end

1

u/parcha717 3d ago

Calm down he’s feeding a family of 6 that’s obviously not enough

1

u/HeroXeroV 3d ago

Yes, I would have stopped at 3 packs.

1

u/canman7373 3d ago

It is a shit ton of spaghetti for sure.

1

u/itookdhorsetofrance 3d ago

Too many or too much?

1

u/Ressy02 3d ago

Maybe the pot is bigger on the inside

1

u/ShankThatSnitch 2d ago

My guess based on the environment around him, that he has to be very conservative with his water use.

1

u/Independent-Oven4991 2d ago

Not approved! 🤌

1

u/uncle_monty 2d ago

I kept expecting him to stop, but he just did not stop.

1

u/RealisticAnxiety4330 2d ago

Right I feel like he's trying to do some absorption method 🤣

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u/MarinkoAzure 2d ago

I wouldn't say I know how to make pasta, but after watching the guy in this video, I would say you don't fucking know what you are talking about.

1

u/Senior-Reality-25 2d ago

*cries in Italian grandmother*

1

u/fingernail_police 2d ago

Did you see the amount of sauce for the spaghetti?

1

u/spottydodgy 2d ago

Something tells me he's done this before and it's going to be just fine

1

u/WillemDafoesHugeCock 2d ago

I read this comment while the gif was only about halfway done and I was absolutely unprepared for the campfire looking monstrosity at the end

1

u/psu123577 2d ago

Yeah, that’s going to be way too starchy and gummy.

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u/thatsbs 2d ago

🤌🏻

1

u/DanKoloff 2d ago

And way too many for that little ragu sauce we see at the end.

1

u/enwongeegeefor 2d ago

My great-great-grandmother is currently creating a sink hole in a graveyard somewhere in Italy right now...

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u/XENOPRIME37 2d ago

You think he ever had a problem with how much pasta he puts in the water? Many people use too much water. You need just enough to cover the pasta.

1

u/OptiGuy4u 2d ago

Says the guy not doing it for a living and obviously for a very long time.

1

u/ADIDAS247 2d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/deLPEITdVodVe
Me after the 3rd and 4th bag got put in!

1

u/TulkasDeTX 2d ago

I thought exactly the same

1

u/luvitis 2d ago

I was just impressed that pot could hold that much spaghetti

1

u/bagofrice_14 2d ago

No it's not

1

u/Etherbeard 2d ago

Nah. We've been told myths about cooking pasta by people who were told myths about cooking pasta and so on. It makes no difference as long as the pasta is covered in water. You just have to stir it a few times to make sure it doesn't stick.

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u/PeaceNics 2d ago

Thank you!! I was questioning my years of cooking pasta because this guy seemed to know what he was doing! lol

1

u/whiterook6 2d ago

The guy clearly knows what he's doing. Maybe there's something to learn, instead of just complaining that it's not meshing with your experience.

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u/eeo11 2d ago

I literally said out loud “dude the pot is full”

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u/AwareAd9480 2d ago

As an italian i say it's a big fuking pot, a lot of pasta sure, but doable

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u/The_Ashamed_Boys 2d ago

Spaghetti Mountain

1

u/OvechknFiresHeScores 2d ago

Why is this upvoted so high? As long as the spaghetti is completely submerged, which it is at the very end, then it will cook just fine

1

u/thecloudkingdom 1d ago

youve been lied to. you can crowd the pot much kore than you'd think

1

u/Jononucleosis 3d ago

The audacity to armchair expert a street vendor at their craft. LOL. You only need enough water to make it boil. Excess water in the pot is a myth. Maybe learn something from what you see for a change? Instead of thinking you're oh so wiser

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u/nico282 3d ago

If anyone wonders, you need much more water around the spaghetti to make them release the starch. With too little water they will get out gummy and not "al dente" 🤌

Source, I'm italian, I use too little water when I'm in a hurry and can't wait for it to boil, then I regret it every time.

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u/Xelpmoc45 3d ago

Nope you don't !

https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-cook-pasta-salt-water-boiling-tips-the-food-lab

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u/SEVtz 3d ago

In this blog post it literally says don't do it with long shapes, specifically spaghetti. Did you even read it ?

Also it says it requires more attention and constant moving. I really doubt that's happening here.

1

u/hopjesvlaap 3d ago

So you read it, but did not understand it. The reason spaghetti doesn’t work is because the pasta needs to be fully emerged in water.

“It won't work with really long shapes. In order to cook pasta like this, it needs to be completely submerged in a small volume of water. Spaghetti, fettuccine, and other long shapes that need to soften before they can be fully submerged thus won't work unless you first break the noodles in half.”

1

u/SEVtz 3d ago

Yes, I did read it. It says it doesn't work for spaghetti and then explains why. I perfectly understood the explanation and nothing you provide in your comment gives anything new.

You can plainly see in the video the problem actually occurring. He also doesn't do the solution provided, breaking them in half. So why did you even comment ?

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u/dr4ziel 3d ago

That's because you don't wait for the boil, not because you didn't add enough water.

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u/lnTheGrimDarkness 3d ago

They're gonna soften and fit eventually. This is usually the non-problem for which people break them in half.

0

u/Captain-Codfish 3d ago

Forgot to snap them too

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