I see… But wouldn’t that only effect the ends? Or does it start as a sheet and get cut into strips like fettuccine? But that would still only be the edges, right? What about something like linguine with a rounder cross-section?
Pasta is made by squeezing the dough through what’s called a die:
Normally this die is PTFE-coated on the inside to minimize friction, so they can run the machine faster and therefore make more money. This results in smooth surface pasta.
In recent years they figured out they can charge extra for pasta that that was made on a die without PTFE coating, because there is a myth that rough pasta holds more sauce (it doesn’t). This is marketed as “bronze cut” because traditionally the dies are made of bronze I guess
Ohhh, so that’s the part that’s made of bronze. That makes more sense. It threw me off that it’s called “bronze cut” and not “bronze extruded” but I get it now
because there is a myth that rough pasta holds more sauce
I don’t know, the Italian in this thread seems to approve of bronze-cut pasta. Not sure if the opinion of a German overrides that… (I jest, I have German grandparents)
they figured out they can charge extra for pasta that that was made on a die without PTFE coating
Honestly, PTFE has other issues though. It’s a forever chemical and can cause birth defects and cancer. For several years it was popular on cooking stuff for its non-stick and anti-scratching properties. I had a couple pans with it myself, and I loved them at the time. But that was before we as a society learned more about PTFE. Like asbestos and cigarettes, it became widely adopted before we knew enough to avoid it.
Aside from PTFE, phenols (like BPA, BPS, and PFAS) are another thing that are really important to avoid, but commonly used in modern manufacturing.
Barilla isn’t a better quality pasta. Change my mind
It’s fair IMO. There are worse, there are better.
Italian here. Barilla is considered the bare minimum. Its not a high quality pasta, although they have a bronze cut kind which I never tried.
I’m pasta-ignorant. How does the material of the cutting tool affect the final product?
Bronze cutting is slower (so less efficient) but being slower make the pasta more “rough” and not smooth. This makes sauce stick more to it
I see… But wouldn’t that only effect the ends? Or does it start as a sheet and get cut into strips like fettuccine? But that would still only be the edges, right? What about something like linguine with a rounder cross-section?
I’m just not picturing it
Pasta is made by squeezing the dough through what’s called a die:
Normally this die is PTFE-coated on the inside to minimize friction, so they can run the machine faster and therefore make more money. This results in smooth surface pasta.
In recent years they figured out they can charge extra for pasta that that was made on a die without PTFE coating, because there is a myth that rough pasta holds more sauce (it doesn’t). This is marketed as “bronze cut” because traditionally the dies are made of bronze I guess
Ohhh, so that’s the part that’s made of bronze. That makes more sense. It threw me off that it’s called “bronze cut” and not “bronze extruded” but I get it now
I don’t know, the Italian in this thread seems to approve of bronze-cut pasta. Not sure if the opinion of a German overrides that… (I jest, I have German grandparents)
Honestly, PTFE has other issues though. It’s a forever chemical and can cause birth defects and cancer. For several years it was popular on cooking stuff for its non-stick and anti-scratching properties. I had a couple pans with it myself, and I loved them at the time. But that was before we as a society learned more about PTFE. Like asbestos and cigarettes, it became widely adopted before we knew enough to avoid it.
Aside from PTFE, phenols (like BPA, BPS, and PFAS) are another thing that are really important to avoid, but commonly used in modern manufacturing.
I watched a youtuber test it by dipping the pasta in sauce and then weighing how much sauce it picked up and there was no difference
How about De Cecco?
Yes de cecco, molisana, garofalo or voiello are quite available everywhere in Italy, its still factory made but with more care and with bronze cut
If you want to go on expensive stuff you need to look into “monograno”, basically means “single grain” a 1kg pack could go up for 6-10 €
Worth it? For everyday use only if you make it an hobby, otherwise a normal bronze cut is enough.
I would still eat barilla, but only if its the only alternative to not having pasta
In france they eat a lot of “panzani” which I believe its still Italian, but quite shit in quality, very unexpensive
In Germany we only have barilla, delverde and de cecco. Nice to know I picked the right one xD