DAE used to think you had to boil pasta water with the lid on to make it hot enough?

I really thought for years that taking the lid off the pot would let all the heat escape and the water would never boil right. So I'd keep it clamped on tight and it would always foam over and make a mess on the stove. Then I saw my roommate just leave the lid off and the pasta turned out exactly the same. Anyone else have a cooking rule they followed for way too long that turned out to be pointless?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_green2112d ago

God, the lid thing got me too for years. I actually used to time it with a kitchen timer because I thought if I lifted the lid to check the water, I'd have to start the whole boiling process over from zero. I remember my mom always yelling at me to keep the lid on or the water would "take forever" and she'd get mad about the steam. Then I moved into my first apartment and realized I could just leave it off the whole time and it boiled in like 8 minutes flat. Now I feel like an idiot for all those years of worrying about it. My boyfriend still refuses to put a lid on pasta water no matter what I say, so I guess we're all learning at our own pace.

ryan_ellis12d ago

Wait, are you saying your boyfriend still wont put a lid on pasta water? Because that's the exact opposite of what he should be doing. You actually SHOULD put the lid on to get the water to boil faster at the start, then take it off once its bubbling so it doesnt foam over. I used to keep the lid on the whole time too and had the same mess problem, but the trick is just taking it off once its boiling. Your boyfriend is wasting electricity by leaving it off the whole time too, that takes way longer. So really the right move is lid on at first, then lid off once its going. Its like the middle ground nobody talks about.