fresh pasta is an entirely different thing than “dried / boxed” pasta.
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The dried pasta I make are usually Fettuccine and thin spaghetti, the latter being much more challenging. I’ve used these fresh and dried at low temperatures. Aside from the cooking times, the flavor is nearly identical. There’s no comparison with the commercial types. The flavors of semolina are easily lost with hot, dry air, or improper storage.
Maybe so! I get lost in the multiple “threads”.
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I always keep spaghetti and rigatoni on hand. They are pretty versatile and I can make one of them work with most pantry pasta sauces. There’s also a half-open box of orzo if I decide I need a quick bowl of soup.
If I need another shape I just buy as I go.
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Well, there’s its close cousin, the strategic pandemic pasta reserve - and I’m still eating my way through mine. Ditto the big plastic tub for storage.
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Just bought more bc pasta
No way this’ll be cooked before Berlin, but it’ll join the rest of the gang in the basement.
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Interesting. Do you live above 3,000’? I wonder how altitude and lower boiling temps work. I have heard that water boils at 202 degrees, not 212, in Denver because it is the Mile High City. This is probably more of a thing in Quito at 9500’.
I am at 3,000’ and do not notice much of a difference. I usually simmer for a minute less than the recommended for al dente, check it and it is usually a bit too firm for me. But it is usually just a minute or two from being ok/al dente. I do not mind pasta cooked past al dente, especially for sesame noodles, but I usually do not wait to get past it.
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I’ve found easier-to-read charts before because I was curious if there was any effect at my altitude (~1200 feet; 210°F), but this was the first i hit googling just now.
Looks like yours is about 206-207, and Barney around 193.
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This was a fun read. Also, for all you pasta hoarders (like me), more ideas!
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My pandemic stash is terrifyingly diverse.
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I have recently finished my pandemic food cache of pasta but I have tons of “pandemic” cans left. I have always kept a pantry of long lived canned or dried foods. I very slowly built that pantry up during the pandemic and am maintaining it today.
Mormons are taught that it is a good idea to keep one years worth of food in their pantry and I think that is a good idea.
Book of Mormon:
“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing,”
Boy Scouts:
“Be Prepared”
I am neither but I have a lot of respect for both groups.
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I keep a well (some might say too well ) stocked pantry anyway. (you’ll never find me at the supermarket before a snowstorm). I started pandemic “prepping” almost 2 months before the lockdown here, because I didn’t like what I was reading in the news. And not just food. I had paper products and cleaning supplies and sanitizer for anyone in the building who may have needed stuff. And masks, which I happily shared. And cat stuff. Our building engineer was very adept at corralling supplies. And I never want to go through it again. Although I was quite successful at asking care of myself and a few others, there’s little joy to be had.
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I went through my pantry and donated most of the unopened stuff we haven’t been using.
We have mostly been eating spaetzle, egg noodles, orzo, angel hair, and bucatini.
I went out today and bought elbow macaroni, after making macaroni and cheese with various shapes that are not macaroni for the past year or so. 
Elbow macaroni and cheese is on the menu tonight.
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Ditto. Especially when I buy a couple of cans of TJs corn…and find out I have 6 at home. 
With everything in my freezer and in my pantry closet (pasta, nuts, canned goods, tomato sauces, herbs, spices, condiments, etc.) I could eat quite well for awhile, buying only dairy, eggs, bread, and vegetables. Oh - and cat food and litter.
It’s an illness.
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I have about 100 lbs of bagged pine litter - which I no longer use (I use paper; best for all our breathing, human and feline) which I have loaded onto a garden wagon and will wheel down to the garage and load into my car - it needs to be donated -or tossed into the dumpster.
Bucatini - I was glad for my stash; it disappeared from sale during the pandemic.
Slowing digging out from under.
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I’ve got a jar of Rao’s Alfredo sauce to make Mac and cheese with, if I can find the recipe. 
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Just added gnocchi to the “keep in stock” list. Tried it for the first time in April for One pan sausage and tomato gnocchi and have been craving a repeat. So I think the count is now 16 kinds of pasta.
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Please don’t dumpster it. Check with your local cat shelter and see if they can use the pine litter.
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Oh, I am.
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When I made m&c a couple of weeks ago, the only remotely suitable shape at hand was shells / conchiglie, and my nephew declared that it was the only shape we should use going forward because it traps the sauce and cheese so much better. So, for your future consideration
Also, this recipe is really good. I don’t use the cloves anymore, but the additional seasonings are really additive to the final outcome, and undetectable. I like aged cheddar in the mix, and also some parmesan to round it out. Uniformly kid and adult approved.
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