Save energy while cooking pasta in less water

What if you could save money while cooking pasta? Would you alter your method?

Harold McGee, New York Times writer has altered his pasta cooking method and has found the savings to be significant.

McGee conducted an unscientific experiment and found major energy savings by cooking pasta in only two cups of water, instead of four-to-six quarts of water per pound of pasta. He writes, "Why boil so much more water than pasta actually absorbs, only to pour it down the drain?"

McGee's findings? Cooking spaghetti in a few cups of water multiplied by a billion pounds of pasta consumed by Americans each year, could add up.

In fact, a few trillion B.T.U.s. ( a unit of energy equal to the work done by a power of 1000 watts operating for one hour) could be saved at the stove top alone. In relation to the power plant, this translates to 250,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil, or $10 to $20 million given current prices.

C'mon, do you really need all of that water to boil pasta?

Click here for the lowdown.