Cooking spaghetti using starch's water absorbency: soaking before heating

抄録

We explored a pre-soaking method to enhance moisture absorption and reduce cooking time for spaghetti to reduce cooking-related energy consumption. Conventional boiling requires heating water before cooking, which consumes considerable energy. We investigated the effects of pre-soaking on the gelatinization, cooking loss, and texture properties of spaghetti by optimizing soaking duration and heating time. No significant differences were found regarding gelatinization compared to that of conventional cooking with equal moisture content. Pre-soaking reduced heating time by up to 7 min. However, quality differences were observed, including increased cooking loss and texture changes. The longer the soaking time, the shorter the heating time and the greater the cooking loss during heating.