Question about salting water for boiling pasta....

AllenOK

AllenOK

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This is actually from a friend of mine:

"I was watching a cooking show, and the lady said to salt the pasta water just as it began to boil, but not before it boiled. Any idea why?"

For the life of me, I do not see a difference in salting pasta water as it heats up, vs. just as it boils.

Can anyone enlighten both myself and my friend? Vera? One of our other Italian cooks?
 
Cuisinette

Cuisinette

Member
Allen

As soon as I put the water to boil I add the salt.
IMO there is no rule when you should add the salt... but I know that enhances the flavor in boiled vegetables.

I do this for potatoes too, and any other vegetables.

But, I would not add olive oil to boiling water... The oil could coat the outside of the pasta and makes boiling difficult.
 
Mama

Mama

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It's to keep from pitting your pot. I'm no science major but here is an explanation I found on Chowhound:

"Stainless" steel... isn't actually stainless. The reason it doesn't rust is because there's enough chromium in the stainless alloy. Oxygen, instead of binding with the iron in the steel, preferentially binds with the chromium. This forms a very thin layer, a few molecules thick, of chromium oxide. This layer is called a 'passivation' layer, and it prevents further interaction of oxygen with the underlying metal, thus preventing rusting. Even if you scrub that layer off, it'll reform almost instantly as oxygen encounters fresh chromium.

However, chromium will react with chlorides (chlorine), better and earlier than it reacts with oxygen. So, if there's water with both dissolved oxygen and chlorine in it in contact with stainless steel, and the passivation layer of chrome oxide is scraped away, the chromium will react with the chlorine, leaving the oxygen free to react with the iron and cause rust.

So, what's the fuss with adding salt before your water boils?

Salt is sodium chloride. When you dissolve it, the sodium and chlorine are 'freed' to react. Oxygen dissolves in water (otherwise fish couldn't live). However, the warmer the water, the LESS oxygen (and nitrogen) it can hold. Now you know why all those little bubbles appear on the sides and bottom of a pot of water as you're heating it. That's the oxygen and nitrogen precipitating out because of the heat. Once the water gets near to the point of boiling, there's very little oxygen left dissolved.

So, you can see that salt AND oxygen together in water, along with the tiniest scrape (say, from a metal or even wooden spoon used to stir the water) against the surface of the inside of a stainless steel pot, can result in localized rust, or pitting.

The trick to avoiding that is to ONLY add salt *after* the water has become hot enough for the oxygen to have dropped out of solution. Then, even though a scrape might cause some iron to be exposed, it won't rust because there's too little oxygen in the water. And once you clean the pot, that passivation layer will form again in the absence of chlorides and the presence of oxygen.

So, yeah. Only add salt to water you'll be boiling after all the little air bubbles stop forming.
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AllenOK

AllenOK

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Thank you Mama!

Personally, I use an enameled pot to cook my pasta in, so rust isn't a problem.
 
Doc

Doc

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Mama said:
It's to keep from pitting your pot. I'm no science major but here is an explanation I found on Chowhound:
Click to expand...

Good find Mama!!! :tiphat:

Mama, is this the Chowhound we all know and love? If it is I had no idea he had a site like that. He never linked to it from here that I ever noticed.
 
QSis

QSis

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I never knew that! I always add the salt right when I put the pot on.

Great question, Allen, and thanks for the answer, Mama!

Lee
 
N

Norm

New member
I heard Sara Molton say that a few years ago but I ignored her-most of the time- and add salt whenever I think about it. I never saw a pitted pot but I don't cook pasta all that often and now days I usually use a teflon skillet that is wide enough to hold the pasta under water all at once.
 
VeraBlue

VeraBlue

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I'm no science major but I've been told it slows down the boiling process. As a rule, whether in the house or in the restaurant, the person who adds the pasta to the pot is the person who salts the pot. This way, you never have to ask or be asked "is there salt already in the pot?"

It's not necessary to oil the water either. First, it's a damn good waste of damn good olive oil. Second, if you are adding oil to keep the pasta from sticking together, just stir it more often. Third, it prevents the sauce from clinging to the outer wall of the pasta when you serve.
 
Keltin

Keltin

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Adding anything to boiling water will affect it’s boiling temp. Pure water boils at 212 degrees F, but add anything to that, and the temp rises. “Tainted” water has a higher boiling temp meaning the water is hotter, cooks faster, and the salt itself DOES add flavor to the pasta.

But as to whether you add it before boil or after, there is no evidence in the physics of heat transfer that affects it. But Mama’s post about pitting is something to consider.

Among many urban legends[9] related to the effect of ebullioscopic increase, one of them leads to adding salt when cooking pasta only after water has started boiling. The misconception is that since the water boils at a higher temperature, food will cook faster. However, at the approximate concentration of salt in water for cooking (10 g of salt per 1 kg of water, or 1 teaspoon per quart), the ebullioscopic increase is approximately 0.17°C (0.31°F), which will arguably make no practical difference for cooking.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling-point_elevation
 
Carolina Cooking

Carolina Cooking

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right or wrong I put sea salt or kosher salt in my rolling boil water.

Have n't had any pitting , so I guess its all good.;)

I also have beed using my big farberware stainless pots that are as old as my son. 37..:brows:
 
JoeV

JoeV

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Interesting thread. I didn't know the oil would repel the s'ghetti sauce, but it certainly makes sense. I have always put the salt in with the water because that's how my family did it. I've never seen a salt-pitted stainless steel pot, but my guess is that you would have to provide prolonged exposure to salt for it to make a difference. I don't believe the home cook could ever approach the exposure levels to affect their cookware's finish, but I've been wrong before. (I think it was back in 1959 on a Thursday in October...):brows:
 
Mama

Mama

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I actually have a pot that has small pits in the bottom of it from putting salt in too soon. I don't know if that fact that I use kosher salt had anything to do with it or not. They're small (there's 4 of them) but they are there...in one of my All-Clad pots no less :sad:
 
joec

joec

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I've been using a All-Clad Stainless-Steel Pasta Pentola in 7.5 qt for a few years now. I simply wait till the water comes to a roll boil then add my salt and let it come back again. At that point I add the pasta. I also add more salt than most probably do and have found it adds little to no flavor to pasta. I also have had no pitting to date in the pot. I've never added oil personally but have heard of others doing it.
 
Keltin

Keltin

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As for adding oil to water, I sometimes do it (with oil or butter) just to prevent a boil over. Since oil and water don’t mix, I don’t think the oil ever coats the pasta at all.

But, I do know the oil changes the surface tension of the water so that a boil over will not happen. Same thing with rice or any other food that is starchy and prone to boil over. Add a little oil or butter to the water, and it won’t boil over…..at least not as easily, depends on water depth, amount of rice/pasta/potatoes, etc.

http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/liquids/faq/oil-and-defoaming.shtml
 
N

Norm

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I lay a wooden spoon across the boiling pot to keep the water from over flowing. It seems to work for me.... most of the time.
 
Carolina Cooking

Carolina Cooking

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Add a little oil or butter to the water, and it won’t boil over…..at least not as easily, depends on water depth, amount of rice/pasta/potatoes, etc


ETC would also be Oatmeal.. Plain & Steel cut :wink: If you make it in the microwave or like I do in the rice maker. No more boilover mess..:thumb:
 
Guts

Guts

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my observations in salting water for pasta, a little salt have little effect on the taste of the pasta. If you like your pasta salty had a good amount of salt not just a pinch. This will have very little affect on the temperature, maybe 2 to 3 degrees in the boiling point. I pretty much agree with VB about the oil and pasta sticking to itself.

When I was 16 years old and I worked at an Italian restaurant and they used pots like this to cook there pasta in. I know it looks like the spaghetti would just go right through the basket and a little does sometimes (rarely two or three pieces). The advantage to using this pot is you can cook your pasta and pull it out of boiling water hook it on the top. Just before plating the pasta you can be dropped back in the water for 30 seconds to serve warm before you plate. They had three these going at all times during the busy hours of the restaurant. The only problem with a pot the size. The burners on a home stove don't put out a lot of heat or BTU. That's why I have lid to get the pot boiling once up to temperature it will maintain temperature pretty much. Pots like this are really deep Fry pots. If you go looking for them.
 

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joec

joec

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In my case I'm using induction which in my opinion gets hotter or colder than either gas or electric. At any rate I like a pot that allows one to drain the pasta once done hence the reason I use the one I do. I use a good handful of salt and still add more to the finished pasta since the taste of salt doesn't transfer in the boiling.
 
Guts

Guts

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joec said:
In my case I'm using induction which in my opinion gets hotter or colder than either gas or electric. At any rate I like a pot that allows one to drain the pasta once done hence the reason I use the one I do. I use a good handful of salt and still add more to the finished pasta since the taste of salt doesn't transfer in the boiling.
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Joe I respectively disagree. I believe that the salt and does transfer to the pasta through the water. I have proven this to myself with my fresh pasta, which I know you make also. I'm surprised that you can see the difference, especially using a handful salt. I've done it both ways. No salt and salt added with my fresh pasta and I can taste the difference in the fresh pasta. if the, salt and doesn't transfer the pasta. Why would you had salt to the water you want to water to boil it a couple degrees higher than normal? What difference will a couple degrees make it boiling your pasta.

the deep Fry pot that I use for pasta that I have pictured here let's you drain and the pasta right above the hot water as you can see from the picture with the basket. Being supported from the pan hence the reason I use this pan rather than an insert type pan like is sometime used as a steamer.
 
Keltin

Keltin

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Guts said:
Joe I respectively disagree. I believe that the salt and does transfer to the pasta through the water. I have proven this to myself with my fresh pasta, which I know you make also. I'm surprised that you can see the difference, especially using a handful salt. I've done it both ways. No salt and salt added with my fresh pasta and I can taste the difference in the fresh pasta. if the, salt and doesn't transfer the pasta. Why would you had salt to the water you want to water to boil it a couple degrees higher than normal? What difference will a couple degrees make it boiling your pasta.

the deep Fry pot that I use for pasta that I have pictured here let's you drain and the pasta right above the hot water as you can see from the picture with the basket. Being supported from the pan hence the reason I use this pan rather than an insert type pan like is sometime used as a steamer.
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I salt the water for flavor. The raise in temp for boiling is only a couple of degrees, but it is a true phenomenon to understand…….just for the sake of understanding.

Just like pure water does not conduct electricity. It’s only the impurities like salt that conduct electricity. If you have a bath of purified water, no electricity will conduct. Only impurities conduct.

Salt does add flavor to pasta, but I have noticed it is more noticeable with fresh pasta than dried. To get the dried stuff to pick up the flavor, you have to add a bit more salt. It does happen though.
 
JoeV

JoeV

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joec said:
In my case I'm using induction which in my opinion gets hotter or colder than either gas or electric. At any rate I like a pot that allows one to drain the pasta once done hence the reason I use the one I do. I use a good handful of salt and still add more to the finished pasta since the taste of salt doesn't transfer in the boiling.
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Joe, I use sea salt in the water for both potatoes and pasta. Since I mostly cook fresh pasta, I noticed a big difference in taste going from Kosher salt to sea salt. I put about 1 Tablespoon of sea salt in a 2-quart pan, and the pasta tastes great. Just for grins & giggles, I made a small batch of pasta from the freezer without any salt in the water and noticed a significant difference in the taste. In my experience I believe the salt makes a difference, and the type of salt as well. FWIW, I use LESS sea salt than Kosher salt, and still get great flavor.
 
joec

joec

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JoeV said:
Joe, I use sea salt in the water for both potatoes and pasta. Since I mostly cook fresh pasta, I noticed a big difference in taste going from Kosher salt to sea salt. I put about 1 Tablespoon of sea salt in a 2-quart pan, and the pasta tastes great. Just for grins & giggles, I made a small batch of pasta from the freezer without any salt in the water and noticed a significant difference in the taste. In my experience I believe the salt makes a difference, and the type of salt as well. FWIW, I use LESS sea salt than Kosher salt, and still get great flavor.
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I've simply found dried pasta not to take on a lot of salt taste, but that isn't say it doesn't take some. Now I use Kosher large grain as sea salt I use for other things. 1 tablespoon doesn't compute with me at all Joe as I go by hand fulls since I never make a little pasta but a LB or better at a time. :flowers:
 
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