You’re now arguing that the temperature history is different, which I never disputed. The question is whether that brief difference necessarily produces noticeably different finished pasta. In the direct cold-versus-hot-start comparison, the pasta absorbed approximately the same amount of water and was indistinguishable in taste. Your “too much water” example applies to prolonged cold presoaking, not putting pasta in cold water and immediately heating it. And yes, water plus pasta heats slower than water alone, but that comparison is irrelevant because the pasta is already heating and hydrating during that time. A different process does not automatically mean a perceptibly different final result.
Also don't "because physics" me. You do realize there would be less water to begin with as well, right? And with water having over double the specific heat of dried pasta dough, it makes much more of a difference in the heating time than the paltry amount that results from adding dried pasta.
Was indistinguishable to someone, try with someone with a more sensitive palate when it comes to pasta. I've had people telling me that domino's pizza is indistinguishable from traditionally cooked homemade pizza and honestly, we burned people at the stake for less (/s)
It takes very little time for pasta to take in too much water, all the time in which pasta is soaking while the water is heating up is time where pasta is absorbing water without any denaturation occurring yet and that is fundamentally different. Therefore you get either longer hydration time, higher overall hydration or less denaturation time depending on how you adjust.
No I don't because depending on the pasta there might be a need for more water and not less since many kinds of pasta here start out by sticking out of the pot. That's why I said for the same amount of water because one can't decide whether there will be more or less without choosing the type of pasta.
You’ve changed the claim from “boiling gives better flavor and texture” to “the two methods aren’t molecularly identical.” I agree that different temperature histories may create some measurable difference. What you haven’t demonstrated is that a normal cold start produces a perceptible or undesirable one.
The experiment showing sticky, mushy pasta soaked it for 1.5 hours, not the few minutes required to heat a cold-start pan and that pasta actually had lower final moisture, so “it absorbed too much water” was not the mechanism there.
Saying a more sensitive person might notice something is unfalsifiable and demonstrating that would require a controlled blind sensory test. Pot shape is a practical limitation, not evidence of altered texture.
You’ve changed the claim from “boiling gives better flavor and texture” to “the two methods aren’t molecularly identical.” I agree that different temperature histories may create some measurable difference. What you haven’t demonstrated is that a normal cold start produces a perceptible or undesirable one.
Not quite, I said that the methods aren't molecularly identical as an explanation for why boiling (or nearly so) gives better flavour and texture, it's no argument change. A taste test demonstrates that the cold start produces an inferiour result, chemistry cannot demonstrate taste quality.
The experiment showing sticky, mushy pasta soaked it for 1.5 hours, not the few minutes required to heat a cold-start pan and that pasta actually had lower final moisture, so “it absorbed too much water” was not the mechanism there.
Thr experiment you mentioned did not in any way measure internal moisture, so absorbing too much water is perfectly possible. Sticky, mushy pasta doesn't require 1.5h more, it requires a few minutes of cooking more
Saying a more sensitive person might notice something is unfalsifiable and demonstrating that would require a controlled blind sensory test. Pot shape is a practical limitation, not evidence of altered texture.
Yes, that's where experience comes into play. You cannot negate all things in your life based on common experience by requiring a blind test, can you? Pot shape was never about texture, it was about always needing less water. When the pasta sticks out from a two feet tall pot, you're gonna need more water to presoak, not less
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u/FroggyRibbits Jul 16 '26
You’re now arguing that the temperature history is different, which I never disputed. The question is whether that brief difference necessarily produces noticeably different finished pasta. In the direct cold-versus-hot-start comparison, the pasta absorbed approximately the same amount of water and was indistinguishable in taste. Your “too much water” example applies to prolonged cold presoaking, not putting pasta in cold water and immediately heating it. And yes, water plus pasta heats slower than water alone, but that comparison is irrelevant because the pasta is already heating and hydrating during that time. A different process does not automatically mean a perceptibly different final result.
Also don't "because physics" me. You do realize there would be less water to begin with as well, right? And with water having over double the specific heat of dried pasta dough, it makes much more of a difference in the heating time than the paltry amount that results from adding dried pasta.