It Turns Out Chefs Prefer Cooking Dry Pasta In Cold Water

First came the news that I’m not putting enough water into my pasta pot. Then, I found out that, despite Gordon Ramsay’s advice, there really is no place for olive oil in the cooking liquid. 

But those seem tame compared to a more recent revelation: it turns out some chefs, including Alton Brown, swear by starting their pasta off in cold water. 

This, he claims, leads to “quicker cook times and extra-starchy pasta water that’s perfect for finishing sauces”.

In fact, Brown said, “although I may be blocked from ever entering Italy again for saying this: I have come to prefer the texture of dry pasta started in cold water”.

Why would cooking pasta in cold water be better?

The chef wrote that it has multiple benefits. First of all, he said, it means the pasta boils at the same time as the water does – that saves you time compared to boiling the water on its own and then letting the pasta cook in it. 

As he said before, the pasta also releases more starches when it starts cooking in cold water. That can make sauces extra-creamy and ensure they stick perfectly to the carbs.

“Just be sure to remove your pasta with a spider strainer rather than draining it into the sink,” Brown said. 

He even stated that he liked the texture of pasta cooked in cold water more. 

It’d be one thing if he were alone in the preference.

But after testing five different pasta-cooking methods, the staff of The Kitchn found themselves agreeing with the cook. 

“The noodles were al dente, right on schedule, after just 4 minutes and 30 seconds of simmering,” they wrote (that’s certainly inmpressive). 

They found that the sauce was extra-starchy and that the technique “resulted in really great tasting pasta”. 

And writing for Serious Eats, chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt said that, despite his initial trepidation, he found the method “the fastest, most energy-efficient way I know to cook dry pasta”.

A little caveat, though: that word “dry” is important. This won’t work as well for fresh pasta, which is more hydrated than its dried cousins.

Why does the cold water method work? 

J. Kenji López-Alt wrote that “cooking pasta is actually a two-phase process: hydration and cooking.″ 

Hydration refers to the amount of water pasta contains and/or takes on. And if pasta is overcooked, it can feel mushy and limp. 

Some worry that this will happen if you start pasta off in cold water. But if it’s dry, and therefore has a lower hydration – the chef says the pasta can handle it. 

After testing dry pasta cooked in both cold and boiling water, he found that both absorbed the same amount of water (75% of their dry weight). And the taste was “indistinguishable”.

Looks like I have some changes to make...