Do you know how to boil water ? It sounds like a funny question but when it comes to making pasta, this simple task becomes very important. Do it wrong and you could end up with sticky, clumpy, undercooked, or overcooked noodles that are unusable. The key to cooking pasta perfectly all starts with the size of the pot.
A one-pound box of noodles calls for 4 to 6 quarts of boiling water that has been adequately salted with 1 to 2 tablespoons. The reason you need this much water is because pasta noodles expand as they cook, but there is more that's going on. The dry noodles will change the temperature of the water once you pour them into the pot, this temperature fluctuation becomes greater if you are using a small pot, which means less water.
You need only enough water to fully submerge the noodles, but also enough so that the noodles can move around while cooking. Use more water for better pasta If your pasta pot doesn't have enough water for the amount of noodles you are cooking, they will quickly absorb the liquid, taking on a glue-like consistency. This happens because pasta releases starch as it cooks, making the water thick and creamy — qualities we love when we add this liquid to a sauce.
But when you don't have enough water in the pot, that starch becomes concentrated, which in turn makes your pasta clump together. More boiling water equals less starch. But your noodles also require enough room to boogie as they boil so choose a big enough pot so they can.
Constant mo.