My buddy the chef told me to stop salting pasta water - turned out he was wrong

I had this guy from culinary school tell me salting pasta water is a waste because most of it drains off anyway. He said just salt the sauce and you get the same result. So I tried it for like 2 months straight with spaghetti and penne at home. Big mistake. The pasta tasted flat no matter how much salt I put in the sauce after. I went back to salting the water at about a tablespoon per gallon and the difference is night and day. Has anyone else fallen for that one or am I the only one who listened to bad advice?

2 comments

2 Comments

laura_wright27d agoMost Upvoted

a tablespoon per gallon" huh, that's almost exactly what my grandma used to throw in. She never measured anything but her pasta always came out perfect. Meanwhile I just dump a handful in and hope for the best lol.

king.andrew27d ago

Wait, is that really the right ratio? I swear I read somewhere that the salt is more about the water chemistry than actually seasoning the pasta. Heard that from some chef dude on a podcast once. But yeah @laura_wright your grandma knew what was up, those old school methods always seem to work out. I just toss in a big pinch and cross my fingers too, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.