 Re: Pasta, water and salt
OK, you're sending back to chemistry 101. You are right, salt dissolving in water is an endothermic reaction - it lowers water temperature. For the purposes of salt in a large pot of water I think this effect is insignificant. Salted water also has a slightly higher boiling point. Again, I think this is insignificant. When you add salt to boiling water the crystals of salt form a nidus for water vapor bubbles to form - this is why the water appears to boil more rapidly when you add salt - this is modestly cool to see (but not really much to talk about compared to plasma in the dome of the oven) and this rapid bubbling may be responsible for the short calming of the boil after adding the salt. The best reason to add the salt after the water starts to boil? I suspect tradition.
Marc |