It’s an average weeknight and you’re trying to get dinner on the table. Spaghetti is relatively quick and easy to make, so you grab your pot and pull the noodles out of the pantry. You put the water on to boil, and decide it would be easier to cook the noodles if you broke them in half first. (You’re using a normal-sized sauce pot after all, not a giant stock pot.) You bend a handful of noodles to snap them in half, but as they break, they send tiny broken noodle bits shooting all over your kitchen.
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I’m guessing that scene feels a bit familiar? It certainly does to me, since I feel like I’ve lived through it dozens of times. But I never knew there was anything I could do about it until very recently! And in case you’re wondering, no, the solution is NOT to simply keep your spaghetti noodles whole. I think there are some good reasons to prefer shorter noodles, like the fact that they fit better in pots and they’re often easier to eat. So how do you break spaghetti in half without creating a mess of tiny noodle bits? The secret is in the twist!
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How Science Solved the Spaghetti Problem
The spaghetti problem was confounding enough to attract the attention of researchers at MIT. They conducted a thorough study on the matter, and concluded that the most effective way to get a clean break was to twist the spaghetti and THEN bend it. According to an article from MIT News, “…they found that by first twisting the spaghetti at almost 360 degrees, then slowly bringing the two [ends] together to bend it, the stick snapped exactly in two.”
How Does It Work in Real Life?
After reading that article about the MIT study, I was curious to see how it would work in “real life.” After all, the MIT researchers were working with individual pieces of spaghetti. But I don’t know of any busy parent who would have the patience to snap each piece of spaghetti individually before cooking them! I thought that if I could achieve similar results using several noodles at once, that this would be a hack worth sharing.
So I grabbed about a dozen spaghetti noodles from the kitchen and gave it a try. I twisted and bent them, just like they did in the study. And to my surprise, it worked pretty well! I still ended up with a couple of broken noodle bits, but that’s far fewer than I would have had if I’d just bent them as usual!
The best part about this hack is that it only takes about a second to do. So even if you were cooking spaghetti for a large crowd, it would still take under a minute to divide the uncooked noodles up into smaller batches and use the twist-and-bend method to break them.
The fact that this hack eliminates the need for me to sweep my whole kitchen after cooking makes it more than worthwhile, in my opinion! :-)
I owe a big “thank you!” to the researchers at MIT for taking the time to solve the spaghetti problem! It may not change the world, but has made my life (and hopefully yours) just a little bit easier!
Related: 9 Sneaky Pasta Sauce Hacks That Will Make Your Spaghetti Taste Amazing
Well, now I have to try that, as the spaghetti has always had to be broken in half to keep my wife happy. Quob (the flying spaghetti monster) thanks you for the tip. R’amen.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Walmart now sells half-length spaghetti, for the same price as the full length. With several Instant Pot recipes, not to mention a blind grandson, these are a godsend.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My family always cooked them whole and frowned on this who broke them. Recently (I’m in my late 50s) I’ve broken them to see what I think. I’ll say it saves standing over the pot until they soften enough to get under water, although that’s only a few minutes. But it’s not easier to eat in my opinion. They don’t wrap around the fork well enough to “hold on.”
Another option for cooking whole that works is a stainless pan with a diameter a little longer than spaghetti. It does require a bit more stirring early on to prevent sticking. But the water boils quicker and saves both water and energy (gas/electric).
I also use a kid, always. That also saves energy
Please log in or create a free account to comment.FYI, Walmart now sells them already in half!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Chefs have been breaking pasta in half or indeed into tiny pieces (for minestrone soup etc) for decades, simply roll the spaghetti in a clean tea towel, hold it well so it doesn’t unravel, then press against the edge of your kitchen units so it snaps in half, more times if you want smaller pieces; if for soup, press against the unit at one end of the spaghetti bundle then press and drag to the other end of the bundle.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Pour the shortened spaghetti straight into your pan from the tea towel, couldn’t be easier.
Don’t break the spaghetti – or linguini or angel hair or whatever. It’s much easier to twist around your fork if it’s left long. I just out it into the pot and within a few seconds the end if the pasta thats in the pot softens and you can push the rest into the water.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Exactly!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.May I offer this tweak. Hands touching each other twist or break the spaghetti downards. The “chards” have little place to go, but in the pot.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I cooked spaghetti yesterday. Twisting a fistful of noodles to break them worked perfectly. No strays!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Yay!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It is easier and faster to just use a large saucepan. Put the noodles in whole in the cold water and heat. Stir with tongs frequently to prevent sticking
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just like Janice you can get the small boxes in Phoenix, AZ, but before that I always broke it and never had the problem of pieces going all over the place. Mainly because I bent them in the direction of the pan and that is where they ended up and not on the floor. As for how much to cook I think its a best guess but mine always got eaten the next day if there was leftovers. Love the comments as much as the solutions.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You can buy the short spaghetti in a box at the grocery store where I live in TN.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How do you know how much pasta to use?? I have tried the “Pasta Gage” (it’s not correct). I either make to much or Not enough. Help!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi JR! Try this trick: https://jillee.co/2POBQHF
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Trial and error to find out what your clan will eat. There’s no one formula that suits all. Although I think about 4 people per pound is reasonable with bread on the side available.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I guess if one has small children or someone with a dexterity problems, half-sticks make sense. I like spag the old-fashioned way: long and “twirlable” around my fork.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.OK….
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I HAVE the real answer…. break them while still in the box! Seriously, just put the box on the edge of the counter or table … the edge being in the middle and gently push down on the half hanging over the counter… they break in the box! No MESS at ALL.
Your welcome….
But if you were cooking spaghetti for a houseful, you’d have the big pot going and could use the noodles long!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My daughter taught me an even easier way to break pasta. Just leave the pasta in the unopened box, place the middle of the box on the edge of your counter, and press on each end to as if to push the ends together. The pasta will break in half in the box, Just pour the contents into the pot…..no mess.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I recently watched my mom break spaghetti in half and said NOOOOO! Cringe. LOL I’m thinking she did that to make more spaghetti. I think it was Scott Conant, a Chopped judge, who did a quick video about making spaghetti. Once boiling, salt the water to make it like the sea. Let the hot water soften the pasta first and then stir. Then you save the pasta water to marry the sauce and pasta together. I will never make pasta with sauce any other way it tastes so good this way. I think it’s the salted water that makes the difference in flavor.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I saw this tip, and had read it on a site called Atlas Obscura. It’s a fun spot that brings out the strange, wonderful, rare, and unusual things around the world. (A fun place to go)
I have two questions…..
#1 Which direction are you supposed to bend the spaghetti…..Up, or Down?
#2 I Understand that generations of Italians have been keeping their spaghetti whole…I get that. My question is, “What is the Reason behind this”?
I will add #3….Why not just Buy the spaghetti shaped (Oval) pot/pan, that one of the female TV chefs has?
Thanks! And thanks for your site.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.1. The direction doesn’t matter, just be sure to twist with the bend!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.2. I assume that Italians are mostly working with homemade pasta – so you just don’t want to do anything to mess with the integrity of the perfect noodle!
3. I don’t necessarily want to buy another pot just for pasta, but you definitely could if you want to! :-)
no, not homemade pasta, any pasta… you do not break the noodle, and more important, a pot as small as the one you are using in the pictures contains to few water and too few salt to properly make the pasta, you will have too much starch and spagetti will be too cooked. You need space for the pasta to move freely in the boiling salt water fro a perfect taste. It is worth using a bigger pot always.
Greetings from Italy :)
Regarding #2: why not? Do you break other pasta? It’s long for a reason. If it was intended to be eaten at half the length it would have been made that way.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’ve never broken spaghetti noodles in half, preferring them long. I take as many noodles as I need, divide them into two bunches. I lay one bunch in the boiling water with half of it standing on one side of the pot, I place the next bunch on the opposite side of the pot. As the noodles cook they begin to slump into the pot which I help along by carefully pushing on the stiff ends. When all is in I take a wooden spoon and stir them up, turn the heat down to a rolling boil. Takes no time at all and there’s no mess.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The pot I use isn’t huge unless I’m cooking for a crowd. Also the Italian trick of adding a ladle full of cooking water to the sauce is a must. Adding oil to the water is an old idea from the 70’s that prevents the sauce from clinging to the pasta. As someone from the “Sopranos” would say “It’sa fougazi”!
As someone who was married to an Italian, and his maternal grandmother was famous for her Italian cooking in Brooklyn, I was told you never break the spaghetti in half as it releases too much starch into the water. Also never add oil to the water either, it causes the sauce to slip off.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That being said- I always save a little of the pasta water to add to the pasta, especially for butter/garlic/cheese sauces. Makes it so creamy!
Oh my gosh, just leave them in the uunopened ppackage, put on the edge of the counter and bend in half.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I wonder why the spaghetti makers didn’t see the problem years ago and just make a package half the size of the current ones. The best solution to the spaghetti problem is so easy. Keep the spaghetti in the cellophane package (a box is harder to do); Measure or “eyeball” the middle of the spaghetti in the package, and cut it in half using a serrated knife with a “sawing” motion. I only have two people to cook for so this makes it easy to put one if the halves, package and all, in a sandwich bag to use later. Try it. You’ll like it!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Brenda, Barilla does make a split spaghetti! It’s a win/win… 1/2 the packaging and no more splitting pasta at home. Enjoy!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.All spagetti, noodles, shells, etc, come though a die first and are cut by a rotating knife against the die, timed to cut the item to the required length for production, guess they could speed it up for quicker cuts for spagetti, resulting in shorter spagetti pieces, but that is production cost, etc for you.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It’s not a problem. It’s intended to be cooked and eaten whole like all other pasta. They know what their doing.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.MIT students are usually young. They use their research for things that make our life better. That means everyday problems that they have in their own lives are looked at. You never know what will connect in someone’s mind. This probably fun exercise may help solve some other major question. I know that the man who discovered how to make smooth flat glass, got his brainstorm while doing the dishes! For more twists on how seemingly different subjects have connections read “Messy The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives” by Tim Harford. Besides we need some fun to be able to stand the harder stuff. Thanks for the tip Jillee. Now the mice won’t have the pieces that fly behind the stove to eat!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I solve the problem by bending the spaghetti up instead of down over the kettle of water. Then the little bits fall into the water instead of flying to the floor! BTW I didn’t go to MIT! LOL
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I snap the whole package before I open the package of spaghetti. I buy spaghetti that comes wrapped in plastic, just center spaghetti over edge of counter and press down. All the pieces stay inside, then I cut open the end of the plastic wrapping and remove amount needed. No mess. I also usually cook the whole package at once.. Then cool and bag what I don’t need for dinner, place the remaining bare spaghetti in large baggy for a quick lunch or dinner later in the week, just add sauce or vegetables and heat. Meal is ready in a couple of minutes.
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