TransWikia.com

How much water to use when cooking pasta in an Instant Pot

Seasoned Advice Asked on September 28, 2021

The de facto Instant Pot manual at hippressurecooking has a page on cooking pasta but doesn’t explain how to determine a proper amount of water to use when cooking pasta.

Figuring out the liquid is easy (no sputters) The hip method for
pressure cooking pasta does not actually measure any of the cooking
liquid. As noted in the recipe, only the amount of water that is
needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is used. This ensures
that there is almost no liquid left in the cooker by the time the
pasta is finished cooking – nothing left to foam or sputter when
pressure is released.

There follows a recipe that instructs to “Pour in the pasta, the tomato puree, and just enough water to cover the pasta”. 2 cups of tomato puree.

So not much help there. Presumably the amount of water that is needed for the amount of pasta to be cooked is related to the weight of the pasta rather than its volume—covering farfalle or rotini is going to require a lot more water per cup of pasta (but perhaps the same amount per gram) than is covering lasagne or spaghetti, because their shape makes these flat pastas more dense.

Is there a simple ratio of water to weight of pasta that will give consistent results with a variety of pasta shapes? If not, is there a chart somewhere that gives a water-to-pasta ratio for various shapes?

2 Answers

You're correct, the water ratios may be slightly different between different types of noodles. In general, you're covering the noodles so that they will actually have a chance to soak up the water though, as with a pressure cooker, you don't have a chance to stir the noodles and ensure equal saturation.

When making pasta in the instant pot, you'll also need to keep in mind the layering effect of your ingredients. Tomato based sauces are prone to burns, so you want to keep them on the top of the pot. Put your noodles on the bottom, and if you feel that it's taking an excessive amount of water to cover them, you can leave the last 1/2 inch or so exposed, so long as you cover it with your tomato sauce, or some other liquid.

Answered by MacKenzie McFadden on September 28, 2021

I heard it was two cups per 8 ounces pasta. Cooking rarely scales linerly because volume is cubic. But 4 cups for a lb shouldnt be two bad. Also affecting the al dente ness would be quick release verse graudule release.

Answered by John on September 28, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP