Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.


Steve

On Feb 1, 3:57 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
Christopher M. wrote:
Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Pasta cooked in salty water tastes better than pasta cooked in plain
water. Easy enough to validate--just make two batches, drain and
taste test. I would think you can add the salt any time shortly
before or after you put the pasta in, as the volume of water is large
compared to the size of the pasta. -aem

"Steve Pope" wrote in message
...
Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Doesn't it reduce the bubbling?


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

"aem" wrote in message
...
On Feb 1, 3:57 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
Christopher M. wrote:
Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Pasta cooked in salty water tastes better than pasta cooked in plain
water. Easy enough to validate--just make two batches, drain and
taste test. I would think you can add the salt any time shortly
before or after you put the pasta in, as the volume of water is large
compared to the size of the pasta. -aem

True. And it's not like it's going to absorb much when it first enters the
water anyway, if it's dried pasta.


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

aem wrote:

On Feb 1, 3:57 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Pasta cooked in salty water tastes better than pasta cooked in plain
water. Easy enough to validate--just make two batches, drain and
taste test.

Well, perhaps my affinity for salt is different from yours. And
in any case I like "surface salt" -- sea salt applied after a
dish is composed, or when it is close to completion.

There are some exceptions, and one is pasta in broth (e.g. pasta
and leeks which I wish to be slightly soupy... not a total broth
dish like you would find in Italy, but in that direction).

Steve

"Christopher M." wrote in message
...
"Steve Pope" wrote in message
...
Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Doesn't it reduce the bubbling?


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

Salt raises boiling temperature to a very small degree, given the amount of
salt usually put into the pasta water.

IF you want to cut your bubbling. add 1 tablespoon oil to the water. The
lessening of bubbles will astound you.

Kent

On Tue, 1 Feb 2011 23:57:52 +0000 (UTC), (Steve
Pope) wrote:

Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Really? I find it's very bland, the kind of bland that can't be cured
later if I don't add salt to the boiling water. For me, it's not a
question of "if", it's a question of "how much". I don't subscribe to
the salty as the sea method. Just a few shakes (maybe 1/4 tsp at the
most) for 4-6 qts of water.

--

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

On Feb 1, 3:54*pm, "Christopher M."
wrote:
Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

It is a Federal crime to add salt after you've added the pasta. 10
years to life.

On 2/1/2011 7:20 PM, Kent wrote:
Doesn't it reduce the bubbling?


W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.)

Salt raises boiling temperature to a very small degree, given the amount of
salt usually put into the pasta water.

IF you want to cut your bubbling. add 1 tablespoon oil to the water. The
lessening of bubbles will astound you.

I just recently discovered that with rice. Rice always bubbled over
with foam no matter the size of the pot. Once I read here that some
sort of fat would reduce the foam, I've never had that problem again. I
use just a little slice of butter in the cooking water.

On Feb 1, 6:54*pm, "Christopher M."
wrote:
Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

It would behoove you to try both methods...and report on YOUR
experience. I can't tell you how you perceieve salt.

"Christopher M." wrote in message
...
Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in, or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

You can do that. I've even added it after it has cooked when I forgot to
put it in at the beginning. I just stirred it through really well and
drained it. Tasted fine.

Lidia Bastianich had some salt tablets on her show. No clue where she got
them. She said one was the perfect amount for a pot of pasta.

"Steve Pope" wrote in message
...
Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

I believe there is. Lidia Bastianich said the water needs to be briny with
salt. Pasta hasn't got a lot of flavor. IMO, it doesn't taste like much if
you don't add the salt.

"Steve Pope" wrote in message
...
aem wrote:

On Feb 1, 3:57 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Pasta cooked in salty water tastes better than pasta cooked in plain
water. Easy enough to validate--just make two batches, drain and
taste test.

Well, perhaps my affinity for salt is different from yours. And
in any case I like "surface salt" -- sea salt applied after a
dish is composed, or when it is close to completion.

There are some exceptions, and one is pasta in broth (e.g. pasta
and leeks which I wish to be slightly soupy... not a total broth
dish like you would find in Italy, but in that direction).

I use sea salt in my cooking unless the recipe calls for something else.
The only foods I like the surface salt on, as you say, would be popcorn,
French fries and similar types of potatoes, baked potatoes and green salad.
Otherwise I don't like it at all.

My mom cooks without salt. She always tells us if we want salt to add it
later. For me it doesn't work that way. Brown rice with salt on it just
tastes like salty brown rice. But add the same amount of salt in cooking
and it tastes fine.

"Christopher M." wrote in message
...
"Steve Pope" wrote in message
...
Christopher M. wrote:

Sometimes I forget to add salt. Can I add the salt after I put the pasta
in,
or will the salt stick to the pasta and make it very salty?

There is no need to add salt in the first place.

Doesn't it reduce the bubbling?

I believe salt lowers the boiling point. But then again I have read that it
raises the boiling point. I honestly don't know which is true.