A Word on Pasta - White Vinegar

Living in Utah presents some challenges with pasta making. Because a large portion of our water makes its way through limestone deposits as it meanders into our water supply, it tends to have a higher pH. This presents an issue when it comes to making pasta.

Basic(higher pH) water attacks the outer walls of pasta, causing excess starch (mainly amylose) to make it's way into the cooking water. When you pull the pasta out of the water, the amylose starch in the water sticks to your pasta, causing your pasta to turn into one big lumpy mess.

While it's always possible to either rinse the pasta, and/or cover it in oil, that washes away starch from the pasta and/or adds additional calories, without adding much extra flavor.

If you're making your own pasta, the trick to fix this is add additional eggs to your pasta batter. The protein in the egg will do a better job holding the amylose starch in the pasta. However, there are very few nights when making my own pasta is feasible.

Instead, try adding 3 tablespoons of white vinegar to every gallon of pasta water. This will lower the pH of the water enough that the amylose starch won't make its way into your pasta water. You'll end up with a much better noodle!