Green as a Thistle last week mentioned the idea of boiling water, adding dry pasta, covering the pot and turning it off for 20 minutes. One of her readers said this is a common method to cook pasta in Italy (where they oughtta know).
I tried it on Friday. Verdict? 20 minutes was a tad too long for my taste (my bucatini was a ways past al dente). But the method worked great! And while the cooking took a few minutes longer, on my stove it will save more than 2,000 BTUs of natural gas – saving me $0.03 per use and, of course, reducing ye olde carbon emissions.
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Comments ( 3 )
Addendum: Tried again with angel hair yesterday. 12 minutes was perfect!
cheaplikeme added these pithy words on
Oct 02 07 at
3:02 pm
Hi, I have recently started reading your blog.
I like this idea – I will try it next time I cook spaghetti.I have also heard about a method of cooking by heating the food and then putting it in an insulated box to keep it hot. There is some information on this website: http://www.ecohouse.co.nz/new/CH1/chapter-1en.htm#25
Johanna in NZ added these pithy words on
Oct 02 07 at
8:24 pm
I remember reading that tip in Tightwad Gazette. It really does work. I never timed it though, so I ended up checking the pasta every so often.
O added these pithy words on
Oct 04 07 at
2:28 pm
