00:00This is when, how, and why to salt your pasta water.
00:03When?
00:03It's when the water comes to a boil.
00:05If you do it earlier than that,
00:06the water takes longer to boil
00:07because the salt is weighting it down.
00:09Also, because boiling it too long
00:11concentrates the flavor
00:12and your water might end up too salty.
00:14How much?
00:14Well, the amount is negotiable.
00:16If you're working with fine salt,
00:17the rule of thumb is at least four teaspoons
00:19per gallon of water.
00:21I like to use a coarse kosher salt,
00:22so you're talking more like two to three tablespoons
00:24for my perfect pot of pasta.
00:26A fine salt is more concentrated,
00:28so a little bit goes further.
00:29Those salt amounts are per one gallon of water
00:31and one pound of pasta.
00:33A little side note, your water can handle more salt
00:35if your cook time is less.
00:36For example, if you're cooking fresh pasta
00:38and it's only gonna be in the water two to three minutes,
00:40then you can salt it a little heavier
00:41because it only has a little bit of time
00:43for that flavor to get in there.
00:44And while I know this looks like a lot of salt,
00:46most of it ends up down the drain.
00:48Finally, why do we salt our pasta water?
00:50Because it is the only chance for the flavor
00:52to get absorbed into the pasta while it cooks.
00:54If you wait till the end,
00:55the salt just sits on the surface of the pasta,
00:58making your pasta too salty.
00:59Most people under-salt their water,
01:01which to me is a bigger problem.
01:03Also, the salt helps reach that al dente texture
01:05because it helps tighten up the protein
01:07that's in the pasta.
01:08And that, my friends, is perfect pasta.
Comments