Yes, what they said. Pasta is supposed to go in fully boiling water, then you can turn down just a bit after adding it if the water’s bubbling over.
And I know it sounds counter-intuitive and breaking thermodynamics…but I swear dropping a pinch of salt in nearly boiling water always puts it over the boiling line. I do not know why but it does.
It’s not to do with breaking thermodynamics. The grains of salt simply act like little so-called “nucleation points” where the bubbles can form easier. That’s why you’ll often see the water suddenly boiling and bubbling violently just as you add salt.
The water was “superheated” above the boiling point, but didn’t have imperfections in the pot which allowed the bubbles to form easily.
I figured it was something like that, and not really defying physics. People have told me I must be imagining it, though, because “no, salt raises the boiling point, dumbass.”
However I don’t think it’s ever been super pure water, I think it just adds more impurities, so the bubbles start forming.
Yes, what they said. Pasta is supposed to go in fully boiling water, then you can turn down just a bit after adding it if the water’s bubbling over.
And I know it sounds counter-intuitive and breaking thermodynamics…but I swear dropping a pinch of salt in nearly boiling water always puts it over the boiling line. I do not know why but it does.
It’s not to do with breaking thermodynamics. The grains of salt simply act like little so-called “nucleation points” where the bubbles can form easier. That’s why you’ll often see the water suddenly boiling and bubbling violently just as you add salt.
The water was “superheated” above the boiling point, but didn’t have imperfections in the pot which allowed the bubbles to form easily.
I figured it was something like that, and not really defying physics. People have told me I must be imagining it, though, because “no, salt raises the boiling point, dumbass.”
However I don’t think it’s ever been super pure water, I think it just adds more impurities, so the bubbles start forming.