Saving pasta water
When making pasta, I often use small amounts of pasta water as an addition to sautes or to lengthen sauces. I have thought of saving more of the pasta water to refrigerate and use within 2 or 3 days, for say, a soup base or maybe as a light broth for cooking rice or bulgar wheat.
I'm wondering if anyone here does this, and if so, are the results worth the effort? I usually have a stock or other broth on hand but not always; so it occurred to me that leftover pasta water might have a second life.
Thanks.
A little more info - I got the idea from my well used copy of Lynne Rosetto Kasper's "The Italian Country Table" where in several recipes a small amount of pasta water is reserved for deglazing or cooking down within a vegetable dish. So, that's been my usage.
Consensus seems to be that it's not worth the effort to save for later.
Best Answer
The major advantage of using pasta water is that it is high in starch rather than for any flavoring you may get from the water. You may find that you get some strange results if you're just subbing it directly for water or stock, and I wouldn't recommend keeping it for that reason.
Personally, it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort of keeping. If I want a thickening agent for a sauce or gravy, I'll just make a cornstarch slurry. However, you've just got a starchy water, so I'd think it'll keep for as long as tap water would (certainly 2-3 days if cooled properly).
Pictures about "Saving pasta water"
Quick Answer about "Saving pasta water"
After your pasta is done cooking, remove it from the pot using tongs or a pasta fork so your water is left in the bottom of the pan. That way you can save as much or as little of the water as you want. I like to reserve about a cup of water per pot of pasta.Can you save pasta water for later?
If you want to store your leftover pasta water for longer, pour the liquid into ice cube trays and freeze it. Frozen cubes of pasta water are particularly brilliant for throwing in soups, broths, or sauces instead of stock cubes.Can you save and reuse pasta water?
Pasta water can be used as broth in soup or an ingredient in bread. You can also use pasta water to drink or water your plants. However, you can only reuse pasta water for so long before it becomes too starchy. Make sure to discard pasta water that is very cloudy.Should I save my pasta water?
When boiling pasta, you may notice that the water becomes progressively cloudy as it cooks. This is excess starch released by the pasta and it's the reason you should save some of the water before draining. The starch acts as a binder and, when combined with fat like butter or oil, creates an emulsion.What can I do with leftover pasta water?
Here Are 5 Easy Ways To Use Leftover Pasta Water:More answers regarding saving pasta water
Answer 2
I don't know. I'm not Mr. OMG-Bacteria's-Gonna-Kill-YOU but I'd not want to keep a thing of starchy water (which is an ideal bacterial growth medium) in my fridge for more than a day or two. Add to that the fact that it's basically so cheap as to be free, and it's right at the bottom of the list of things I'd save.
Answer 3
There certainly shouldn't be any food safety issues with doing that, as long as you cool it down to under 40 F. within a couple of hours. As to whether it is worth it, that is pretty subjective but if you make a lot of sauces that could use slight dilution while retaining sheen and texture, I think it is a sensible idea.
Answer 4
It's basically a pretty good way to culture bacteria. Don't bother. You're much better off just making the sauce that day, and storing it.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Klaus Nielsen, Klaus Nielsen, Katerina Holmes, Klaus Nielsen