Characteristics of spaghetti

Common pastas include spaghetti, which are long, solid, round and rod-shaped noodles. Spaghetti varies in diameter, from very small-diameter angel hair, or capellini, to medium-diameter vermicelli and spaghettini, to larger-diameter fettuchini.

It is the cooking step that gives the product its final structure and consumer acceptability. The minimum time for cooking spaghetti measuring 1.5 mm in diameter is between 8 – 9 min in boiling water to obtain “al-dente” pasta.

The optimum cooking time corresponds to the optimum characteristics for consumption and varies according to taste.

Other important factors are water to pasta ratio, hardness and pH of cooking water and time elapsed between draining of cooked pasta and eating. Time elapsed after draining has been shown to affect pasta firmness and stickiness.
Characteristics of spaghetti