Had a line cook ask me why we salt the pasta water before it boils.

I always just said 'it's tradition' or 'it seasons the pasta'. Decided to actually test it. Boiled two pots side by side, one salted cold, one salted at a rolling boil. The cold salted water took forever to come up to temp, like 4 extra minutes. The pasta from the boiling salted pot tasted way more seasoned. So now I tell my crew to wait for the boil. Anyone else run into this or am I just late to the party?

3 comments

3 Comments

jake_walker2mo ago

It's like that with so many stuff we just do on auto-pilot. We follow the old rule because it's the rule, and never check if it actually works better. I used to put ice in my protein shakes because some guy online said it made them creamier. Made them watery. Tried it without, way better. Same with rinsing mushrooms, makes them soggy, just brushing them off is fine. We gotta stop and ask why way more often.

the_michael3mo ago

Oh man, you are SO right. I did the same test last year with spaghetti. Salting the cold water made it taste like I just waved a salt shaker near it. But waiting for that full boil? The pasta actually TASTED like something. It's a total game changer. I felt like an idiot for just following the old rule without questioning it. Your crew is lucky you figured it out.

norag553mo ago

That "waved a salt shaker near it" feeling is exactly right. I once tried to fix under-salted pasta by adding more salt to the sauce and it just made the whole thing taste weird and separate. The salt really has to get into the pasta itself from the water.