Naked Science Forum

General Science => Question of the Week => Topic started by: katieHaylor on 18/12/2017 11:35:22

Title: QotW - 17.12.17 - Why does cooked pasta rise to the surface?
Post by: katieHaylor on 18/12/2017 11:35:22

Martin asks:

Why, when cooking fresh pasta, does it rise to the surface when ready? As far as I can see, the dough is solid, so I can't see how the density decreases.

What do you think?

Title: Re: QotW - 17.12.17 - Why does cooked pasta rise to the surface?
Post by: chris on 28/12/2017 10:01:13

When it cooks, pasta softens and absorbs water. This makes the molecules expand and "open up" to take up more space. I speculate that this will have the effect of reducing the density of the pasta, increasing buoyancy and tendency to float.

Title: Re: QotW - 17.12.17 - Why does cooked pasta rise to the surface?
Post by: katieHaylor on 30/01/2018 09:27:19

This question has now been answered, and you can listen to it here: https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/question-week/why-does-fresh-pasta-rise-during-cooking (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/podcasts/question-week/why-does-fresh-pasta-rise-during-cooking)