Here's How Much Water You Should Put In Your Pasta Pot, According To Alton Brown

If you've learned to hold on to your pasta water after boiling, there is a good chance you have Alton Brown to thank for that bit of wisdom. Through his many years as an author and the host of Food Network's "Good Eats," Brown helped pioneer a science-based approach to cooking that has enriched home cooks everywhere. Its led to unusual but amazing suggestions like adding mayo and water to scrambled eggs before cooking. But Brown has also helped teach Americans something many Italians already knew: that part of the secret to good pasta lies in the water. More specifically, Brown knows that one way to get the most from your pasta water is not overfilling your pot.

A piece of old conventional wisdom with pasta was that you needed to use plenty of water to make sure the pasta doesn't stick together. But that's exactly the kind of myth Brown was made for busting. One of Brown's best tips for cooking pasta is that you only need to fill your pot enough to cover the pasta. In fact you can pour your pasta in first, then add the water until the pasta is submerged — because another tip from Brown is starting your pasta in cold water. Not only does this save water, but it means the water will boil faster. And when your pasta is done cooking the leftover water will have a much higher concentration of starch — which is what makes pasta water so valuable.

Pasta water serves two valuable roles in cooking pasta sauce, and extra starch is going to help with both. When added to your homemade pasta sauce as it cooks, the starchy water helps thicken it, like a more gentle version of cornstarch or adding flour. Just as importantly, starch helps pasta sauces emulsify and keep from breaking. This is good for almost any sauce, but essential for some popular dishes like carbonara. The higher the starch content, the more effective the water is at holding an emulsion. So while the classic recommendation is one gallon of water per pound of pasta, you are better off listening to Brown and going with half that, or even less if the pasta is submerged.

There is one last tip you can use to make the most of your pasta water: The best choice is bronze-cut pasta, which you can find by looking on the label of common pasta brands. Bronze-cut makes a difference because when the pasta is extruded through the metal, the surface gets more coarse, as opposed to the very smooth surface produced by the alternative Teflon extrusion. That more coarse surface means the pasta will release even more starch into the water when you cook it, and it helps pasta sauce cling to the noodles more too. Combined with Brown's water recommendation, it will produce the most stable and luxuriously thick pasta sauces you've ever made.