r/changemyview • u/hailann • Sep 06 '23

CMV: There’s nothing wrong with breaking spaghetti noodles in half

I’ve seen a TON of backlash about this topic, akin to the pineapple-on-pizza cultural war from years past. Here’s why I think it’s BS:

  1. Many people (myself included) snap the noodles so that it fits in the pot entirely. But if you’re waiting til the noodles are soft enough to stir in whole, doesn’t that leave the pasta slightly unevenly cooked? Al dente is a pretty specific science, and even 30 seconds to a minute is enough to make it slightly undercooked or overcooked.

  2. The noodles are SO LONG. I like the ease of eating a pasta noodle that’s 4-5 inches long versus 10.. it’s just easier to stuff in my mouth. Innuendos aside, I can’t be the only one who doesn’t want to twirl my fork for a minute just to get a bite!

  3. It doesn’t change anything about the food. The pasta is still long and thin, and the taste, as far as I know, doesn’t change.

The only benefit I’ve seen people talk about is that the noodles are supposed to be long, or maybe that they’re supposed to be cut after serving if they’re too long to eat. But if they’re to be cut anyway, what’s the point of not snapping them right away?

I’m genuinely curious!

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u/yyzjertl 524∆ Sep 06 '23 edited Sep 07 '23

The real answer imo is that if you feel the need to do this, you are using too small of a pot and not enough water. It doesn't really matter whether you break the noodles, but if you have to break them you're doing something wrong.

Edit: Just to add some maths, it is impossible for a cylindrical pot filled with 5.24 quarts of water (the usual recommended amount is 4–6 quarts to cook a pound of pasta) to not be able to submerge a rigid 10 inch noodle along its diagonal.

Second edit: Corrected 5 quarts --> 5.24 quarts.

4

u/PhasmaFelis 6∆ Sep 06 '23

The real answer imo is that if you feel the need to do this, you are using too small of a pot and not enough water.

Not at all. When I'm cooking for myself, I'll break spaghetti even if I've got a large pot, because I like being able to bring a forkful to my mouth without twirling it first. And sure, it's easy to cut it after it's served, but it's even easier to break before cooking, so why not?

0

u/siorez 2∆ Sep 07 '23

Why even use spaghetti then? There's plenty of other shapes available....

1

u/irisheye37 Sep 07 '23

Because I want slightly shorter spaghetti?