Aldi has bronze extruded pasta like spaghetti, linguine and fettuccine for $2 a pound. That is a fraction of the normal price. They are in thicker plastic packaging. I know you hate that but it’s less likely to let pantry months in. So you don’t need to put it in another container like you do when it comes in cardboard packaging.
They have Teflon extruded pastas for a dollar a pound in cardboard. I split those into weighed out 8 ounce portions in mason jars to prevent pantry moths and 8 oz is 4 oz per person for a decent portion size in a meal. This way when it’s time to cook I just have to grab a jar and not measure anything out.
What actually is the difference between bronze cut and teflon cut? I buy both just depending on what kind of noodle i want.
Theoretically, the surface texture is different, leading to different sauce stickage. The surface is different (more craggley, hence the color difference) due to the bronze sticking to the pasta more. I dont know if this actually makes a difference by itself. I know ethan chlebowski (and probably a million other people have done side by side tests).
Bronze cut pasta will allow more starch to dissolve into the cooking water, which is the real secret for getting sauce to stick, especially if you are using the pasta water in the sauce. The starch water helps stabilize emulsions, and adds viscosity to the sauce. You can enhance this by using less water to boil your pasta (saves time, fuel, and water, too). Alternatively, you can go completely rogue and just use a cornstarch (or flour, but corn probably works better) slurry to improve the sauce, and save the money on the pasta itself.
My mac and cheese recipe calls not to drain the water at all, just to use exactly the right amount to have left over. I will have to try to see if bronze cut penne really does make it goopier.
This was covered by the other comments but for the record:
Bronze cut has a lot more texture. This dramatically affects the ability of the pasta to hold sauce. If you are just cooking noodles and dumping sauce vs under cooking and finishing in a pan with pasta water then you will never see the difference.
There’s an old Olive Garden commercial that talks about how the best olive oil is golden, the best parmesan is soft, and the best pasta is yellow. Every single one of those points was wrong.
The best olive oil is green. The best parmesan is hard as rock. The best pasta is yellow with a whole lot of white flecks.
The inside of a fresh wheel of real parmigiano reggiano is pretty soft. I often have to stick mine in the fridge before grating so i don’t make a giant mess of my grater. It should only be hard near the rind or if the cheese is old and dry.
Edit: i should say i get my parm from an italian store’s authentic wheels.
Bronze I find has a little more “texture”. It might affect how the sauce sticks to it, but in that I haven’t found much difference.
Rougher texture and they release more starch. Both of which I find seem to help them meld better with sauce, and I like the texture on my mouth a bit better.
I mostly just get them for nice cooking projects like carbonara, lots of things I feel like they dont make quite as noticeable of a difference in though.
