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Spaghetti Help

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tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:09 PM
Ok, I need help with my spaghetti. It's the only pasta I can't do right, it seems. Every time I make it, it always comes out clumped up and in a big ball. What am I doing wrong here? I have a 12 quart pot filled with boiling water for a pound of pasta and it never fails to stick together on me. Someone help. I've tried rinsing after it cooks, I've added oil to the water, everything. I can't get it right. ;)
Oct 6, 2010 11:09pm
karen lotz's avatar

karen lotz

TuTu Train

22,284 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:11 PM
I don't think you are supposed to rinse it after its done cooking. Also, try putting a little butter in the water while its cooking.
Oct 6, 2010 11:11pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:13 PM
Are you cooking it to long? I don't rinse it after just drain it. I bring the water to a boil, add a tad of salt and olive oil and add noodles for till the consistancy I like them, tender but firm.
Oct 6, 2010 11:13pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:16 PM
No, it's only 4 minutes or so for a pound of pasta. I get it al dente, it just always sticks on me. I don't know what I'm doing. I add salt and I've added oil to the water and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Oct 6, 2010 11:16pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:18 PM
Do you always use the same pan? It could be your pan.
Oct 6, 2010 11:18pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:21 PM
I don't know, maybe. It's the only one I have thought that's big enough.
Oct 6, 2010 11:21pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:25 PM
It very much could be the pan outside other things I mentioned not sure what else
Oct 6, 2010 11:25pm
tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:27 PM
Yeah, or I could just be a loser at cooking spaghetti. :D
Oct 6, 2010 11:27pm
chicago510's avatar

chicago510

Original Chatterer

5,728 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:30 PM
4 minutes? Seems a bit low. No pasta expert but mine is usually 7-9 min.

Agreed with putting butter/olive oil in the pasta and mixing right after the strainer.
Oct 6, 2010 11:30pm
Stiffman's avatar

Stiffman

Stuntin' on my Gixxer!

512 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:31 PM
Try stirring the pasta often to prevent the sticking. Also, put the pasta in a few at a time instead of all at once. Just some random thoughts.

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Oct 6, 2010 11:31pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 6, 2010 11:50 PM
4 minutes seems a bit low on the cooking time. And stir the pasta pretty awesome. Oil in the water doesn't help as much as adding a little bit of oil after draining the pasta. (When the pasta is draining I cool down the pot with cold water, dump it out, and then put the pasta back in the cooled pot (cool so it won't stick) and stir in a bit of oil.
Oct 6, 2010 11:50pm
D

Dthane

Senior Member

169 posts
Oct 7, 2010 12:11 AM
Maybe I should ask what kind of pasta brand are you cooking? I have had good luck with San Georgio, Barilla, and Krogers and frozen homemade, I think Schaivo brand. Make sure your water is boiling pretty good before "dropping". Don't settle for little peeny bubbles, make sure it is chugging along pretty good. And like someone said above, stir it a few times at the start to keep it from even thinking about clumping. If it doesn't start out clumpy, I don't see how it could get clumpy. Forget the minutes, do what my Italian mom has been doing for at least 48 years. After the first piece of pasta starts to float (should be at the 3-5 minute area), start testing one piece every minute or so. Spoon it out, blow on it and test it. Unless you have two kids (like her and later me), then your take 2 or 3 pieces out, cool them slightly and test. The kids really think they have a good job, head pasta tester. Or at least I did.
Oct 7, 2010 12:11am
CenterBHSFan's avatar

CenterBHSFan

333 - I'm only half evil

6,115 posts
Oct 7, 2010 7:45 AM
Stir with a pasta spoon, it helps and keeps the noodles separated. Also, I've never liked putting oil/butter in the water or after cooking. It doesn't let the sauce cling to the noodle like it should. I never add the salt until the water boils.

Oct 7, 2010 7:45am
power i's avatar

power i

Senior Member

1,296 posts
Oct 7, 2010 8:11 AM
^^What she said. And 4 minutes seems way too not enough time. I'd try about 6 or 7 at a good boil and it should still be al dente.
Oct 7, 2010 8:11am
M

muffy

Senior Member

128 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:15 AM
When is it clumping? In the pan while cooking or after you've drained it? If after you've drained it, add a little bit of oil to the boiling water. Also, after draining it, if you aren't immediately adding sauce to it and you aren't cooling it with cold water, put it in a bowl with a LID or at least cover the bowl with saran wrap and this will keep it from clumping.

I believe the salt helps the water boil "As soon as any of the salt dissolves in the water, the boiling point of the water
will begin to rise -- by about one half degree Celsius for every 58 grams of salt dissolved per kilogram of water." Which is why you add it before it begins to boil.

Are you using dried pasta or a fresh pasta that is still sticky?

4 minutes isn't enough for a lb of pasta. Stir it with a spoon similar to the one shown above. You can add a LITTLE bit of oil while it's cooking (oil would do the same as butter and unless you want buttered noodles, would be better.

You can cool your pasta with water and put back in same pot and add sauce. Cooling it stops the cooking process right away. If you don't care about that, dump the drained pasta in to the same pot or another bowl and add sauce. My husband's family prefers the sauce on the pasta. My family (when I was growing up) preferred the pasta in one bowl (with a lid to keep it from clumping) and the sauce in a different bowl.
Oct 7, 2010 9:15am
Belly35's avatar

Belly35

Elderly Intellectual

9,716 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:25 AM
rinsing after it cooks should be done with COLDwater (your sause should be what makes the pasta hot), cold water will also prevent the pasta from hold water and make a watery plate of pasta. rinsing and then let drain (shake pasta a few time to get the water off), olive oil is the only type of oil to use in the water, salt should be sea salt and add to the water after water is boiling. the more water the better as long as it is boiling. Cheap pasta is just that cheap..

cooking time I find that if you use more water and let the pasta tumble in the additional water cooking time is shorten..
Oct 7, 2010 9:25am
Fab4Runner's avatar

Fab4Runner

Tits McGee

6,196 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:33 AM
I use a decent size pan (not huge), add sea salt after the water is boiling and cook it for however long the box says. I've never had a problem with any of it clumping. Maybe I'm just lucky?
Oct 7, 2010 9:33am
krambman's avatar

krambman

Senior Member

3,606 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:44 AM
chicago510;510200 wrote:4 minutes? Seems a bit low. No pasta expert but mine is usually 7-9 min.

Agreed with putting butter/olive oil in the pasta and mixing right after the strainer.

I was thinking the same thing. If this is fresh pasta or presoaked pasta then 4 minutes sounds about right, but if this dry pasta, then you need at least 7 minutes for al dente. Also, pasta should never be completely cooked in the water. Take a few ounces of the pasta water right before you strain the pasta and add it to your sauce (likes of flavor in that water) then strain the pasta and immediately add it to the sauce and toss. The sauce has a lot of heat and moisture in it so the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce, and it the pasta doesn't clump until it's been strained this should prevent that from happening.

Also, if you're always using the same brand of spaghetti I might try another brand. The brand you have could just be high in gluten causing it to stick more. I'd also recommend trying a whole wheat pasta instead.
Oct 7, 2010 9:44am
CenterBHSFan's avatar

CenterBHSFan

333 - I'm only half evil

6,115 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:48 AM
I'm one of the types that like to add my own sauce. Plus, watery pasta blows.
Oct 7, 2010 9:48am
tk421's avatar

tk421

Senior Member

8,500 posts
Oct 7, 2010 4:08 PM
ha ha, thanks for all the help. Never knew we had a bunch of budding chefs on the OC. :D
Oct 7, 2010 4:08pm
BigAppleBuckeye's avatar

BigAppleBuckeye

Senior Member

2,935 posts
Oct 7, 2010 4:25 PM
PS, don't rinse the pasta, as you are washing off the starch that helps sauces stick to the pasta better. I feel like a "The More You Know" commercial on NBC haha
Oct 7, 2010 4:25pm
B

balk14

Senior Member

129 posts
Oct 7, 2010 6:09 PM
salt the water before u put the pasta in
Oct 7, 2010 6:09pm
F

friendfromlowry

Senior Member

6,239 posts
Oct 7, 2010 7:10 PM
Come on, IT'S PASTA. Get your head in the game.
Oct 7, 2010 7:10pm
Mohican00's avatar

Mohican00

Dirty White Boy

3,394 posts
Oct 7, 2010 7:16 PM
friendfromlowry;510968 wrote:Come on, IT'S PASTA. Get your head in the game.

No shit. Salt, boil, strain, done.
Oct 7, 2010 7:16pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Oct 7, 2010 9:29 PM
Just realized the video I linked wasn't complete.
Oct 7, 2010 9:29pm