What's the point of adding salt to boiling water when cooking...

So the salt is absorbed by the food while it cooks. Pasta, legumes, etc, soak up a great deal of water during the cooking process. The idea is to get them to soak up salty water so the seasoning gets inside the food, not just crystals on the outside.

salting the surface of your food at the end is different to cooking the food with salt. if you're doing it for seasoning the food will absorb it more evenly but there are also many other reasons to salt your food, it affects both flavour and texture in many ways.

Typically you salt water for things that will absorb it like potatoes, rice, or pasta (especially if it's been dried). Next time you cook dried pasta try weighing it when it's dry and then again when it's cooked and drained. If the water wasn't salted, the flavour of the pasta can be diluted by unseasoned water.

Just sprinkling salt over cooked pasta before adding to the sauce wouldn't work as the salt would dissolve in the sauce and just make the sauce saltier.

The amount you salt the water should depend on how much water you expect it to absorb. Rice absorbs every drop for some cooking methods so only a small amount should be used. Potatoes only absorb a little so you can afford to salt the water quite generously depending on the size of the cut. More info on this here: seriouseats.com/2014/05/how-salty-should-pasta-water-be.html

>he doesn't blanch his greens in salted water.

I bet you put oil in the water when you cook pasta too, don't you.

i do. why the fuck not? I like seeing the greasy bubbles on the top of boiling water. When I was in prison I taught everyone to salt and oil the water. I was so happy I was in charge of the kitchen there. This was second nature to them. Also, made them put mayo on the outside of the grilled cheese, just because. I don't even do that.....just funny to make people do useless things...

>why the fuck not?

Because it doesn't achieve anything other than creating a fire risk if the pot were to boil over.

no. no it would not. a bit of olive oil is diluted enough to be no hazard

Regardless, it's a pointless thing to do. The oil has no effect on the cooking of the pasta.

>just funny to make people do useless things
you don't read well do you

There is no dilution because oil and water don't mix. the oil just floats on the top of the pot, which also means it's the first thing to splash out of the pot if it boils over.

And that too. The oil doesn't actually achieve anything, so why do it?

lol. this is why people learn to do things stupid ways....

if you used an emulsifier for the oil would you end up with greasy noodles? has anyone done this?

mayo on the outside of grilled cheese is a thing though

Maybe. I have no idea what would happen if the oil got into the pasta while it was still hydrating. It might not cook properly.

Different user here. To be fair, it would only be at a maximum of 100 degrees Celsius, so nowhere near hot enough to ignite in contact with a flame (at least, I don't think so).

hotter cooktop hotter burner

olive oil is not going to cause a fire if it spills out with a bunch of water on a stove top....

I have seen it happen in my college dorm kitchen.

Oil splashes out from the pot, falls onto the hob, bam: instant flame.

youtube.com/watch?v=v3F4c5o4J7M

I have had water spill out hundreds of times with olive oil in it. Never a fire....this conversation is stupid.

>posting video of a turkey fryer when comparing boiling water for pasta

This is bait? Oil residue on the drained pasta makes the surface much less sticky. Sauces don't coat it as well. Ends up being slimy worm noodles slipping around in a puddle of sauce like a can of SpaghettiO's. You'd have to slurp it up with a spoon to get a good ratio of pasta and sauce in the same bite. That's a pretty good reason why not to do this for most people.

>When I was in prison

Wtf, opinion discarded.

>Never a fire.

Sure. And I've driven drunk plenty of times...never a wreck. Does that mean that drunk driving is a good idea?

The starch is actually enough to cause that on its own.

Source: My burned up stovetop.

Jamal go back to work pls

why does based ramsey say you should add oil to the pan then? he says it stops the pasta sticking together.

I know it floats on the surface, but he must have a reason.

>he says it stops the pasta sticking together.

That's a bad thing. If the sauce is all slippery with oil then the sauce won't adhere to it properly. Best method is to par-cook the pasta in boiling water, and then finish cooking it in the sauce.

>>but he must have a reason.
Not really. Ramsay is classically trained in French cooking. That's his real area of expertise. He's not exactly an expert in other cuisines.

I can learn something from this cesspool

you'd think he would be able to see that oil floats on top of water though.

You would. You'd also think he knows that "searing" does not "seal in juices" just as easily. But he still repeats that "seal in the juices" crap.

Also keep in mind that a lot of classical kitchen training--especially in France--is simply about doing what you are told. If Chef tells you to do something, you don't question it, you do it. You act like a robot. He may we be in a mindset of "this is how I learned it so this is how I do it" with no thought as to if it makes any sense or not.

Look up the word brine you troglodytic cum recycler.

Not significantly. And I mean that term scientifically.