# ISO help drying pasta quickly



## KissTheCook (Jan 15, 2012)

Hey does anyone know how i can make my pasta dry faster. I was told i would have to wait 8-24 hours but it wasnt dry so i waited 2 days then it was dry. Any one know how i can get it to dry faster?


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## Katie H (Jan 15, 2012)

What kind of pasta are you drying and how are you drying it?


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 15, 2012)

I'm no expert, in fact haven't made my own pasta at all, but from what I've heard you can cook it directly and skip the drying step.

I hope I don't get slapped down for this reply. All I know is what I've heard.

How about cooking it fresh and report back how it went?


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## Andy M. (Jan 15, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I'm no expert, in fact haven't made my own pasta at all, but from what I've heard you can cook it directly and skip the drying step.
> 
> I hope I don't get slapped down for this reply. All I know is what I've heard.
> 
> How about cooking it fresh and report back how it went?



It is certainly possible to cook it before it dries.  

...unless you've made several tons of the stuff and want to save some for later.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 15, 2012)

I've seen TV show chefs cook it as soon as making. Pardon me if I coin a term: "fresh pasta."

As I've said I've never made my own pasta. I've always used dried store pasta. I hope to have the opportunity to fix that soon some day.

I've always enjoyed the concept to cook more than you need now particularly if you can use it later. Some things are even better later. (Okay, meatloaf! True, right?)


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## Addie (Jan 16, 2012)

How are you drying it? I have a very large laundry rack. It has three levels. It works perfectly. You can buy a small wooden one and hang it, spaced out. It depends on how much you make at one time. When I make noodles for chicken soup, I make enough for two meals. That means I have to hang it for drying. Mine and my daughter's. Sometime if she is in the mood for fresh pasta, I will make up a bunch, Enough for two people and one meal. No need to dry it, as she is going to be using it immediately. 

The thinner your pasta, the quicker it will dry. The more moisture in your pasta, the longer it will take to dry. But the important thing to remember is to space it and if necessary, put a fan on it to speed up the process. But have the fan far enough away, so that the hanging pasta is not waving in the wind. You just want to have circulating air in the room. It being winter time, you might want to put the rack near your heat souce. Any more questions, let me know. Only too glad to help.


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## Addie (Jan 16, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I've seen TV show chefs cook it as soon as making. Pardon me if I coin a term: "fresh pasta."
> 
> As I've said I've never made my own pasta. I've always used dried store pasta. I hope to have the opportunity to fix that soon some day.
> 
> I've always enjoyed the concept to cook more than you need now particularly if you can use it later. Some things are even better later. (Okay, meatloaf! True, right?)


 
I have a very tall pasta jar with a canning like lid lock. If I make extra, it is perfect for the extras. I do prefewr to use it a couple of days later. Specially the needles for soup. It give the noodles more drying time, thus the noodles can absorb more of the broth of the soup.


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## letscook (Jan 16, 2012)

Put a fan near where it is ,not directly on it. Air moving will dry it faster.
I use one that rotates (osilating spelling?) move the air nicely and pasta dries quicker.


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## GLC (Jan 16, 2012)

I would be leery of a method that you thought had quickly dried pasta. It would be disasterous to leave the slightest moisture in the core. It can take hours to days, depending on how thick the pasta is. And environmental humidity is a factor. Your dried pasta typically would have been made with semolina(durum) and water.* No eggs. Dried pasta is not just fresh pasta that has been dried. So the two are quite different. The regional division of Italy into dried vs. fresh began mainly according to where durum wheat would grow. 

*Definitely try different flours. APF and Italian "00" are alternatives that have different characters and different ease of working.


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## Kathleen (Jan 16, 2012)

Definitely hang the pasta.  If you do not have a drying rack, you can make them.  Plastic coat hangers work well.  So do wooden spoons, chopsticks, and basic unvarnished dowels.  Does your oven have a pilot light?  If so, you can dry it in an oven with a pilot light.  You can also use a dehydrator.  If you use the laundry rack idea, place a bare-bulb lamp in the center with a 100 watt bulb.  That will help with the drying.

I'm lucky because our house gets very dry during the winter, so the pasta dries pretty fast.


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## Claire (Jan 16, 2012)

When my husband first started making pasta from scratch, we hung it and tried to get it dry before boiling.  Then we realized it was totally unnecessary.  We kind of stretch it out on the counter, lightly floured, and it sits there while I'm making the sauce or whatever sides.  I give it a toss now and then so what drying takes place does so evenly.  A shake to get rid of excess flour, and into (lots of) highly boiling water.  I will say that I never store home made pasta, I use it all, so if it is stored, it is already cooked and in its sauce/dressing.


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## CharlieD (Jan 16, 2012)

I do not dry my pasta either. But then I usually make very little, enough for 2-3 meals, and keep it in the fridge. But I do have a rack where I put the bread after it's baked to cool, I think that would work to dry pasta too.


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## Addie (Jan 16, 2012)

GLC said:


> I would be leery of a method that you thought had quickly dried pasta. It would be disasterous to leave the slightest moisture in the core. It can take hours to days, depending on how thick the pasta is. And environmental humidity is a factor. Your dried pasta typically would have been made with semolina(durum) and water.* No eggs. Dried pasta is not just fresh pasta that has been dried. So the two are quite different. The regional division of Italy into dried vs. fresh began mainly according to where durum wheat would grow.
> 
> *Definitely try different flours. APF and Italian "00" are alternatives that have different characters and different ease of working.


 

Most recipes for the American market call for just flour, salt and eggs. Semonlina does make a stronger pasta. but it is sold in the supermarkets in small bags or containers. Can become very expensive.I use a two to one ratio of APF and Semolina. I have used both the Italian recipe of just Semonlina and water, and the American with the eggs. I prefer the American. Easier to work with, tastier macaroni product. 

I used to live around the corner from a small plant that made for sale their own pasta and stuffed dumplings. Ravioli, etc. The owner from Italy, told me that the wheat grown in this country is far superior to what is grown in Italy. She only uses winter hard unbleached wheat flour. (The south likes the softer spring wheat) In spite of her heavy acent, we had a nice conversation and she offered to give me some lessons in making pasta by hand. I took her up on it. She taught me the volcano method. The flour right on the mixing board with the eggs in the middle of the volcano. Fortunately I am a quick student. Today I use my mixer.


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## GLC (Jan 16, 2012)

I make mine in the food processor. It's so easy to judge the hydration by how it goes around. I don't dry it often. When I want that texture, I just make it up with flour and water and mix semolina as part of the flour, because it's an effort for me to find it also, making just enough for that night.


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## Whiskadoodle (Jan 16, 2012)

I was thinking a hair blower might work.  How else do they make curly pasta anyway?   I am reminded too of an original Julia Child tv episode where she wanted to make some carmel birdcages for a cake top decoration.  She simply balanced a broom handle across the backs of 2 kitchen chairs and had at it and tossed hot carmel that streaked and spun down in long threads and then when it slightly firmed up and cooled, but not hard stage,  she bent it up into the shape she was trying to achieve.    When I buy "fresh" pasta at the store, it's all in a nice round even bundle like that.   I guess a wooden dowel, coat hangers and especially, the wooden clothes dryer thingie that takes up space in the basement would be better,  cleaned before use, that is.


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## taxlady (Jan 16, 2012)

Claire said:


> When my husband first started making pasta from scratch, we hung it and tried to get it dry before boiling.  Then we realized it was totally unnecessary.  We kind of stretch it out on the counter, lightly floured, and it sits there while I'm making the sauce or whatever sides.  I give it a toss now and then so what drying takes place does so evenly.  A shake to get rid of excess flour, and into (lots of) highly boiling water.  I will say that I never store home made pasta, I use it all, so if it is stored, it is already cooked and in its sauce/dressing.



I did that today, the sprinkle with flour and toss it around a bit. Worked a treat. The excess flour just fell off. Thanks for the suggestion.


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## Addie (Jan 16, 2012)

You need to either soak those dowels in bleach or cover them to keep the finish from transfering to the pasta. The dowels on the clothes dryer are stained to keep the splinters down. Broom handles that have been painted are fine. The paint covers the wood. Even if you get wood that has not been treated, a lot of wood has natural resins in it. Like pine. I have a large clothes dryer that I got from stacksandstacks.com many years ago. It is all metal covered with white plastic. Works fine for pasta and clothes drying.


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## taxlady (Jan 16, 2012)

Addie said:


> You need to either soak those dowels in bleach or cover them to keep the finish from transfering to the pasta. The dowels on the clothes dryer are stained to keep the splinters down. Broom handles that have been painted are fine. The paint covers the wood. Even if you get wood that has not been treated, a lot of wood has natural resins in it. Like pine. I have a large clothes dryer that I got from stacksandstacks.com many years ago. It is all metal covered with white plastic. Works fine for pasta and clothes drying.



Sounds like mine. I have used it for drying pasta many times.


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## Addie (Jan 16, 2012)

taxlady said:


> I did that today, the sprinkle with flour and toss it around a bit. Worked a treat. The excess flour just fell off. Thanks for the suggestion.


 
I prefer to use cornmeal and save the flour for baking. It keeps the macaroni from stickiing together.


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 25, 2012)

Please, don't hate me, but I feel the patriotic need to behave like a sort of encyclopedic pest here... 
About pasta, in Italy we basically have two different products: dried pasta   (we call it just pasta) and fresh pasta (pasta fresca or pasta all'uovo).
Dried pasta (from big large scale producers, like Barilla or Buitoni, and from small producers, which sometimes are more careful about the selection of wheat varieties), which is made with flour made from "grano duro" wheat variety (Triticum durum wheat), grown in southern and central Italy. This is the classic spaghetti, penne, farfalle, and so on kind of pasta.
Fresh pasta is a different product. The difference is not simply in the dry/fresh alternative, but in the fact that it is produced with a softer kind of flour, made from the Triticum aestivum wheat variety, which is grown mainly in northern and, again, central Italy, with or without eggs. The most diffused pasta fresca types we use in Italy are lasagna, tagliatelle, fettuccine and many kinds of filled pasta, like ravioli, tortellini and agnolotti, just to name a few.
However, to add further confusion (we're Italian after all ), we also make home made "pasta fresca" with grano duro, too, for example to make orecchiette (Puglia region), strangolapreti (Naples), cavatiddi (Sicily), malloreddus (Sardinia) and so on. And to drive you mad, you can also find industrial made "pasta all'uovo", which should be pasta fresca, well dried and sold in commercial packages…

Ok, now I’m going to prepare some good old spaghetti all’amatriciana!


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## Claire (Jan 25, 2012)

taxlady said:


> I did that today, the sprinkle with flour and toss it around a bit. Worked a treat. The excess flour just fell off. Thanks for the suggestion.



I'm glad it worked for you.  The main trick for this is really, really large amounts of very high-boiling water and lots of stirring.  You don't leave the room ... it is not dried pasta, it will cook in no time flat.


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## Kathleen (Jan 26, 2012)

Luca Lazzari said:


> Please, don't hate me, but I feel the patriotic need to behave like a sort of encyclopedic pest here...
> About pasta, in Italy we basically have two different products: dried pasta   (we call it just pasta) and fresh pasta (pasta fresca or pasta all'uovo).
> Dried pasta (from big large scale producers, like Barilla or Buitoni, and from small producers, which sometimes are more careful about the selection of wheat varieties), which is made with flour made from "grano duro" wheat variety (Triticum durum wheat), grown in southern and central Italy. This is the classic spaghetti, penne, farfalle, and so on kind of pasta.
> Fresh pasta is a different product. The difference is not simply in the dry/fresh alternative, but in the fact that it is produced with a softer kind of flour, made from the Triticum aestivum wheat variety, which is grown mainly in northern and, again, central Italy, with or without eggs. The most diffused pasta fresca types we use in Italy are lasagna, tagliatelle, fettuccine and many kinds of filled pasta, like ravioli, tortellini and agnolotti, just to name a few.
> ...



Ooookay.  I'm taking notes!  Give us a yummy pasta recipe!!!


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 26, 2012)

Kathleen said:


> Ooookay.  I'm taking notes!  Give us a yummy pasta recipe!!!





Kathleen, pick the pasta shape you prefer: spaghetti, penne, rigatoni or conchiglie?

And I'll post a recipe for you!


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 26, 2012)

Why can't you just serve any pasta you like with any pasta sauce recipe that you like? I'm not Italian. I don't understand why you can't just pick a sauce off of one list and a pasta off another list. I'm sure that it's just that I'm not familiar with Italian food apart from ordering off local restaurant menus.


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## Addie (Jan 26, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Why can't you just serve any pasta you like with any pasta sauce recipe that you like? I'm not Italian. I don't understand why you can't just pick a sauce off of one list and a pasta off another list. I'm sure that it's just that I'm not familiar with Italian food apart from ordering off local restaurant menus.


 
I am with you on this one. I don't like linguini. The only long pasta I like is angel hair. For all other meals I use rigatoni or penne. The Italians have a whole process of what pasta goes with what sauce. It is all about the sauce clinging to the pasta.


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 26, 2012)

I always order angel hair at my favorite pasta restaurant, because I think it tastes more tender and it's easier to get on my fork than linguini or other pasta. But I might seriously consider linguini if ordering clam sauce and I don't understand why. I'm sure I'm a foodie and certain that I'm an enthusiastic amateur chef but I don't have any lock on understanding why we make these selections. I'll be interested in hearing advice and suggestions as to why we'd want to decide.


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## Claire (Jan 26, 2012)

There are combinations that are traditional, as Luca can tell you.  But let taste be your guide.  For example, I'm a small/thin pasta lover, and not big on heavier and baked pasta dishes.  Don't hate them, just not my favorites.  But, basically, I like thinner/smaller pasta with lighter sauces.  In the summer, when I have tomatoes in the garden (or at the market) that are to die for, I just chop them with basil; or say just fresh vegetables with olive oil, garlic, and peppers.  For these dishes I like angel hair, thin linguini, small extruded pastas.  For salads, small extruded pastas.  In the winter, heavier, long-cooked tomato sauces, heavy cream sauces, and I'd never bake a small pasta.  

But mostly, that's just starting point.  Do what YOU like, and if you're making the pasta yourself, even more important.


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## Claire (Jan 26, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> I always order angel hair at my favorite pasta restaurant, because I think it tastes more tender and it's easier to get on my fork than linguini or other pasta. But I might seriously consider linguini if ordering clam sauce and I don't understand why. I'm sure I'm a foodie and certain that I'm an enthusiastic amateur chef but I don't have any lock on understanding why we make these selections. I'll be interested in hearing advice and suggestions as to why we'd want to decide.



Angel hair is probably my favorite pasta, but don't order it in restaurants because it is too darned easy to over-cook.  There's like one minute between al dente and mush.  I'm dying for linguini with clams, but the only time I can get clams around here is during the holidays when I don't cook much except for party and potluck food.


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 27, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Why can't you just serve any pasta you like with any pasta sauce recipe that you like? I'm not Italian. I don't understand why you can't just pick a sauce off of one list and a pasta off another list. I'm sure that it's just that I'm not familiar with Italian food apart from ordering off local restaurant menus.



You surely can, Gourmet Greg.
You can eat tomato and beef based sauces, or every other sauce, with short and long pasta, fresh and dry. I'm trying to think hard about it, but I just can't imagine a sauce which you CANNOT match with a pasta shape.
However, Italian cookery is heavily rooted in our ancient local traditions, so every place in Italy has its favorite pasta types and its favorite sauces. For example, the traditional basil pesto comes from Liguria, and they serve it typically with the trenette pasta, which is, obviously, a kind of pasta which has been created in Liguria. The same thing is true for other pasta/sauce marriages, like Rome's bucatini all'amatriciana, Apulia's orecchiette con le cime di rapa, Emilia's tagliatelle al ragù.
But you can surely prepare orecchiette al ragù, or bucatini al pesto. You're just moving forward from our traditional, local way of cooking.


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## Kathleen (Jan 27, 2012)

Luca Lazzari said:


> Kathleen, pick the pasta shape you prefer: spaghetti, penne, rigatoni or conchiglie?
> 
> And I'll post a recipe for you!



Either spaghetti or rigatoni!  I love both!


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 27, 2012)

Kathleen said:


> Either spaghetti or rigatoni!  I love both!



Ok, stay tuned


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 27, 2012)

Here we go, Kathleen: rigatoni and spaghetti served for you!

Buon appetito!


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 27, 2012)

Luca Lazzari said:


> You surely can, Gourmet Greg...
> However, Italian cookery is heavily rooted in our ancient local traditions, so every place in Italy has its favorite pasta types and its favorite sauces. For example...



Thanks for the reply. It's difficult for those of us in a foreign land to appreciate traditional recipes (i.e. Americans appreciating Italian) unless we visit there and are better informed, and alas I don't have the means to visit Italy.


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## Luca Lazzari (Jan 28, 2012)

Gourmet Greg said:


> Thanks for the reply. It's difficult for those of us in a foreign land to appreciate traditional recipes (i.e. Americans appreciating Italian) unless we visit there and are better informed, and alas I don't have the means to visit Italy.



You're welcome Gourmet Greg.
Sorry you can't come here (well, I don't have the means to visit USA too... )


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## Greg Who Cooks (Jan 28, 2012)

We're lucky we have the means (Internet) to share interests and make friends all over the world. I'm sure it would take me more than the rest of my life if I were to attempt to visit every Internet friend I've made. I've certainly been lucky to share so many interests with so many friends!


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## visionviper (Feb 2, 2012)

Luca Lazzari said:


> Dried pasta (from big large scale producers, like Barilla or Buitoni, and from small producers, which sometimes are more careful about the selection of wheat varieties), which is made with flour made from "grano duro" wheat variety (Triticum durum wheat), grown in southern and central Italy. This is the classic spaghetti, penne, farfalle, and so on kind of pasta.
> Fresh pasta is a different product. The difference is not simply in the dry/fresh alternative, but in the fact that it is produced with a softer kind of flour, made from the Triticum aestivum wheat variety, which is grown mainly in northern and, again, central Italy, with or without eggs.



If I wanted to find the aestivum wheat flour here in the US for pasta use, what would I be looking for?

Do you prefer fresh pasta made with durum or aestivum for fresh pasta? Or do they just each have their own characteristics?

(Apologies for going a bit off topic)


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