Yes, Really ― You're Probably Using Your Colander Wrong

Britain is a nation of pasta lovers ― most of us eat the stuff at least once a week, with Liverpool being the most pasta-loving city in the UK. 

And I’m willing to bet most of us have a similar pasta-making routine too: boil the kettle, put the bubbling water on the hob, add a tonne of salt before popping in your spaghetti, and drain the lot into a colander in the sink when it’s done.

Foolproof, right? 

Well, wrong, it seems. Recently, TikTok creator @tiger_lee_uk shared a video that completely rewired my brain – instead of pouring pasta directly into the colander from the pot, the creator showed a different, way less messy method. 

They put the colander into the full pot instead, then tipped the covered container over the sink, flipping both the colander and the pot.

That meant fewer clinging spaghetti strands, an easier way to getting to that sweet pasta water (just leave a bowl in the sink to collect as much as you need), and, crucially, a simpler washing up experience after (as you’re not having to scrub off fiddly bits of pasta from inside the colander).

The advice works for other foods, like broccoli and cauliflower, too – basically, anything that has a tendency to crumble, break off, or stick to your colander is probably better suited to this technique.

Anything else? 

Yes! The creator also shared that bumping the bottom of dried spaghetti in an unopened pack against your counter can help to open the packet far more easily and cleanly than trying to tear it apart with your hands. 

They also revealed that dousing a piece of kitchen roll in washing-up liquid and placing it into a tomato-stained piece of Tupperware before shaking vigorously can help to banish stubborn marks. 

But while the TikToker showed footage of them adding olive oil to a colander full of freshly-drained macaroni, Tasting Table advises against adding olive oil in the cooking process – contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t prevent the strands from sticking to one another. 

Instead, they warn, the added oil can prevent your sauce from sticking properly to your pasta. 

The more you know, right?