this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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chapotraphouse
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An Italian scientist got a lot of flak back in 2022 for pointing out that you can boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes, turn off the burner, and let the residual heat cook the rest of the pasta and get the same result, saving some (very expensive back then) gas. So apparently that's a more energy-efficient way to cook pasta, if marginally so.
Italians, not liking when their very dear "muh traditions" are exposed to be based on rote repetition of recipes from very different material conditions and marketing from the 1920s, got very mad at him before even trying if the method worked or not.
Huh, interesting! They also mention pre-soaking the pasta for two hours to save more energy (since most of the time is really spent rehydrating rather than truly cooking) which can cut the cooking time from ten minutes to one or two minutes. Might have to give it a shot out of curiosity!
I didn't try the soaking method, but I did try the turning it off halfway method. The texture of the pasta is slightly different, but barely noticeable, unless you're using really high-quality pasta from higher-protein durum wheat (the one used the most in Italy). In that case it does turn a bit gummy.
If you're using regular-ass pasta made from red or winter wheat, which is the pasta you get in 99% of the world (unless you're importing or getting it from a high-quality brand), there's virtually no difference, in my very limited experimentation.
If you crack spaghetti in half to make it fit into the pot using this method then you do go to Italian hell 👌👉✌️👍
Italians that get mad at breaking pasta are pretty petty, but I don't break it because i love looong pasta. It's more fun.