# Why exactly do we salt water for boiling pasta? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 3, 2002, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139 "2002-08-03T05:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/1 "2002-08-03T05:57:21Z")
I’m embarrassed to ask such a question, but for _years_ I’ve been under the impression that the purpose was to raise the boiling-point of the water. I don’t even remember where I picked this little factoid up. After occasionally forgetting to add the salt until the water is almost ready to boil, I can’t help noticing that, far from delaying the boil, it seems to accelerate it. Does boiling pasta (or even vegetable matter,) in salted water serve any purpose other than, well, to make it salty? ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/2 "2002-08-03T06:04:14Z")
I don’t salt it. But I do add a little oil (like olive oil) to prevent it all from sticking together. C’est moi. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/3 "2002-08-03T06:07:00Z")
I seem to recall from previous threads that any reasonable amount of salt added to a pot of water will not significantly affect the boiling point. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/4 "2002-08-03T06:16:10Z")
I thought the salt was primarily for flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/5 "2002-08-03T06:27:02Z")
Thanks **Achernar** , you’re right this has been [url=“[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?sthreadid=72113](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?sthreadid=72113)”]covered before. “Use the Search, young Jedi.” :smack: Well, now I know. I’ve been robotically salting the water all these years for no good reason. What a waste of natural resources. I’m off to flagellate myself for a bit now, and perhaps I’ll salt the wounds afterwards. Gotta do _something_ with the stuff, and I never use it for anything besides cooking pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/6 "2002-08-03T06:38:17Z")
Use the Preview, young Padawan. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/7 "2002-08-03T06:39:00Z")
I’ve been wanting to share this for eco-fans (or just those in the middle of a heat wave), but not only is salt unnecessary, so is most of the cooking heat! Probably this could be done with cold water, but assuming you want warm pasta: Heat the water to boiling. Put in the pasta. Turn off the heat. Stir pasta about 2 minutes later, then again at 5 minutes. Depending on how you like it, pasta is ready in 10-15 minutes. On sweltering days I’ve found this a lifesaver. ---
**Author:** ![Rhapsody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9de0a6/32.png) [@Rhapsody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhapsody)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/8 "2002-08-03T06:56:11Z")
the salt helps both to raise the boiling point which can be important with some pastas and high elevations and also improves the absorbtion of water by the noodles ---
**Author:** ![AmbushBug](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ambushbug/32/4600_2.png) [@AmbushBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmbushBug)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/9 "2002-08-03T16:55:59Z")
From [epicurious.com](http://epicurious.com), here’s a [handy recipe.](http://www.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=105591) Read all the reviews, some people don’t like it for some reason 😃 AmbushBug ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/10 "2002-08-03T17:27:37Z")
Fixed link: [Salt in boiling water](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72113) 1g salt per quart raises the boiling point of water by ~ 0.016 degrees Fahrenheit. Adding ions to the water increases the rate of hydration of the pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/11 "2002-08-03T19:19:01Z")
**partly\_warmer** takes his/her pasta off the heat to cook it. Why am I not surprised? 😃 Oh, yeah, and **…** ---
**Author:** ![partly\_warmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@partly\_warmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partly_warmer)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/12 "2002-08-03T19:39:24Z")
Mudd, you lout. See if I invite you over for din-din after the electricity’s been out for two days. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/13 "2002-08-03T19:41:14Z")
If I don’t salt it, any noodles not covered by sauce taste noticeably “flat” to me, quite possibly because I don’t drain the stuff any more than just dumping the water out while holding the pasta back with a spatula, so my pasta is normally still quite wet with the water it was cooked in, which I might notice not being salted. Cooking it in non-boiling water - doesn’t it wind up mushy by the time you’ve let it sit long enough to become flexible? What was that about “al dente”? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/14 "2002-08-03T19:43:49Z")
It’s used solely for flavoring. Like **yabob** says, pasta cooked in non-salted water tastes flat. Also, if you’re having trouble with pasta sticking together, you’re not using enough water in your pan. To properly cook pasta, you need a LOT of water, briskly boiling. Too little water results in pasta sticking together. Not boiling results in mushy textured pasta. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/15 "2002-08-03T20:39:39Z")
On _Iron Chef_ they once had an native Italian chef whose speciality was pasta and who insisted that pasta had to be boiled in water that had the same salinity as the Mediterranean Sea. If memory serves me right, it was Marco Molinari who faced Iron Chef Morimoto in Battle Porcini Mushroom. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2002, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-exactly-do-we-salt-water-for-boiling-pasta/122139/16 "2002-08-03T20:39:39Z")
> [@](#): > > pasta cooked in non-salted water tastes flat. Nonsense. I haven’t put salt in pasta for years and it doesn’t taste any different than pasta I eat in places where the salt is added.