Pasta cooking time

[mightymouse]

Most supermarket pastas..spaghetti, conchiglie, etc. state 10-12 minutes cooking time. Well, I know the difference between undercooked, Al Dente, and overcooked, but even with a very fast boil, I find that most brands need 15 minutes to be perfect. Very hit and miss........comments?

[woofgang]

yup, always about 15 mins regardless of what it says on the pack

[vivandorron]

I always find that, whatever the product, the printed cooking times always err on the lower side ...perhaps to avoid a complaint to manufacturer/supplier that the instructions resulted in overcooking the item concerned.

To answer you question,....I go along with both Toldyso and wolfgang.

Ron.

[redcrx]

i find that its usually overcooked if i let it go beyond 12 mins, and by overcooked i mean very soft and sloppy

[vivandorron]

Sorry both Toldyaso & woofgang for my typing incorrectly you names.

Ron.

[gingejbee]

Sorry, but about 12 mins in salted, fast-boiling water for me.

[pretty_snowdrop]

It doesn't matter if it is' fast boiling' or 'slow boiling', water boils at 100 degrees c and doesn't get any hotter because it is boiling faster. That said, 12 mins will do it.

[chris1957au]

Are you using enough water 500g of pasta nees 5ltr of water, 10-1 ratio

[scotman]

I tend to buy normal supermarket type pasta and usually find the times accurate for my taste.

[gingejbee]

YES, but fast-boiling keeps it all moving and prevents it sticking together. Nothing to do with boiling-point.

[pretty_snowdrop]

You put a splash of olive oil in to stop them sticking together.

[gingejbee]

...or have it fast-boiling (with or without olive oil).

[pretty_snowdrop]

I accept that fast boiling water may help prevent the pasta sticking. However since the thread was about pasta cooking time i pointed out that fast boiling water wouldn't make it cook any faster. Unless of course all the pasta stuck together in a huge lump because it wan't moving around enough, then of course it would take longer. But that never happens ( or not to me anyway).

[gingejbee]

...and we both agreed that 12 mins was about right. So, result!

[DTCwordfan]

the suggestions of a touch of the olive and tasting are the best ones....ignore the recommended time to some extent......and I hate wallpaper paste soft pasta - al dente for me pls...

[Cowtipper]

Water hardness will change it. If I use town water it takes longer than the high mineral water we get out here on the farm.

[vivandorron]

Whether one uses fast boiling water, soft or hard water, cooked in white wine etc,etc. it is my opinion that the best advice was given at the very start of this thread....."just test it" as I do; and I put it on to simmer when boiling point has been reached. It never boils over and messes-up the top of my stove.:-)

Ron.

[heathfield]

Comments about the too-short cooking time shown on packets of pasta have been going on for many years. The conclusion seems to be that the manufacturers want you to believe that it won't take long to prepare. Experience shows them to be wrong, but they still keep doing it.

[hc4361]

11 minutes for me, for ordinary and wholewheat spaghetti, which I prefer.

Chuck a piece up your tiled wall - if it sticks it is done.