Thou Shalt Salt Thy Pasta Cooking Water Liberally!

Published on Friday, April 6, 2007, by Caitlin McGrath / Edit Post

Adding salt to the water you cook your pasta in makes a huge difference in the flavor of the finished dish. Salt brings out the flavor of dry pasta, which is generally made from only flour and water. Since pasta absorbs water as it cooks, it absorbs the salt from salted water and is seasoned throughout in a way that can’t be replicated by salting after cooking. Compared side by side, pasta cooked in unsalted water tastes flat. In order to taste a difference, though, you must use plenty of salt; allegedly there’s an Italian saying that your pasta water should be “salty like the sea,” meaning that you can taste the salt in the water.

You can add salt to the water at the beginning or when it comes to a boil. Salted water boils at a higher temperature than unsalted water, but the difference is so small as to be unnoticeable. The only real issue with adding salt before you heat the water is that it may pit some cookware. Adding salt after the water comes to a boil avoids this potential problem, but the water will take longer to return to a rolling boil, since it must rise to a higher temperature.

Board Links: Adding salt to the water you cook spaghetti in: does it really make any difference?

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POST A COMMENT |5 Comments

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  • It is indeed true that adding salt to the water will raise the boiling temperature- adding salt means more energy will be required to break the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen atoms (i.e H2O). Pasta can cook quicker, will be less sticky and because systems (in this case the water and the pasta) like to attain uniformity in all of its parts your pasta will be just as salty as the water you put...+READ

    It is indeed true that adding salt to the water will raise the boiling temperature- adding salt means more energy will be required to break the bonds between hydrogen and oxygen atoms (i.e H2O). Pasta can cook quicker, will be less sticky and because systems (in this case the water and the pasta) like to attain uniformity in all of its parts your pasta will be just as salty as the water you put it in. No more, no less. Now as far as how much the temp actually raises . . . . According to a physics website it takes about 2 oz of salt to raise the boiling point of water by 1.0 degree celsius or 1.8 degrees fahrenheit. Chances are no one is adding that much so your likely just reaping the benefits of flavoring rather than an increased temp.-COLLAPSE

  • Help me out here on the "Actual" difference salting makes to boiling time!

    if "Salted water boils at a higher temperature than unsalted water, but the difference is so small as to be unnoticeable."

    How come there's a noticeable difference just a few lines later?

    " the water will take longer to return to a rolling boil, since it must rise to a higher temperature."

    Any one with a...+READ

    Help me out here on the "Actual" difference salting makes to boiling time!

    if "Salted water boils at a higher temperature than unsalted water, but the difference is so small as to be unnoticeable."

    How come there's a noticeable difference just a few lines later?

    " the water will take longer to return to a rolling boil, since it must rise to a higher temperature."

    Any one with a scientific interest with a stopwatch, a very good thermometer and a few grains of salt want to determine just how great is the salt's effect on time to boil ? For say 6 quarts of water and "x" amount of salt, is it 10 seconds? 2 minutes longer? Just curious!

    Oh, regardless of the time to boil water,I'm going to toss in a good handful of salt, as I don't need flat tasting pasta. Thank you!-COLLAPSE

  • Totally agree!

  • I've always heard the water should be as salty as the Mediterranean sea. Works for me!

  • This is so true! I don't know why so many Americans insist on trying to cook pasta without salt. I once queried a cook about whether he used salt - I knew he didn't - when he cooked pasta, and he said "Pasta doesn't have any taste anyway." To which I replied, well you can imagine.