The cooking time for noodles never works

On all noodle boxes there is a cooking time. But I need about twice the time until my noodles are ready?

please enlighten me

You do put them in the water when it's already boiling, oder?

a-Bring the water to boil before you throw the noodles in there.

b- Get a woman to do your noodles

c- only a is true

d- only b is true

e- all of the above

It about works for me most of the time, sometimes it's off by a minute but not twice as much. They would be inedible mush by then.
The only thing I can imagine you are doing wrong is what genie and LIAB suggested. Wait for the water to boil and then add the noodles.

...Hi Mapleleafdude!
- as mentioned before, BOIL the water before even thinking of adding the pasta!
- if you add a pinch of salt to the water it lowers the specific heat capacity of the water and it´ll come to the boil quicker - it will however leave small white dotty marks on the bottom of your saucepan...

re salt please see: Using salt when cooking Basmati rice

...thanks Gen, just taken a look - it´s got nothing to do with the taste - my comment was actually meant as a useful hint that the water would boil quicker if there was salt in it - so the pasta could be cooked quicker too...

A pinch of salt will make no difference to the speed at which a pot of water boils. At least no difference that you would notice without fairly accurate measuring equipment.

Word up KD.

The amount of salt you need to actually have any significant effect is technically referred to as a "fucking shedload", and even then it actually is not really even that significant, so ignore all of that.

Your problem is likely not that you have not waited for the water to boil before adding your pasta, but because you are using nowhere near enough water , so it cools too much when your pasta is added, and it all sorta simmers away a bit before it hits boiling point again. REsult? Sludgy shit that is totally rubbish.

Use a massive pan, tons of water, pinch of salt if you like wasting salt, get it hot, pasta cooks well nicely. Taste it after a few minutes. The chances are you're gonna be tossing it in a sauce, or dishing it up and waiting a few minutes as you carry everything to a table, or whatever - my point being it will continue to cook a bit in the residual heat, so perhpas try almost undercooking it a bit if you seem to be always getting soggy crap.

I'd expect better from someone with your reputation. Pasta waits for nobody.

Unsalted pasta? Yuck

Yes, you're not using enough water. You should be using a big stock pot for cooking pasta, and the cooking time starts when the water starts to boil again. Also, you shouldn't dump the pasta in all at once, but slide it in in a few handfuls so that the water doesn't stop boiling. It just shouldn't take twice as long to cook pasta as directed on the box--maybe an extra minute or two-- so this should help with your pasta problems. As to salt, the Italians says that the water should be "salty, like the ocean..."

boiling point of water 100C
boiling point of salted water 104C

wondering how that one works, though

You don't have a kitchen with heat lamps.

How to Cook Pasta ...

Well thats cleared up an urban legend concerning the salt aspect and boiling point

I will no longer dump all the paste in at once and use more water

what a happy camper I am now.

thanks everyone from a guy trying to cook.

He will end up with mush for sure.

Blokes are better at cooking anyway. Women get about as many Michelin stars as Germans.

A lot of Germans have Michelin stars. Don't know about German women though.

I don't really use that much water to cook pasta and it turns out just fine. I use a pot big enough to fit all the pasta in (in cooked state) and enough water to cover the pasta (in cooked state), and it's fine. I think my parents actually have a method of cooking pasta with just 1l of water... (same method as cooking rice, with the lid on the pot), also tastes good.

How to cook pasta, according to Barilla, my favourite pasta brand.