this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
754 points (99.2% liked)

Greentext

4623 readers
1761 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] prettybunnys -3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Yeah you put salt in pasta water to change the properties of the water so it boils differently, not to flavor the pasta lmao

You don’t want to change the flavor of your pasta by over salting the water, that’s just gross.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not really. Salt in the water is mostly for flavor, the raise in boiling point is so miniscule by the amount added it's practically ignorable.

Adding oil breaks surface tension so that it's less likely to foam over.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yup. Don't oversalt, but certainly add a healthy amount to the water. Some of that salt gets absorbed into the pasta, which gives it a richer flavor.

I personally bring the water to a boil, add pasta, and then add salt (to keep temps as high as possible), but I highly doubt the order here matters at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah the only rule I know is don't add the salt to a cold pan with cold water as heating it up may cause it to damage the bottom of your pan. But adding salt at any point while the water is hot and you aren't done cooking the pasta is pretty safe.