Although it is considered one of the star foods for students due to its ease of preparation, cooking pasta this is art. And, as with everything related to cooking, there is a lot of science in this too. So much so that last September the physicist Giorgio ParisiNobel prize winner in 2021 suggested a trick to cook it right and save as much energy as possible.
This mainly consisted of turn off the heat source from the kitchen halfway through cooking the pasta and let it finish cooking by covering the pot with a lid. No doubt the energy savings will be significant. However, after the announcement of the Nobel Prize, the Italian chef Antonello Columnawarded one Michelin star, said that no matter how much you save, the result will be pasta too rubbery to serve in a restaurant.
That’s why the teacher David Fairhurstfrom Nottingham Trent University, and his students Mia London and Ross Broadhurst, they decided to experiment in search of a truly perfect way to cook pasta. The result published in the article for TalkIt may be a little more expensive than in Parisi, but at least it’s much more edible. Everyone is happy. Including Italian chefs.
The science of making pasta
Before embarking on their experiments, Fairhurst and two of his students learned that steps for making pasta. The first one is hydration, resulting in water getting into the pasta and softening them. Second, heating which causes proteins to expand and become edible. To achieve these two phases, one usually introduces 100 grams of pasta per liter of boiling water for twelve minutes, although there may be variations.
According to this data and at current prices in the United Kingdom, the cost of making a serving of pasta is 12.7p (€0.14) on a ceramic hob, 10.6d (€0.12) on an induction hob and 7p (0.12 euro) on a ceramic plate. 0.08 euros) on a gas stove.
But this energy expenditure is unevenly distributed. According to these scholars, about 60% changes to keep the water boiling. Therefore, Parisi proposes to turn off the heat source in advance. However, it is true that this partially affects the texture of the paste. To solve the problem, the teacher and two students ran several experiments, changing several variables, and found the perfect solution.
No heat needed to hydrate
One step that proved successful was alternative hydration. To do this, instead of putting pasta in boiling water, they used cold water only. Logically, it took much longer to achieve the same effect. Nail two hours about. But the energy cost is zero, so about 3 pence (€0.03) will be saved in the overall process.
Then yes, you will have to add the pasta to the boiling water. And a whole liter would not be needed. Actually, if you use half water, texture and taste are unchanged. Of course, there must be a limit, because if you use a third part, you may get lumps of starch that will be too concentrated.
Finally, these scientists noticed that changes in pasta proteins are achieved by heating only 80°C. Consequently, don’t bring the water to a boil. Thus, another 0.5 pence (€0.01) can be saved.
In short, the trick would be to put dry pasta in cold water for two hours and then put it in half a liter of salted water at 80°C without letting it boil. It may seem that the overall savings are small. However, with all the rising prices for energy and life in general, any savings are welcome. Especially if you are Italian, student or for some other reason eat pasta very often.
Source: Hiper Textual
