The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 834

I have to admit: even I was a little skeptical about this one I mean, cook pasta without even boiling it? If this really worked, I’d never cook pasta the same way again At the very least, I’d save a couple cents on my gas bill each month I’d no longer have to be such a, ahem penne pincher When the timer finally went off, I opened the lid and poked around a little So far, so good The pasta sure looked cooked, and tasting it revealed al dente perfection Success! My wife won this round (but just let her try and change the way I cook burgers) If you’re really keen on saving time and energy, you can what I do: put half the water and the noodles in the pot and heat the rest of the water in an electric kettle as the first half heats up Add the second half to the first, and you’ve got boiled water All you’ve got left to do is stir, cover, and wait Now that’s using your noodle! A few caveats: • Don’t try this with fresh pasta Fresh egg pasta is simply too absorptive and lacks any structure until the egg proteins start to set • For very long shapes, you’ll need a tall pot There has to be enough water to completely submerge the pasta as it cooks, so for long shapes like spaghetti or fettuccine, you’ll still need a big pot (or be willing to break the pasta in half) • Season the water Some people claim that adding salt helps raise the water’s boiling point, thus cooking the pasta faster Don’t believe them The difference you get is at most half a degree or so—nowhere near enough to make a difference, particularly because, as we now know, you don’t even have to use boiling water But salt is necessary for another reason: it makes the pasta taste good SHOULD I ADD OIL TO MY PASTA WATER? S ome cookbooks advise you to add a glug or two of oil to the pasta water as the pasta cooks, claiming that it’ll keep the pieces separated Unfortunately, this is not true—how could it be when the oil just floats on top? Try it side by side: no matter how much oil you have your pasta behaves exactly the same way underneath What the oil on the surface does do is prevent the pasta water from boiling over As the pasta cooks, more and more starch gets released into the pot, increasing the water’s viscosity and allowing it to form ever more stable bubbles Eventually these bubbles become so stable that they are able to push each other up, like a raft The raft rises above the top of the water, and over it goes Oil can help break the surface tension of the water, preventing these ... Eventually these bubbles become so stable that they are able to push each other up, like a raft The raft rises above the top of the water, and over it goes Oil can help break the surface tension of the. .. same way underneath What the oil on the surface does do is prevent the pasta water from boiling over As the pasta cooks, more and more starch gets released into the pot, increasing the water’s viscosity... necessary for another reason: it makes the pasta taste good SHOULD I ADD OIL TO MY PASTA WATER? S ome cookbooks advise you to add a glug or two of oil to the pasta water as the pasta cooks, claiming