Texture of pasta

Perfectly cooked pasta should feel firm to the bite. This texture is described in Italian as al dente, or “to the tooth”. At this stage, the pasta will have no raw flour taste, but will reveal a tiny chalky-white center.

Protein content has long been recognized as the primary factor associated with superior pasta texture. Durum wheat gluten strength and physical dough properties are highly heritable but environmental strongly influences pasta texture.

Several factors have been found to impact on the final texture of pasta. The most important factors to be considered are cooking time, water to pasta ration, hardness and pH of cooking water and time elapsed between draining of cooked pasta and testing.

Time elapsed after draining has been shown to affect pasta firmness and stickiness, whereas water hardness has been found to impact in surface stickiness. Cooking time and water to pasta ration influence all textural parameters.

Final judgment of pasta quality is based on evaluation of cooked texture. This evaluation is best done by subjective texture panels.
Texture of pasta