Variation in quality among different types of pasta

[AlaMoi]

to my dismay, I have lately discovered that all pastas are not alike - or even close.

 

for a long time I used Mueller's.  This is an old line Amrican/east coast company.  actually had no real issues with their product.

 

thence I got into Barilla.  it is also an old line company of Italy.  note however that all but a few shapes/products are made in USA.  I've never cooked a Barilla product that disappointed....

 

well, DW wanted rigatoni - not on the shelf in my preferred brands.  or I couldn't find it - Giant is rearranging every shelf / aisle on a weekly basis - but that's a different rant.

 

so I bought Rienzi rigatoni.  imported, made in Italy, how can you go wrong?  DW made her chicken in tomato sauce recipe.  the pasta was inedible - over-cooked on the outside, hard&gummy&stick-to-your-teeth on the inside.

 

some days later I did buttered noodles.  I opted to use up the Rienzi rigatoni.
being aware of "cooking issues" with the Rienzi, I brought salted water to the boil, dumped in the pasta, regular stir, started checking 'the chew' after 10 minutes, continued checking 'the chew' up through 18 minutes.  fish out a chunk of rigatoni - eat it.  acid test...

 

it never got better that DW's "over-cooked on the outside, hard&gummy&stick-to-your-teeth on the inside."  

 

so - I'm thinking that not all pasta is even remotely the same - any similar experiences?

 

[chileheadmike]

Barilla has a new (at least to me) line of Pronto pasta. It is supposed to cook faster in boiling water. Not sure what they do to it, but it's awful.

 

My mistake for not reading the package closely. I've never heard of quick cooking pasta. 

[AlaMoi]

the quick cooking thing I suspect grew out of the technique of using dry / uncooked pasta for lasagna.  similar things with grits and oatmeal.

 

never gone there, no intention of going there.  when I can't spare an additional 6-8 minutes to cook pasta, I'll settle for graham crackers.   I do not belong to the "nuke it or else" crowd.

[Alex]

Waaay back in the last century -- 22 years ago, to be exact -- Cook's Illustrated conducted a tasting/rating of eight brands of dried spaghetti. Ronzoni and Mueller's came in 1st and 2nd; De Cecco was 3rd, Barilla 6th. I'm wondering if tastes have changed since then. For example, CI said the Barilla was a "'pleasant' tasting pasta with subtle wheat flavor and a firm, springy texture that two panelists found too 'rubbery.'"

[huiray]

https://forums.egullet.org/search/?type=all&q=different+pastas

 

I usually have De Cecco, Rustichella d'Abruzzo, Garofalo dry pastas always around, as well as Cipriani (dried egg pastas).  Some other odd-and-end or interesting brands (including Middle Eastern and Greek) are also around.** The "everyday" one I use tends to be De Cecco (rather than Garofalo which can be a bit more al dente than I like); R d'A & Cipriani when I feel fancier or want higher quality, but it also depends on the dish, of course. I like their taste and texture, which are different in their own way.

 

I used to cook Barilla pastas but stopped a few years ago and threw them out and never bought any more on principle. However, in recent years they seem to have corrected a particular situation - perhaps I might try them again. In any case I didn't think their pasta was *that* great but - for myself, speaking personally - was way better than stuff like Muellers or Creamette, which turned out much too soft for Italian-style dishes for my taste.

 

** I presume E/SE Asian "pastas" are NOT included in the discussion, although I think they should be.

Edited May 25, 2016 by huiray (log)

[AlaMoi]

 

... https://forums.egullet.org/search/?type=all&q=different+pastas

About 3,810 results (0.50 seconds)

 

hmmmm, I'm of retirement age; can you narrow down something particular I should look into before I die?

[Tere]

Make your own. it's not hard, and you never look back. I batch freeze a bunch of pasta dough in enough for two people portions when I do it, and it holds up very well I think. You can batch the prepped stuff as well, of course. I don't think that turns out too badly, I've certainly been known to freeze uncooked tagliatelle when we've made too much.

 

I still keep dried pasta in the house, but it's strictly emergency food really. YMMV.

[huiray]

9 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

 

... https://forums.egullet.org/search/?type=all&q=different+pastas

About 3,810 results (0.50 seconds)

 

hmmmm, I'm of retirement age; can you narrow down something particular I should look into before I die?

 

I DID pick out three from the answer set for you to look at - in that same post you followed the "search" link. Did you see them? Perhaps you might look at those three, assuming you did see them.  Reload the webpage if any of the three topics show a system error message.

Edited May 26, 2016 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

25 minutes ago, Tere said:

Make your own. it's not hard, and you never look back. I batch freeze a bunch of pasta dough in enough for two people portions when I do it, and it holds up very well I think. You can batch the prepped stuff as well, of course. I don't think that turns out too badly, I've certainly been known to freeze uncooked tagliatelle when we've made too much.

 

I still keep dried pasta in the house, but it's strictly emergency food really. YMMV.

 

...if one has the SPACE (I don't) and the inclination to do it and clean up afterwards. :-)

 

Dried pastas can be excellent. In some cases I certainly prefer them over fresh pasta - in proper traditional Pasta Carbonara, for example. Using fresh pasta tends to give broken pasta after being vigorously stirred; plus the taste/texture doesn't seem right with fresh pasta.

 

Oh I certainly use fresh pasta too but there are makers of excellent fresh stuff in my area, at fairly reasonable prices, and it's easier for me to get fresh stuff from them. Even then I sometimes (often) find that I don't use up all the fresh stuff I buy (and therefore throw them out). I dislike freezing fresh pasta - they never "come back"/"cook" the exact same way as the fresh stuff when fresh, to my taste, and also fall apart more easily on cooking after being frozen (Yes, I would cook from frozen).

Edited May 25, 2016 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

...or try this smaller set - just skip through the first few pages of the set, that should give one interesting threads to read. One does not have to go through the entire set.

https://forums.egullet.org/search/?type=all&q=pasta+brand+type+differences 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I tend to think of fresh pasta (particularly fresh egg pasta) and commercial dried pasta as being two very different things.  For dried pasta I prefer (of the brands that I have tasted) De Cecco.  Barilla I don't do because the owner is a homophobe, even if I liked it, which I don't.

 

For fresh pasta I have gone through a couple of different, ever larger and more powerful pasta extruders.  I have a nice collection of bronze and plastic pasta dies in a multitude of shapes going back to the 1980's, and no machine to use them with that works.  Modernist Cuisine recommended some beautiful extrusion equipment, as I recall, but which was well beyond my pasta budget.

 

Another thought is the Kitchenaid roller and cutter assembly, since I now have an underutilized commercial Kitchenaid.  Which I use for cooking ice cream mix, grinding meats, and occasionally for whipping egg whites.

 

But I was very satisfied with my extruded pasta, as long as I had an extruder that worked.  I'd love to hear recommendations for quality extruders.  When I first read Modernist Cuisine I wasn't yet on Social Security (the US government pension system for old people, which finances most of my food and kitchen toys and rent and rum.)

 

Another thought:  easily within walking distance, and indeed much closer than the nearest supermarket, is a shop that sells artisanal homemade pasta, and related provisions such as olive oils, charcuterie and cheeses.  They sell excellent bread but the bread is not made in house, and for that matter I do not buy bread.  Have not for twenty something years.

 

When I had a real job I used to patronize them frequently (pretty much every day for lunch).  The same owners also have a well regarded local restaurant that is beyond my means.  I have never dined there.  Besides, I wish I could make the pasta myself.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

@AlaMoi, you might try Trader Joe's imported Italian Rigatoni extruded through bronze dies. The last time I bought it, it was $1.19 per pound. They carry many other shapes of Italian imported pasta that's also bronze die extruded. They have all cooked up very well for me, including the orecehiette, which can be a challenging shape in some brands to cook well because of varying thickness throughout the pasta.

 

For that matter, I really like their non-imported pastas too and they are only 99 cents a pound.

 

I used to buy and like DeCecco, but it got really pricey around here, and Trader Joe's bronze die bargain pasta is every bit as good to me. 

 

I hate Ronzoni brand. This mortal has found no way to cook it through without the dreaded gummy exterior. 

[huiray]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Barilla I don't do because the owner is a homophobe, even if I liked it, which I don't.

 

Yes. (technically, the Chairman)

JoNorvelleWalker, have you ever seen this? :-D 

 

In the past when I had Barilla pasta it was fine/OK, but nothing that special. Other brands (Italian) were as good or better. IIRC it cooked decently, but sometimes had what the Cantonese would call "sang kwat" (a hard, uncooked center) if I took it off just a little early, which is not to say other brands and styles did not do that also.

Edited May 26, 2016 by huiray (log)

[AlaMoi]

huiray - ah, today the 3 are showing up.  things were a bit flakey yesterday.

I have made fresh pasta - it is not hard.  the hard part comes when you want something other than a flat sheet or wide noodles...  somebody gave me the pasta extruder thing for a KA one Xmas.  total waste of wrapping paper and bow..... it does not work so well.

 

our nearest Trader Joe is a two+ hour round trip.  but I'll stop if  get the opportunity.
I think I've seen De Cecco in the store.

 

the price is a minimal impact for us - two people, we don't eat pasta every day...
per person I use:
65 g angel hair
80 g fettuccine
and for a main:  120 g for mac&cheese

 

so, cheap to expensive we're looking at $0.25 vs. $0.50 on mac&cheese that makes a meal+leftovers for 2.  not what I would consider a major budget buster.

 

what surprised me is the Rienzi just would not cook properly.  my first thought was 'well, it's different, let's see how to handle it.'  but taste testing from 10 minutes to near 20 minutes with the same 'glued to my molars' result was not what I would have predicted.

[gfweb]

Somebody commented on fast cooking pasta.  I pretty much agree  that its unneeded. But the no boil lasagna makes a much better lasagna than the thick need-to-boil stuff.  Its thinner and holds the lasagna together better than the fat ones. More like a scratch made noodle.

[AlaMoi]

I've done the no-pre-cook lasagna technique a couple times using 'old fashioned' noodles.  works fine - but one does need to increase the liquid content by roughly 4 fl oz / 120 ml for a 9x11 pan

[Katie Meadow]

Also worth considering are the thin flat lasagne noodles ( no ripply edges) that you DO boil, but which take about a quarter of the time to cook and are relatively easy to handle. Not typically a super market item, but they are often very high quality. Found in Italian delis or specialty stores that stock a lot of imported pasta.

[shain]

I prefer to soak lasagna sheets in cold water before layering and baking. Works great and no need to guess how much liquid to add later.

[AlaMoi]

giggle.  cooking up the lasagna noodles is the one thing I get to use my fish poacher for . . . (g)

 

do they get flexible if soaked in water?

 

not seen the thin stuff.  another thing to keep an eye on....(sigh) - but thanks both for the tips!

[huiray]

19 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Barilla I don't do because the owner is a homophobe, even if I liked it, which I don't.

 

BTW, JNW, do you remember this? :-) 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, huiray said:

 

BTW, JNW, do you remember this? :-) 

 

Indeed.  Mine was the second post.  I'd still like to have a good way to make fresh pasta other than by hand.

[shain]

13 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

do they get flexible if soaked in water?

Yes they do, very easy to handle. 

[AlaMoi]

shain - sounds interesting - thanks for the tip!

[Deryn]

I have liked Barilla Plus dry pasta products (I like to undercook my pasta - hoping perhaps for some resistant starch component without having to cool it) for many years now. Suddenly it is very hard to find unfortunately - seems it has been since Pronto came out - a product which is clearly a different animal and won't work as a replacement. So I am on the hunt for a new pasta I can enjoy and which can be consistently found where I spend my time (especially up north). I don't think I will be able to get De Cecco on a regular basis.

 

I too regard dry and fresh pastas as different beasts entirely. I make fresh pasta - have never lived anywhere where a purchased version of same was special enough to spend $ on in my opinion.

 

Was all that commentary about the Barilla company really necessary here - and now?

[paulraphael]

On May 26, 2016 at 0:40 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I tend to think of fresh pasta (particularly fresh egg pasta) and commercial dried pasta as being two very different things. 

 

Absolutely. It's apples and oranges. 

 

I like making fresh pasta from scratch; it's marginally better than what I can buy from specialty shops, although I don't have the tools / patience to make anything besides lasagne or paparadelle. So I'm perfectly happy to buy really good fresh pasta. And sometimes even halfway good versions.

 

As far as dry pasta, I don't think any of the brands mentioned here is very good. None has much flavor. Of the brands available at supermarkets in NYC, there's occasionally something that looks like it's made from quality durum wheat and extruded through rough bronze dies. One is DeLallo, which Whole Foods carries. I forget the others—but these are just halfway decent. They differ from De Cecco and Barilla and Ronzoni etc. by having real flavor, and texture that's more satisfyingly pasta-like.

 

The only great pasta I can find comes from specialty shops. There's a brand called Setaro available at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market. Fortunately you can order online. This is as good as any I've had. Everything I've bought from Eataly has been first rate also. I can't remember what brands I've had there—I usually go for what looks good and isn't too stratospherically expensive. 

 

It's a drag  that you have to go such lengths for f'ing noodles in this country. At list the internet exists!

Edited May 28, 2016 by paulraphael (log)