Put salt in the pasta water and sneakers in the wash

Today’s question: Why do instructions for pasta include putting salt in the water? I’ve been wondering about this for a very long time. Gee, I hope you haven’t really been worrying about this all this time, like staying awake at night or something. It’s really rather a trifling matter.

A lot of people think adding salt has to do with the boiling point of water and that might be true, but the amounts of water and salt involved here really make that difference insignificant.

A bit of salt will add some flavor to the pasta, but more importantly it will keep the pasta from sticking together and getting all gummy. So will a few drops of olive oil or lemon juice.

It has to do with how the little tiny grains of starch in the pasta react to water. They swell up and stick to each other and you end up with a big ball of noodles all stuck together. The salt or oil will block that.

As long as we’re discussing household matters:

Is it bad to wash sneakers in a washing machine? I load the sneakers with towels, but it sure makes a lot of noise anyway.

Sneakers probably won’t damage your washing machine, if that’s what’s troubling you.

Take off the laces and wash them in a pillowcase or some other bag so they don’t tangle. And scrape off excess dirt first. Don’t put them in the dryer.

You also can wash your baseball cap in your dishwasher, provided it isn’t woolen.

Put it on the top rack, don’t use too much detergent and take it let it air dry.