Dee Dee wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Cathy, I've never had dried pasta take that long to cook. In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti
(broken
into 3rds for manageability) then simply remove it from the heat and
cover it. It cooks 'al dente' in 10, maybe 12, minutes without
further ado and I've freed up a burner for other things. I Jill



I caught onto this trick from my m-i-l. It works well with most
thinner pasta. I don't test my luck with the method with penne's etc.

Oh heavens, no! I wouldn't do this with penne, rigatoni, corkscrew or jumbo
shells (chochiglioni). Probably not even large macaroni. But for
spaghetti, angel hair, and even fettucini, it tends to work just fine.

When I put the spaghetti into the pan of boiling water, I usually
leave it whole, but encircle it around inside the pan until it melts
down into the water and gets to boiling again, then time it from
there.

Yes, I remove it once it's stirred in well and comes back to the boil. Then
cover, remove from the heat and go on to deal with the sauce, the bread, the
vegetables (or salad, if I'm cooking for other people who want a fresh
salad).

As Cathy noted and sf concurs, her problem may be altitude. I have no idea
how to adjust cooking dried pasta for that.

Jill

Andy wrote:


Cathy,

That sounds like too long for spaghetti. Are you making it in a pot with
LOTS of water or are you crowding the spaghetti into "shallow waters?"

My vermicelli takes 8-10 minutes.

Good luck,

The pot I use holds about 3.5-4 liters of water (just a guesstimate) -
which I fill up to about 2/3 ; just so that it doesn't "boil over" onto
the stove-top - and I only cook about 200g (less than half a pound) of
dried pasta at a time... I have a much bigger pot - holds twice at much
water.... and cooking the same amount of pasta in a lot more water still
has the same results...

--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Garlic: the element without which life as we know it would be impossible

said...

I'm turning into a stabber. I just don't like to twirl anymore unless
it's linguine and clams. So, intead of spaghetti - I prefer rigatoni
with my meat sauce.


I've been tempted to leave my homemade spaghetti in untrimmed three-foot
lengths. Maybe have a "candid camera" moment watching guests twirl up tennis
ball sized wads of spaghetti!!?

Andy's Evil Twin

sf wrote in message ...
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:39:44 -0400, Goomba38
wrote:

jmcquown wrote:
In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti
(broken
into 3rds for manageability)

clutching chest in pain
Oh no no no, Jill. Don't do this! This is horrible. Just twirl a few
strands on your fork to make a compact package you then can lift to your
mouth. It isn't hard, and is a more grown up way of eating.
Short broken pieces of spaghetti don't twirl worth a shit.

I'm turning into a stabber. I just don't like to twirl anymore unless
it's linguine and clams. So, intead of spaghetti - I prefer rigatoni
with my meat sauce.
--

I LOVE penne!

cybercat wrote:

Why are you telling anyone how to eat pasta, FFS? I like mine
the way you like yours, but I make my husband's the way HE likes
it--broken in to thirds.

Kinda reminds me of Chef Boyardee canned stuff. Ugh.

"ChattyCathy" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. ..
jmcquown wrote:


Cathy, I've never had dried pasta take that long to cook. In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti (broken
into 3rds for manageability) then simply remove it from the heat and cover
it. It cooks 'al dente' in 10, maybe 12, minutes without further ado and
I've freed up a burner for other things. I have noticed some pastas
labelled "whole wheat" (an oxymoron? they do look more brown in colour) take
a little longer to cook, but not by much.

Here's what it says on the package:

1. Fill a medium to large pot 2/3 full with water, and bring to the boil

I do that

Add the salt at the beginning.
It saves time (lower boiling point) and energy.

2. Add a tablespoon of oil and salt to taste

Leave away olive oil.
Instead put a little slice of butter on the plate before putting
spaghetti on it.
snip
OK - one other thing - we live at an altitude of approx. 1600 meters (about
5000 feet) above sea level - so our water boils at a little under 100 Deg C.
Wonder if that has anything to do with it??

Yep. Pressure.
The lesser the pressure, the sooner the boiling starts at lower temperature.
The higher up you are, the less athmospheric pressure you have.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

"ChattyCathy" wrote in message
. ..
Heh. I am talking store-bought (dried?) spaghetti here.... so sue me!

The cooking "destructions" say that it should be cooked in boiling
(salted) water (with a tablespoon of oil added to the water) for 10-12
minutes...

Yeah right!

Mine always takes *at least* 25 minutes before it's "al dente" i.e. it's
not "soggy".
And yes, before anyone asks, the water is *boiling* the whole time...

Is it just me or...???

Comments welcome
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

I have found that different brands of dried pasta have different cooking
times.
Trader Joe's tightwad imported Italian spaghetti cooks in 7 minutes. The
semolina spaghetti we buy in bulk from our local
market takes 12-13 minutes to get to the same state. It's hard to
understand, as they presumably are all put together the same way with the
same flour.
Cheers,

Kent

"Goomba38" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
. ..
jmcquown wrote:
In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti (broken
into 3rds for manageability)

clutching chest in pain
Oh no no no, Jill. Don't do this! This is horrible. Just twirl a few strands
on your fork to make a compact package you then can lift to your mouth. It
isn't hard, and is a more grown up way of eating.
Short broken pieces of spaghetti don't twirl worth a shit.

If he likes them that way, fine with me.
I prefer unbroken spaghetti, too.
But : If there are some leftover-spaghetti, I cut them into thirds,
heat olive oil in a pan, add pressed garlic, spaghetti and
stir-fry them.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

ChattyCathy said...

Andy wrote:


Cathy,

That sounds like too long for spaghetti. Are you making it in a pot with
LOTS of water or are you crowding the spaghetti into "shallow waters?"

My vermicelli takes 8-10 minutes.

Good luck,

The pot I use holds about 3.5-4 liters of water (just a guesstimate) -
which I fill up to about 2/3 ; just so that it doesn't "boil over" onto
the stove-top - and I only cook about 200g (less than half a pound) of
dried pasta at a time... I have a much bigger pot - holds twice at much
water.... and cooking the same amount of pasta in a lot more water still
has the same results...


So it's either the high altitude or spaghetti with a bad atitude!??

Andy

ChattyCathy wrote:

Heh. I am talking store-bought (dried?) spaghetti here.... so sue me!

The cooking "destructions" say that it should be cooked in boiling
(salted) water (with a tablespoon of oil added to the water) for 10-12
minutes...

Yeah right!

Mine always takes *at least* 25 minutes before it's "al dente" i.e. it's
not "soggy".
And yes, before anyone asks, the water is *boiling* the whole time...

Is it just me or...???

Comments welcome
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy

Garlic: the element without which life as we know it would be impossible

I don't often make pasta - I tend cook rice more often. I used to add a
bit of oil or butter to the boiling salted water for pastas, but I've
since learned that's not necessarily a good thing. Reason is, the oil
or butter slicks up (coats) the pasta, and this makes it more difficult
for the sauce to stick/adhere to the pasta. This makes sense to me.
(IIRC) I learned this "don't use oil in the water to cook pasta" trick
from a FTV show with Mario Batalli (sp?) and/or Giada, maybe on PBS with
Lidia Bastianich too?

Sky

--
Ultra Ultimate Kitchen Rule - Use the Timer!
Ultimate Kitchen Rule -- Cook's Choice

On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:56:53 -0400, "cybercat"
wrote:


sf wrote in message ...
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:39:44 -0400, Goomba38
wrote:

jmcquown wrote:
In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti
(broken
into 3rds for manageability)

clutching chest in pain
Oh no no no, Jill. Don't do this! This is horrible. Just twirl a few
strands on your fork to make a compact package you then can lift to your
mouth. It isn't hard, and is a more grown up way of eating.
Short broken pieces of spaghetti don't twirl worth a shit.

I'm turning into a stabber. I just don't like to twirl anymore unless
it's linguine and clams. So, intead of spaghetti - I prefer rigatoni
with my meat sauce.
--

I LOVE penne!

Me too. In all sizes. Have you tried the mini penne?
--

History is a vast early warning system
Norman Cousins

"Sky" wrote in message
...
I don't often make pasta - I tend cook rice more often. I used to add a
bit of oil or butter to the boiling salted water for pastas, but I've
since learned that's not necessarily a good thing. Reason is, the oil
or butter slicks up (coats) the pasta, and this makes it more difficult
for the sauce to stick/adhere to the pasta. This makes sense to me.
(IIRC) I learned this "don't use oil in the water to cook pasta" trick
from a FTV show with Mario Batalli (sp?) and/or Giada, maybe on PBS with
Lidia Bastianich too?

Sky


I'm with you on this, Sky. I listen to these guys; they make sense to me.

--
Dee Dee
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy
enough people to make it worth the effort."

Dee wrote on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 13:49:15 -0400:


DD "Sky" wrote in message
DD ...
?? I don't often make pasta - I tend cook rice more often. I
?? used to add a bit of oil or butter to the boiling salted
?? water for pastas, but I've since learned that's not
?? necessarily a good thing. Reason is, the oil or butter
?? slicks up (coats) the pasta, and this makes it more
?? difficult for the sauce to stick/adhere to the pasta.
?? This makes sense to me. (IIRC) I learned this "don't use
?? oil in the water to cook pasta" trick from a FTV show with
?? Mario Batalli (sp?) and/or Giada, maybe on PBS with Lidia
?? Bastianich too?
??
?? Sky

DD I'm with you on this, Sky. I listen to these guys; they
DD make sense to me.

We used to go the oil-on-top route since it was supposed to
prevent the spaghetti from sticking together but many years ago,
during a cut-the-grease campaign, we stopped doing it and did
not notice any difference in sticking. I've not used oil since.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

sf wrote in message ...
On Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:39:44 -0400, Goomba38
wrote:

jmcquown wrote:
In fact,
sometimes after I get the water to a rapid boil I add the spaghetti
(broken
into 3rds for manageability)

clutching chest in pain
Oh no no no, Jill. Don't do this! This is horrible. Just twirl a few
strands on your fork to make a compact package you then can lift to your
mouth. It isn't hard, and is a more grown up way of eating.
Short broken pieces of spaghetti don't twirl worth a shit.

I'm turning into a stabber. I just don't like to twirl anymore unless
it's linguine and clams. So, intead of spaghetti - I prefer rigatoni
with my meat sauce.
--

I don't like twirling, don't like stabbing -- I just scoop and eat about 3
strands at a time that haven't fallen off the fork. Pretty boring way to
eat.
Dee Dee

sf wrote in message ...
I'm turning into a stabber. I just don't like to twirl anymore unless
it's linguine and clams. So, intead of spaghetti - I prefer rigatoni
with my meat sauce.
--

I LOVE penne!

Me too. In all sizes. Have you tried the mini penne?
--

Oh, yes, I'm a stabber, too, with the heavier stuff. But I love the small
penne. DH likes the larger. I think the smaller is nice with a very light
sauce.
Dee Dee