What are the differences between expensive (dried) pasta brands and low / mid-range supermarket or mainstream brands?
Is it mostly flavour / texture? Or nothing too discernible to the average punter? And what are the better cheaper brands to go for?
Thanks!
by hernesson
13 Comments
MarqDong
Why are some so cheap and some so expensive?
ThisIsMySecondRodeo
Price and quality of ingredients.
Cheap pasta is dyed yellow while quality pasta is not.
Bebbette
Isn’t there something to do with the tools to make shapes needing to be bronze for better form or something?
Mrs-Moonlight
Quality of ingredients and production method:
Higher quality pasta is made with higher quality pasta flour and semolina and is cut using bronze both of which add texture to the pasta which affects both mouthfeel and sauce adhesion.
Necessary? Up to you.
The_BunnyMan_Woods
Sauce sticks better to bronze cut pasta. If you ran your finger nail down the front of the cellophane in the above picture you would feel texture. Cheap pasta is smooth. And that’s why cheap spaghetti makes for horrible spaghetti and meatballs.
ThatSpookyLeftist
Think of it like this. Cheap pasta is extremely smooth and sauce just kind of slides off it. Expensive pasta is rough to the touch with lots of hills and crevices. Those crevices hold sauce better and give a completely different mouth feel. To me, it just ‘tastes more expensive’ kind of like something feels more expensive if it’s heavy. It’s hard to explain.
I think the term you want to look for on the box is “bronze dye cut” and avoid “Teflon dye cut”
Narrow_Statistician1
Incredibly different taste, mouth feel and ability to hold sauce to the noodle
PsychoticSpinster
The packaging and marketing.
PsychoticSpinster
People in this thread acting like pasta isn’t just flour and egg yolk.
Edit: dat packaging tho am I rite?!
1SassyTart
As I always say, know your audience. If you are cooking for uppity people, buy the pricy stuff and leave out the bag for proof. If not, buy the cheap stuff.
whaleysrkool
I’ve heard that cheap pasta is dried faster which makes it a different color
mrscott197xv1k
My go to good dried is DeCecco
SkookumSourdough
Might be your thing, might not, but go check out “Alex – French guy cooking” on YouTube. He breaks this down in trying to recreate quality dry pasta himself.
13 Comments
Why are some so cheap and some so expensive?
Price and quality of ingredients.
Cheap pasta is dyed yellow while quality pasta is not.
Isn’t there something to do with the tools to make shapes needing to be bronze for better form or something?
Quality of ingredients and production method:
Higher quality pasta is made with higher quality pasta flour and semolina and is cut using bronze both of which add texture to the pasta which affects both mouthfeel and sauce adhesion.
Necessary? Up to you.
Sauce sticks better to bronze cut pasta. If you ran your finger nail down the front of the cellophane in the above picture you would feel texture. Cheap pasta is smooth. And that’s why cheap spaghetti makes for horrible spaghetti and meatballs.
Think of it like this. Cheap pasta is extremely smooth and sauce just kind of slides off it. Expensive pasta is rough to the touch with lots of hills and crevices. Those crevices hold sauce better and give a completely different mouth feel. To me, it just ‘tastes more expensive’ kind of like something feels more expensive if it’s heavy. It’s hard to explain.
I think the term you want to look for on the box is “bronze dye cut” and avoid “Teflon dye cut”
Incredibly different taste, mouth feel and ability to hold sauce to the noodle
The packaging and marketing.
People in this thread acting like pasta isn’t just flour and egg yolk.
Edit: dat packaging tho am I rite?!
As I always say, know your audience. If you are cooking for uppity people, buy the pricy stuff and leave out the bag for proof. If not, buy the cheap stuff.
I’ve heard that cheap pasta is dried faster which makes it a different color
My go to good dried is DeCecco
Might be your thing, might not, but go check out “Alex – French guy cooking” on YouTube. He breaks this down in trying to recreate quality dry pasta himself.