How much salt do you use to cook pasta?

[RonB]

I ran across this video and it made me think. I have read/seen "experts" on both sides of the camp. Some say add salt until it tastes like sea water while others say that's way too much. How much salt do you add?

The chef in the linked video is on the salty side, but, as I said, other experts are not. I fall on the "less salt" side although it's been long enough that I don't remember why.

[smokenoob]

a dash of salt and a squirt of olive oil, I don’t really taste it

[RonB]

I can't edit the post now, but the salt discussion starts at ~ 5:30 minutes in.

[Mosca]

I don’t measure. All I can say is a sh— load. I figure a lot of it gets dumped out with the water anyhow. I’m sure there’s a formula somewhere, but I don’t really care. I just use lots of salt.

Edit: that guy is using what looks like Maldon sea salt; that’s expensive as hell, considering what he’s doing with it! I use table salt for that. And, I think I use a lot; I use about half what that guy uses.

[mrteddyprincess]

I had a friend who lived in Italy for a few years in the 90s, and he told me once about the salt his friends in Italy used to cook pasta. He indicated that for a pot of boiling water, they would use a handful of salt. I don't know whether that's an accurate depiction or not, but it's all I have to go on. I usually tip my salt bin over a bit and quite a bit. Maybe half a hand full. I've never noticed it making the pasta overly salty. I think Mosca is correct in that the salt mostly gets poured out with the water.

B

[Steve B]

Cooking pasta I usually just put a light coating of salt on the bottom of the pot.
Once I went with a recipe for mashed potatoes that wanted the water to taste like salt. MAN those taters were salty. Won't do that again.

[LA Pork Butt]

A dash is all I need. The pasta doesn’t have to taste salty, but if I don’t add that dash I can tell it is missing.

[PGH_RAM]

My Italian-born grandmother used a handful of salt for enough water to boil 1 lb of pasta. I use 3/4 of a handful because my hands are a lot bigger than hers were.

Sorry I can't be more specific. Most of the cooking I learned from my grandmother and mother was in pinches, palms, and handsfull.

[mrteddyprincess]

Hands: The original measuring cup! I think they work great for that purpose...

[DTro]

+ or minus a tablespoon. I never measure, I just pour some on my hand and throw it in the boiling water. I always thought it was to increase the boiling point and not necessarily to salt the pasta. I will sometimes use some starchy pasta water to thicken the sauce and I don't want it too salty.

[MBMorgan]

1 to 2 teaspoons (5-10 mL) Morton's Kosher salt per quart/L of water for boiling pasta. I use the smaller amount if the pasta dough contains salt and the larger amount if it doesn't.

[Troutman]

I'm with Mosca above, I use a lot of salt. I followed Chef Ann Burrell's advise, in restaurant cooking they always over salt things to give the food a pronounced flavor. In her cooking videos she would literally dump about a cup of salt in a large pot of boiling water (maybe 2-3 gallons). The idea, in her mind, is it's the only time the pasta will ever be seasoned. That said I go a little heavy, like half a cup to 2 or so gallons and have never had a compliant about over salty pasta. I think its a lot more forgiving then you may think.

[Mosca]

Yep, about half a cup to a pound of pasta, and about 4-5 quarts of water.

[STEbbq]

I use a good handful of salt. My lovely wife doesn’t. I guess it evens out over the years.

Related:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/accessorize-your-pit/cookware/1464386-warning-salting-pasta-water-before-it-boils-can-pit-your-stainless-stockpot

[RonB]

Can you tell any difference in taste between the two?

[STEbbq]

RonB I can but wife cannot. So we just continue along our merry ways. Same discussion for adding salt and pepper to eggs in the pan when making scrambled eggs. I sometimes add salt for my plate if I remember.

[shify]

I don’t measure but pour salt in from my salt cellar. Maybe 2-3 TBS of Diamond Crystal per every 2 quarts?

i also use much less water - a lb of pasta does not need 5-6 qts of water. I use maybe half of that. Just enough to cover it and some room for it to expand. So a 1 Lb of pasta, 2-3 quarts of water and 3-4 TBS of kosher salt.

[RichieB]

I never measure. Pour until I stop. Maybe a couple of tablespoons.

[Richard Chrz]

Salt in pasta water for me is based on a few factors, I kind of go both ways. Since I make my own pasta, I can control the salt content in my pasta. So, if my sauce is a long all day red sauce where I have worked on the salt ratio a bit through out the day, my pasta water has almost no salt, and I will often put more in the pasta water. If it is a lighter sauce, I might add more to the water, and less to the pasta. For me it comes down to the reserved pasta water to bring together the sauce and the noodles, I often cut my red sauce with reserved pasta water, as I like to reduce my red sauce further, so very little in that water. I cut a little bit less, sometimes not at all on a cream sauce, and then add more salt in through a cheese grated in, plus water.