How do I cook pasta al dente consistently?

Al dente is a texture, not a time, and the packet figure assumes the pasta will not be cooked again in a sauce.

Step by step

1. Use plenty of water.Around four litres per 500g. Too little and the temperature crashes when the pasta goes in, and the starch concentration makes it gluey.
2. Salt it properly.It should taste noticeably salty. This is the only chance to season the pasta itself, and unsalted pasta tastes flat however good the sauce.
3. Do not add oil.It floats on the surface, does nothing to prevent sticking, and coats the pasta so sauce slides off. Stirring in the first minute is what prevents sticking.
4. Stir for the first minute.That is when pasta releases surface starch and sticks. After that it looks after itself.
5. Start testing early.Two minutes before the packet time. Bite a piece — al dente has a firm, slightly resistant core with no chalky white centre.
6. Drain it slightly underdone if it is going into sauce.A minute or two early. It finishes cooking in the sauce and absorbs flavour, which boiling water cannot give it.
7. Save a mug of the cooking water.Starchy and seasoned. It emulsifies with the fat in the sauce and is what makes a sauce cling rather than sit in a pool.
8. Do not rinse it.Rinsing washes off the surface starch that helps sauce adhere. Only rinse pasta destined for a cold salad.
9. Finish it in the pan.Drained pasta into the sauce pan for a minute over heat, tossing, adding pasta water as needed. This is the single biggest difference between home and restaurant pasta.
10. Serve immediately.Pasta continues to soften in a warm bowl. It does not wait.

Tips

• Test two minutes before the packet says. The packet time assumes no further cooking.
• Keep a mug of pasta water. It is what makes sauce cling.
• Never add oil to the water. Stir in the first minute instead.

Common mistakes

• Adding oil to the cooking water — It floats on the surface rather than mixing, so it does nothing about sticking, and what does coat the pasta stops sauce adhering later.
• Cooking to the full packet time before adding it to sauce — The pasta then cooks further in the sauce and ends up soft. Drain a minute or two early and let it finish in the pan.

If it doesn't work

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