20-minute experiment
Salted vs plain pasta water
Two pots, one very obvious difference.
The idea
Pasta cooked in salted water tastes seasoned. Pasta cooked in plain water tastes flat.
The one thing you change: Salt in the water
You need
- 2 small pots
- 200 g wheat pasta, split in half (swap in wheat-free pasta if needed)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 liter of water per pot
Steps
What you should find
The salted pasta tastes like something. The plain one tastes like warm paper.
Salt the pasta water
Pasta swells as it cooks, so salt in the water ends up inside the noodles. Use about 1 to 2 teaspoons per liter. Salt added to the sauce later only seasons…
Read the explainer