For most spaghetti recipes, one starts with boiling the spaghetti until it is soft. Unfortunately, things often go wrong at this stage, with the two most common issues being that the spaghetti is over-cooked or the spaghetti is stuck together in a clump.

We suggest the following steps for boiling spaghetti:

1. Purchase a good quality spaghetti. Ideally an Italian brand and 100% semolina.
2. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. If cooking dry spaghetti, use a mimimum of 500ml of water for each 100g. of dry spaghetti, or one quart of water for each half-pound of dry spaghetti. It is OK to use more water, but if you use much less then the spaghetti is more likely to stick together. If cooking fresh spaghetti (not dry) you can use less water (e.g. 300ml water per 100g of spaghetti) if you wish. 
3. Once the water is boiling, you will need to add the spaghetti. If the spaghetti is longer than the pot is wide, one end will be in boiling water and the other end outside the pot, which can result in one end of the spaghetti being over cooked and the other end under cooked. To prevent this, do one of two things:
   • Break the spaghetti into shorter pieces (just take a bundle in your hand and bend it until it breaks) that are short enough to fit completely into the pot. Then add them to the boiling water.
   • Alternatively, simply get the entire length of spaghetti into the pot as quickly as possible. To do this, take the spaghetti you are going to cook and form a bundle. Hold the bundle at one end and put the other end into the boiling water as far as it will go. Then press gently on the bundle from the dry end, so that as the spaghetti in the boiling water softens, you press the length of the spaghetti in. As the spaghetti goes in, your hand will get neared the boiling water; once it gets close to the water, let go and then use a fork or wooden spoon to complete the job. This method only takes about a minute and allows you to keep the spaghetti in the traditionally long form.
4. Once the spaghetti is in the pot, reduce the heat so that the water is on a slow boil (known as 'simmering'). If you allow the water to remain on a high boil, the spaghetti may develop an 'mushy' texture, so it is better to simmer it.
5. Some cooks advise adding salt to the boiling water, so that when finished the spaghetti will have a salty flavor. You can do this, but unless you add a lot (e.g. a handful) it won't make much difference because most of the salt will be lost when you drain the water. Many Italians add salt, but most other people don't bother.
6. Some recipes advise adding olive oil to the boiling water, to prevent the spaghetti from stick together. This will only make a difference if you add a lot of oil (at least 100ml or half a cup) and even then is no guarantee. However, if you follow our procedure, it should not be necessary.
7. As the spaghetti cooks, gently stir it with a wooden spoon every minute or so. If you stir more often, it doesn't matter. However, if you don't stir then the spaghetti may stick to the bottom of the pot or strands of spaghetti may stick together.
8. Dry spaghetti takes about 10 minutes to cook, but some brands (especially those with thiner spaghetti) take less and some take more. Check the package to see how long your spaghetti requires.
   • About 2 minutes before the cooking time specified on the package, start checking if the spaghetti is ready. You should start checking about 2 minutes before because cooking times are only approximate (depending on how hard the water is boiling and how well cooked you like your spaghetti).
   • Test the spaghetti by removing a single strand with a fork and biting off a small piece with your front teeth. If it feels hard, wait a bit longer (30 to 60 seconds) and try again. Repeat until the desired firmness is reached.
   • You might want to briefly hold the spaghetti under cold water before biting a piece, to avoid burning yourself.
   • Few people like hard spaghetti (under cooked) or mushy spaghetti (over cooked). Some people like it when it is fully cooked (soft all the way through) but before it goes mushy. However, the ideal is just before it is cooked all the way through; the outside is chewy and the center is just slightly firm. In Italian, these is referred to as 'al dente', a phrase one will often hear from pasta lovers.
   • Ignore the colorful myth of throwing a piece of spaghetti against the wall to see if it is cooked. This is not only messy, but is not a very reliable method.
9. When the spaghetti is cooked, empty the entire pot into a strainer (colander). Shake out the excess water.
10. At this point, you have three choices.
    • If you are mixing the spaghetti with a sauce, do so immediately before the spaghetti cools and starts to stick together.
    • If you are serving the spaghetti separate from the sauce (e.g. spaghetti in a serving dish, with a separate dish for the sauce), then immediately:
      • Put the spaghetti back into the empty pot.
      • Add 1 tablespoon (40 ml) of olive oil for each 100g. of dry spaghetti. If you don't have olive oil, use a vegetable oil.
      • Quickly but gently stir the oil into the spaghetti so that the oil coats the spaghetti and prevents if from sticking together.
    • If your recipe involves re-heating the spaghetti later, then leave the spaghetti in the strainer and immediately rinse it thoroughly with cold water. This will wash the dissolved starch off the spaghetti so that it does not clump together.
11. You spaghetti is now cooked, neither over-cooked nor under-cooked, nor stuck together. You can use it for whatever spaghetti recipe you wish.

For cooking tips on other basic foods, please see our How to Cook series.