Rachel Kiley
If you’re a casual cooker of pasta, you probably know how annoying it can be to deal with straining the water out after your noodles have spent enough time softening up.
Those of us who are particularly lazy or ill-equipped may just awkwardly angle the pot lid as we tip everything over the sink, but this often results in noodles finding their way down the drain, and definitely never gets all the water out.
For those who have colanders and/or sieves, the process usually involves sticking it in the sink, then dumping the whole pot of pasta and water into it, allowing the water to trickle out through the holes and out of the picture. Of course, then you have to dump the noodles back into the pot to stir in any sauces, meats, or veggies to finish off the meal, and personally I have never successfully done this without somehow sending stray pasta flying all over my stove.
But there is another way.
As TikTok has become the go-to place for quick learning and lifehacks, user @real_ensee uploaded a super short video suggesting another method of pasta straining that combines both the lazy and traditional methods, while seemingly resulting in way less mess.
Rather than hold the strainer under the pot before dumping everything into it, EnSee places it into the pot, on top of the noodles, and then tips everything over the sink.
This allows the water to run through the holes of the strainer without the pasta ever having to leave the pot.
Check it out in real time:
Some commenters were stunned at how simple but brilliant this method of pasta prep seems to be.
Although some naysayers jumped at the chance to point out that this is not how a strainer is actually meant to be used.
But who cares? If it works better, it works better! If flipping a strainer makes your life a little bit easier, then by all means, let’s get to flipping, folks.