# draining spaghetti **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571 "2010-08-26T19:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/21 "2010-08-26T23:11:16Z")
I also bite a piece to check for doneness, and other than salt, don’t put anything in with the pasta when cooking (it needs lots of hot water, so use a big pan). I’ve also read that when draining it’s a good idea to leave a half cup of the water in with the pasta, since it continues to cook and absorb water even when drained. If you then add the sauce it stops the sticky clagginess which can come from the pasta absorbing too much of the water from the sauce. > [@](#): > > [According to Della Croce, "Many people believe that pasta water is ‘dirty,’ but it isn’t. When pasta stays moist, you don’t need as much sauce, so it’s best not to drain pasta dry. > > Use the best pasta available. High-quality pasta has a golden color with a vaguely transparent appearance. > > - Always cook pasta in plenty of boiling water. > > - Stir pasta as soon as it is dropped into the boiling water and keep stirring. Never add oil, which will coat the pasta and cause it to repel instead of absorb the sauce. > > - Always salt the cooking water, unless salt must be eliminated for health reasons. > > - Never overcooked pasta. Only dry pasta should be cooked “al dente” because “fresh” pasta already is soft to begin with. > > - Do not overdrain. Pasta should be dropping somewhat and very moist when combined with sauce. Otherwise it becomes too dry. > > - Do not oversauce pasta. Use just enough to cover the strands. > > - Serve pasta piping hot. In the authentic Italian kitchen, pasta is never served lukewarm or cold.]([News Articles - FindArticles](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2624_v125/ai_19420094/)) ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/22 "2010-08-26T23:19:43Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > I just fish out a strand and bite into it. I yank a piece out and flash it under some cold water, then bite it. The water is just so it doesn’t burn the ever loving Christ out of my mouth- I don’t normally wash my pasta. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/23 "2010-08-27T00:24:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > > [@MTCicero](#): > > > > [You shouldn’t rinse your pasta unless you’re making a cold pasta salad.](http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html#Q7) > > Well, I’ll be darned. I’ve rinsed pasta my whole life. I just confirmed your “no rinse” method at the web site of my usual pasta provider. I, too, was a rinser. For _years_. Then, sometime in the mid nineties, my local cable company added the Food Network, and soon my pasta-rinsing days were behind me. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/24 "2010-08-27T01:17:14Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > [\* Do not overdrain. Pasta should be dropping somewhat and very moist when combined with sauce. Otherwise it becomes too dry.](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2624_v125/ai_19420094/) I disagree with this. Dripping pasta will cause watery sauce on the plate, and the sauce won’t adhere. I toss it in a collander until all of the liquid is drained. No rinsing though. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/25 "2010-08-27T01:27:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > > > I disagree with this. Dripping pasta will cause watery sauce on the plate, and the sauce won’t adhere. I toss it in a collander until all of the liquid is drained. No rinsing though. Do you mix your sauce in with the pasta before serving? I tend to drain roughly, then put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and toss a couple of times to mix completely. This seems to avoid any separating sauce, and the pasta has a chance to soak up a tiny bit more of the water/sauce mix. If you weren’t mixing (i.e. just topping a plate of pasta with the sauce to serve), I think I’d agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/26 "2010-08-27T01:28:01Z")
I think the origin of rinsing was to stop the cooking process. People probably overdid it though. I have given pasta a quick spritz of cold water for that purpose, but saw no advantage. Some people add cold water to the pot to bring the temp down before draining. I doubt anybody could tell the difference from that. If you are saturating the pasta with either cold or hot water after draining, it probably ruins the texture and robs flavor. On the other hand, many restaurants prepare all pasta ahead of time, rinse it with cold water and keep it chilled. It can be quickly warmed in very hot water, and with quality dried pasta it will be difficult to tell that it was pre-cooked. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/27 "2010-08-27T04:47:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > > [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > > > I disagree with this. Dripping pasta will cause watery sauce on the plate, and the sauce won’t adhere. I toss it in a collander until all of the liquid is drained. No rinsing though. Agreed. I then throw it back in the hot pan, shake it a bit to evaporate remaining liquid, then dump in a ladle of sauce to prevent stickage. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/28 "2010-08-27T06:24:24Z")
After over 30 years of cooking pasta, I know exactly how long to cook it for both my husband and daughter. If my daughter’s visiting, then I warn her a few minutes before the pasta is done to her tastes (she likes a firmer pasta), and she puts some in a strainer, then on her plate. Then my husband’s portion is probably done, so I put the rest in a strainer, and set the strainer over the pot, which has been removed from the burner. Me? I’ve taken out the meat and veggies that I panfried earlier. I’m not really fond of pasta OR spaghetti sauce, unless it’s something like pasta and cheese (ravioli, lasagna, manicotti, etc.). I’ll eat a piece of garlic bread for my carb serving. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/29 "2010-08-27T07:37:49Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > In addition to the problems already mentioned, you may be using too little water to boil your pasta in or too small a pot. A pound of 'ghetti needs something like 4 quarts of water in your biggest pot, or it may get gummy just because the freed starch molecules have nowhere to go but back on the pasta. [This article says minimal water might not be bad](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25curi.html) ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/30 "2010-08-27T08:08:24Z")
If the pasta isn’t going to be served immediately, I toss it with a small amount of sauce to prevent it from getting sticky. Depending on what I’m making, I might mix in all of the sauce. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/31 "2010-08-27T13:42:30Z")
deleted. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/32 "2010-08-27T13:46:22Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > [This article says minimal water might not be bad](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25curi.html) Might not be bad for his tastes, perhaps. I’ve done enough “the big pot is occupied, I’ll just use this smaller one” cooking that I know that, for me, pasta cooked in too little water in a too small pot is awful. It cooks unevenly, with a slimy, sticky exterior and an uncooked interior. It’s also a lot of work, as it requires much more stirring. I will grant that I can get away with maybe 3 quarts of water to a pound of pasta if I don’t mind stirring a lot, but when I see my son grab the 2 quart pot, I know I won’t be sharing his meal. He’s incorrigible. Of course, he’s also 17, and doesn’t much care what the food he’s eating actually tastes like. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571/33 "2010-08-27T18:09:34Z")
The pasta has to be moving continuously (rapid boiling) or it will get sticky. And as everyone else says–don’t rinse! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-spaghetti/551571.md?page=1)